Enjoy the glamour, but don’t go overboard
Ever since I moved to Dubai, a city that loves to dress up, I have found new meaning to the word glamour. Glamour is a word many fashion purists look down up on. For them, fashion is just an indication of society’s relationship with the body. And I thought the same until I moved to this city of glamour.
The fact is that most people buy a piece of fashion because it makes them feel good. It is, after all, the most immediate form of self-expression. Many don’t check the fabric, the workmanship or the craft. It simply needs to fall well, fit the lifestyle and make them look good.
We all have that one dress which makes us feel so good that it feels like a million bucks, isn’t it? And that is the dress we properly cherish the most. The fact is, women like to feel glamorous. Which is why fashion has become celebrity driven. Be it the Oscars or the Dubai International Film Festival, it is more about who wore what, than who won what. At the Oscars, it was Janelle Morae in that dramatic Elie Saab couture gown, with metres of tulle and beautiful beading, that was the winner on the red carpet. She made headlines despite the fact she was not a nominee. And then there was the vanilla gown with architectural details worn by the First Lady, Melania Trump, at the evening celebration on the Trump’s first night at the White House. After all the criticism she received on the run up to Trump’s election, she finally got it right. And that glamorous, yet sophisticated, dress made the fashion pundits relook the way they viewed the new First Lady.
Women like to dress up, they enjoy the process of it, and the outcome always brings a smile on their faces
The fact is, women like to dress up, they enjoy the process of it, and the outcome always brings a smile on their faces.
Many a time I have been accused of having a glam take on fashion (perhaps due to my Sindhi roots) but there is nothing wrong in admitting that being glamorous is what we expect out of fashion. That is why designers most often leave their most dressed-up piece still the end of the show. Because that is the piece the design house wants to be remembered by. They save the best for last.
Of course, like with everything in fashion, you need to maintain the balance. Push the glamour look too much and well, you could end up looking tacky.
Think of the glamorous icons — the Duchess of Windsor and Marlene Dietrich. This was a secret they know. They enjoyed Metallica’s, glimmer, shine and jewellery, and were never spotted without it. But they also understood that you should never have too much of a good thing.
The Duchess of Windsor is famous for saying: “I am not a beautiful woman. I am nothing to look at, so the only thing I can do is dress better than anyone else.” The Duchess used glamour to keep her in the news. But she also respected her husband’s royal linage, she always remained elegant and sophisticated. This really is when glamour works better, when you marry it with a sense of grace.
Similarly, Rekha loves her gold eye shadow and opts for muted burgundy lipsticks over the bright eye-catching reds. She carries them off with such elan.
There is no question that glamour is what gives fashion its sheen, its shimmer and its vitality. So, allow yourself to enjoy glamour, to feel glamorous and to wear glamour. But remember, just like with all the good things in life, too much of it can be toxic.