The vintage fashion of full-sleeve ornate blouses are coming back on the runway with the designers opting for the chic but traditional look by teaming them with sarees, long skirts and lehengas.
During the ongoing India Couture week, ace designers like Anju Modi, Sabyasachi and Rina Dhaka experimented with various cuts and patterns with their blouses by making them high-neck, backless or embroidered but the sleeves remained long.
Most of the blouses and crop tops were heavily embellished and encrusted with zardozi, crystals and beads.
In Sabyasachi's opening collection 'Firozabad', the designer took inspiration from the intricate Mughal techniques and his outfits had zardozi, parsi and bullion thread works on the outfits.
His full-sleeve blouses were generally high-neck from the back and had low rise from the front. Even the border of the high-neck blouses had the same work as the lehenga and saree.
The fabrics used in these blouses were velvet, khadi and tulle in a soothing colour pallete of beige, old rose, pink and duck egg blue.
Anju's vintage collection 'Manikarnika', which was an exploration of the age-old crafts of the country, experimented with the back of the cholis. She kept the front mostly high-neck but she brought out many new back patterns of her full-sleeve blouses. They were teamed with minimal jewellery, only the earring and the head gear.
The collection had ancient techniques and embroideries derived from the architecture and the paintings of the Ajanta-Ellora caves.
Dhaka's blingy collection was inspired by the very iconography of the gota work of Rajasthan. She created her own version of Gota Patti by placing it against sheers fabric but she did not only stick to the full-sleeve version, which was very prominent in the other two designer's collection.
