The little black dress might be a cocktail classic and a flimsy red spaghetti may show off your contours to best effect, but there’s much more to party wear than just these.

Being dressed to kill as you set out for a bash is fine, but it’s also important to be in sync with the flavour of the do. A sequinned, stone-studded cocktail chiffon might be the silhouette for your best friend’s engagement, but it might not meet the mood of a barge party marking the end of your cousin’s bachelor days.

“Different kinds of parties call for different dress codes. While the theme and occasion must be kept in mind, the age group of the crowd should also determine what you will wear to a bash,” feels fashion designer Sunipa Samaddar.

For Goodlife, Sunipa dresses up actress Swastika Mukherjee in three different outfits for different parties...

Mocktail magic

“At a mocktail party, the crowd is likely to comprise girls in their teens just about to welcome adulthood. The look thus should be very pretty and girlie,” says Sunipa. For the occasion, the designer has dished out a green and pink gheecha silk panelled skirt with floral creeper embroidery. This has been teamed with a jewelled-neck mandarin-collar short top .

“This skirt set can be worn straight (as in the picture) or draped with a heavy dupatta. The skirt has two side slits and the second one can be inched up or down with the zipper. With the zip inched up and embellished boots on, she can dance with ease,” adds the designer.

Other outfits that can be donned at a mocktail party include poncho tops with embellished trousers, kaftans, hot pink patiala with embroidered kurti, sheer churidar with ornamented kurta, solid-colour trousers or skirts with multicoloured short kurti and a heavily embellished sling bag or crinkled muls with spaghetti tops.

Formal fare

While heading for an engagement do or any other formal family affair, you might want to flaunt ethnic appeal. The dress code at such a bash could well be embroidered crepe or chiffon saris draped differently and paired with slinky blouses or ornamented corsets, embellished boot-leg trousers with short tops and long sheer jackets or embroidered roamy skirts with mukaish work tops and flowing sheer dupattas.

Sunipa has created a delicate flared red silk skirt, with a slight touch-up of sequins on the asymmetric flounce, and teamed it with a boned red raw silk corset and a full dupatta . “The skirt is almost ghagra-like with lots of volume and the panelled boned bustier complements the skirt. The detachable sheer yoke adds to the ethnicity. This ensemble can be worn with heavy jewellery or left as it is, depending on the role of the wearer,” feels the designer.

Swastika, on the other hand, thinks that the cut of the corset is the high point of the outfit. “I love corsets and think they make for very good evening wear. The boned corset that Sunipa has designed has a very English look and the fit is very comfortable,” she says.

Cocktail cuts

Outfit options for a cocktail party could comprise anything from the classic little black dress, a halter or one-strap gown, to a cowl neck-top with a high slit skirt or a corset with a short skirt and a shoulder warmer. The list here would include anything that oozes oomph.

“I don’t like the usual cocktail wear like the black dress that you would find half the population at a party wearing. I like my outfits to be specially tailored for me with a touch of individualism. A fishtail skirt with a knitted halter top is my favourite cocktail wear,” smiles Swastika.

Sunipa has chosen to be innovative here with a black raw silk skirt, red piping at the sides contouring the shape with a detachable brocade hem. This is teamed with a textured silk corset, rhinestone sprayed over and accessorised with a beaded necktie .

“The tie can be replaced by a scarf or a stole. This attire would adhere to the cocktail code anywhere in the world. For a more formal look, however, you can just put on a jacket on top of this and take off the brocade hem,” adds Sunipa.

Pictures by Pabitra Das
Make-up: Prabir De