Malaysia : KL Fashion Week To Feature Bride And Beauty

The Kualalumpur Fashion Week to be held on April 24 at Cititel will feature Amuthavani in a workshop, "All tied up,". For an Indian bride, a beautifully draped saree will add glow to the queen of the day.   But the task of wrapping the five-metre long luscious fabric around her is no small feat.  Amuthavani Krishnan of Amu's Academy of Bridal and Beauty says it takes loads of patience, skill and creativity.  "There are many different styles in which the saree can be tied and draped.   "Usually, the bride would want to wear the style that denotes her place of origin," she said.  Some of the most intricate styles are adopted from the northern region such as the Rajasthani or Kashmiri Lengah style.  Here the bride would be garbed in a saree and choli (blouse), complemented with a head cover.  The Kashmiri Lengah differed slightly from the Rajasthani style in that the former would be flared but pleated in equal lengths.   The most important feature is the pallu or tail end of the saree.  "This is the part that features the most elaborate design of the saree and we must make sure that the bride gets to show it off!" said the ex-teacher turned wedding planner.  Amuthavani said she loved to wear the saree since a child and had always watched her mother tie it around her.  Her foray into wedding services stemmed from her passion in the art of draping a saree and also her deftness in handling the cloth.  "A saree is a very long piece of fabric and sure gets on a person's nerves when things don't go right," she said.  According to tradition, the bride's sister-in-law will normally dress her in the saree.  "But, today, people are leaving it to the bridal house," said Amuthavani.  In her bridal shop here in Jalan Tun Sambanthan, one would find a beautiful selection of sarees of different fabrics and colours.  Most of the sarees are sourced from various parts of India.   Accompanying the selection are glittering accessories such as the tikka (ornamental piece on forehead), glass bangles and other jewellery that adorn the bride.  Fittings take almost a whole day and that includes the Mehndi artwork using henna on the bride's hands and feet.  Wrapping it all is of course the saree that will make a whole lot of difference to the bride.  "Everything about the saree has to be right. The colour, the fabric and the way it is tied and draped," said Amuthavani.