Saifeena's Wedding Today! OFFICIALLY MARRIED pg 86

12 craftsmen worked on Kareena's bridal wear

Ritu Kumar, the doyen of Indian fashion, has taken on the task of designing an heirloom outfit for Kareena Kapoor's wedding. Ritu, who has stores in Bengaluru, will be in the city in November. And, she talks to us ahead of the visit, about the experience of working on the ensemble, and what went into recreating the antique, traditional joda, passed down from Sharmila Tagore, the Begum of Pataudi, to Kareena, for the wedding.

The designer who is known to fuse the West with the best, has recreated the ancient joda that was gifted to Sharmila by her mother-in-law, Begum Sajida Sultan of Bhopal, who wore it for her wedding in 1939. Ritu says, "We have recreated the ancient costume, using gold Benaras fabric, woven in the likeness of the fabrics used for the original ensemble. The traditional bridal attire consists of a kurta, farshi paijama and dupatta made of rust and gold tissue which contrasts subtly with the soft green satin gota at the hem. The neckline, sleeve ends, hem and side slits of the knee length kurta are all edged with a decorative zardozi border. The embroidery was recreated in the likeness of the original by master craftsmen excelling in the craft of zardozi, who came from Lucknow with the exiled King of Oudh."

Sharing her experience of reviving an old heirloom, Ritu adds, "We had a few older craftspeople who understood the stitches and their use on three dimensional surfaces. A minimum of ten to twelve artists worked for four months to recreate the splendour of the old costume. The fabric was also woven on old naksha looms of Benaras to recreate an era gone by. The result was inspirational in its underplayed non-bling avatar which looked almost if not equally rich as the original."

We wonder if the designer has gone beyond the D-day outfit to design the whole ensemble and she clarifies, "Along with the outfit, we have also teamed the jewellery that's best worn with the traditional tikka, jhoommar and jhumkas and haars of the royalty of Bhopal, like the one seen on Sharmila Tagore, the Begum of Pataudi. Also the odhni is original from the time of the last century and has been repaired to form the final part of the ensemble. The joda took a better part of four months of painstaking crafts work to recreate and contemporise."

Talking about the pretty bride, Ritu says, "We had a few meetings and Kareena was not at all demanding." While Ritu hasn't done anything for Sharmila, she had designed outfits for Soha and Saba for the wedding. "Soha and Saba are going to wear ghararas and lehengas for the functions," adds Ritu.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Awww Ruky, weddings are fun, so you have fun! 😆