Priyanka Chopra, who usually gets her style quotient just right, is being accused of the biggest fashion blunder in recent times. It’s the lavender Vivienne Westwood dress that she wore to the royal British wedding. It elicited shrieks.
On Priyanka, it looked like a shriek, said many. Vivienne Westwood is fine, but this one didn’t work for P.C. It was OTT, the fallen lapel only enhanced her bust, which was not required. And what’s with that hat? It looks perched on her head like an unhappy bird.
Why does an Indian celebrity have to wear a Western designer outfit when abroad, when there is such a wealth of textiles and designs in the country? Jaya Jaitly, former Samata Party president who also works for the revival of Indian textiles, was unsparing on Twitter.
“How sad an Indian actor attending the royal wedding in UK should dress like a British aristocrat at Ascot rather than represent a free and independent India in a beautiful sari,” Jaitly tweeted on May 19, the day Meghan Markle married Prince Harry.
Let us just say that Priyanka could have kept things simple and classic, like her friend Meghan does. The two actresses have been friends for about two years. If there’s nothing wrong for an Indian wearing a Western outfit in the West, there’s nothing wrong in wearing a sari either.
Here are our suggestions:
♦ Priyanka could have just gone for the classic Kanjeevaram, the way Rekha does. A Kanjeevaram is gorgeous and dignified, and would display Priyanka’s beautiful frame to great advantage.
♦ She could have worn a nicely-cut lehenga with traditional embroidery, like the Ritu Kumar design we have here.
♦ Or she could just have worn an LBD. She looks great in one and it’s perfectly ok for the guest to wear black at a wedding. A guest has to look sophisticated and elegant, and not high-drama, is the expert view.