Fashion
Style in simplicity
Dhanwanti Keshavrao

Living as most of us do in the fast lane, with professional, social and familial roles to manage, looking fashionable is no mean feat. So it’s quite a pleasant surprise to see how simple and minimalistic styles are catching on nowadays.

Everyone, from designers to trendy college-goers, is beginning to appreciate the undeniably stylish look that simple, unfussy dressing brings. Very often, styles bereft of elaborate designing achieve more than the most ostentatious of designs. The best example of this is probably the white shirt-blue jeans combo. This outfit can suit almost all occasions — from a picnic lunch to a semi-formal dinner.

Among Indian designers, there are quite a few who swear by ‘simple style’. For example, take Aki Narula. His kurtas are very basic with minimal surface decoration, but are far more sophisticated than the printed or patterned kurtas every other designer produces. He sticks to a clean and bright palette — cream, olive, lagoon greens, chalk and sunshine yellow. Today, Narula has extended his philosophy of understated chic to short-sleeve tunics, chogas, kaftans, sheaths teamed with lungis, pajamas and layered pants — all out of the ordinary and in cotton.

The restraint is also evident in his evening coats and embroidered vests, only that the fabrics are silks and satin, with their sheen removed. Flowing kurta blouses, slim parallels and palazzos in earth tones and brown matte indigos celebrate the female form and add a touch of romanticism. Narula is, of course, a master in what has now come to be recognised as ‘effortless dressing’. You too can be just as restrained and devise ways and means of making a statement with some very basic designs, and a muted colour palette.

For instance, let a bright, embroidered dupatta lend that dash of colour over an otherwise monochrome salwar-kameez. Substitute for a colourful scarf or odhni on a trouser suit — even saris or a skirt-blouse ensemble. You’d be surprised at the impression you could create.

There are many other ways to celebrate simplicity. Bangalore’s Sujit Mukherjee, provides some clues. Best known for his structured jackets, he has now got into designing satin-silk pajamas, which can be teamed with cut silk shirts (or flowing blouses) in oyster, cameo, salmon and rhubarb colours. Mukherjee’s menswear is restricted to shirts with classic cuts and in textures of crinkles, waffles, seersuckers, and herringbones. In cotton and linen, the shirts conform to a silhouette that typically sticks close, but easily to the body.

Then there’s designer duo Abraham-Rathore making the most of their ‘minimalist sensibility’ with traditionally hand-woven cotton fabrics in India. Shapes such as the sarong skirt and wrap top are drawn from the classic Indian wrapped and draped garments and worn under over-sized jackets.

At times, over-sized shirts can do the trick. Conversely, the mini kurtas (or kurtis) can work wonders.

Stripes and checks are also convenient, especially if you stick to earth colours like khaki and beige. In combination, they complement one another and given a silhouette that is contemporary and basic, the purpose of ‘dressing down’ for an occasion can be achieved.

Yet another example of understated chic is provided by Monisha Jaisingh, best known for lines that are slim and tapering. Her cuts are soft and accentuated with the use of scoop necks, shoulder straps and empire necklines — very trendy but simple.

Sometime back, Wendell Rodricks came up with some coutre-style cholis to prove how starkness need not compromise with style. In a range of seven modern and essentially minimalistic lines, the choli that stood out was called "White Mala" and had become quite a rage. It was shaped like a white garland, draped over the shoulders and fell strategically on the front — the entire ensemble held together with just one string! When worn with casual drawstring skirts or lehngas in black, brown or gold, the effect was simply stunning.

There are other designers like Rohit Bal, Shahab Durazi and Shreela Debi who are discovering the merits of simple dressing. Fashion effectively is returning to a very basic, understated and refined simplicity. — MF