Indian twist

While I am away celebrating my birthday in the second best city in the world aka New York City (the best city is good ol' Bombay for me!) I will leave you to the pictures from the surprise anniversary weekend trip.

For this year's celebrations, sweet hubs abducted me and drove me to an unknown destination! When we reached the hotel, I was practically dumbfounded; the inn was by a picturesque location – a wharf with the view of the water right from our room. The inn was a tobacco factory that got converted into a heritage inn. The rooms had interesting mix of yester-year details - red brick walls, antique furniture and armoires. It was so much fun doing a photo-shoot in a unique place!

Well, so to say my outfit for the day was unique in itself - a mix of old and contemporary style. To try something new this time, I paired a lace LBD (Little Black Dress) with an Indian kundan necklace. For my non-Indian readers, ‘Kundan’ is a traditional form of Indian gem jewelry which is quite popular in the north-west region of India (states of Rajasthan and Gujarat). Kundan jewelry is usually elaborate necklaces, pendants, droop-earrings, bangles, etc. So it’s not a surprise that this type of jewelry is prominently a part of the bridal wedding trousseau in India.

Anyhow, I bought this kundan necklace from Mumbai during my wedding shopping. The excited to-be-bride that I was, I indulged in this expensive kundan jewelry but never actually got to wear it, neither during the wedding ceremonies nor at the reception. Blame the typical-gold jewelry for that! 

Anyways, better late than never, right? So in a bid to do try a quirky combination for the anniversary-dinner outfit, I decided to give this unique style a try. A chunky watch with assorted bracelets, a ring and black pumps completed the look. To keep the necklace as the centerpiece, I went low on accessories. Well, actually absolutely-zero accessories; not even earrings! For make-up I went with the usual and easy 'smokey eyes and red lips' look. Well, all this ensured that I didn't look like a decked up Christmas tree :)

Tell me, have you ever dressed up in a trendy outfit with a traditional twist? Do share your take on this style-experiment in the comments below! 

Urban Outfitter's Dress | Kundan necklace from Sia Art Jewelry, Mumbai | 

Bandolino black peep-toe pumps | Michael Kor's Women's Chronograph (similar)| Aldo Ring

P.S.: a BIG thanks to hubs for the photography. The unique lighting was a new territory for us. But with a great deal of patience, hubs tried different modes and angles with the DSLR so that the pics came out just perfect. I absolutely loved all the pics and I had to contemplate a great deal on which ones to post. So you can see now, why this post is photo-heavy :)