13 Brilliant Ideas To Mix-n-Match Your Wedding Outfit And Create A Brand New Wardrobe!

Your gorgeous wedding outfit worth many thousands - what do you do with that afterwords? Is there any way to reuse your wedding dress in a different way?

Your gorgeous wedding outfit worth many thousands – what do you do with that afterwords? Is there any way to reuse your wedding saree or lehenga in a different way?

Indian weddings typically have a heavy focus on outfits, jewellery and makeup.

There are numerous rituals and functions that make up a wedding, and the entire wedding can span 2 to 5 days. With so many occasions available to dress up and put your best food forward, it’s no surprise that women give so much importance to their bridal outfits and looks. The bridal fashion industry is booming in India, with new names and labels cropping up each year. Out of the crores of rupees spent on weddings, about one fourth of it goes towards designer lehengas, indo-western gowns and striking stone studded jewellery.

A lot of women end up splurging on their ‘once in a lifetime wedding outfit’. Instead of letting it collect dust at the back of your wardrobe, you can re-use it in many ways.

Heavy lehenga with a plain / light blouse

Wedding lehengas are typically very heavy in weight and the work done on them. You can team your heavy lehenga with a much lighter plain colored blouse for a more understated look. It’s also a good way to make one aspect of your outfit stand out without going over the top.

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Layer it with a twin net on top

Give your lehenga a slight twist by adding a similar shaded net fabric on top. This will give it a slightly different take, while still keeping the grand original look intact.

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Lehenga with a white shirt and statement necklaces

A white shirt can work with absolutely anything. For a quirky and original style statement, pair your grand heavy lehenga with a plain white button down shirt. Add your favourite pair of statement earrings or necklace and you are rocking a brand new trend!

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Lehenga with plain long kurta

Another way to make your heavy lehenga a little understated, is to hide most of it. You can do this by pairing it with a long plain kurta or even a long choli of a neutral colour if you have one.

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Use the choli with a plain chiffon skirt

Lehenga cholis are usually heavy with embroidery work and mirror work. You can work with the top part of your lehenga too, by using it with a plain chiffon skirt, just to add a bit of drama.

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Choli as a blouse for a saree

Alternatively, your choli can substitute as a blouse for a saree. A contrast coloured saree will look great when paired with your work-heavy choli. It’s a great way to mix and match and get full use out of it.

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Re-purpose your choli into a yoke for a dress

If you feel that you’ve outgrown the design, you can just use it as a yoke for an anarkali, by just attaching it to the top part of the dress. Your local tailor should be more than enough for the job!

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Cut it up, reduce the volume, infuse some other fabric as kalis

One of the main reasons that women don’t end up using their wedding lehengas again and again is that they weigh a ton! One solution for this is to reduce the volume by removing a few of those gorgeous kalis that we all love to twirl in. You can choose another matching light weight fabric, add those as a longer/shorter layer to the existing one.

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Turn your silk wedding saree into a lehenga skirt

That expensive and heavy kanjeevaram silk saree too can be put to good use. If wearing it once was a done deal for you, you can easily use that saree, and a couple more to turn into a beautiful lehenga skirt with layers, ruffles and pleats. It would be a one of a kind piece that no one would have spotted in any designer store!

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Turn your saree into a salwar

Another way to use your silk sarees is to turn it into a salwar. The pretty borders will make for a good and grand design overall. You can design it yourself and get it done through your local tailor

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Add a jacket on your wedding saree

This has to be the easiest DIY you can ever do. If you want to change the look of your saree, all you need to do is add a hip length jacket on top. You can go for something longer as well, as long as you are comfortable with it. This gives a really contemporary look to your otherwise regular saree look.

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Wear with diferent kinds of blouse like off shoulder or ruffled

One of the easiest ways to change a look of a saree is to mix and match and wear it with different kinds of blouses. If you want to go a bit bold and experiment, you can try off-shoulder blouses or ruffled blouses. They look different but great when paired with silk sarees.

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Buying a new saree or a new outfit for every function and festival might be tempting. But it’s important to embrace slow fashion and start right at home.

And a bonus one

Use the border of your heavy saree for another churidar, add a different thin border for yours.

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Silk sarees come with big and heavy borders. But those borders can always be cut and removed, and used for another salwar or saree or literally any DIY that you can think of. Meanwhile you can add a much simpler border to your silk saree making it more convenient for daiy wear.

Wear. Make a statement. Repeat your clothes. That’s the new trend!

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About the Author

Chandana Munipalle

Artist. Writer. Travel buff. Style enthusiast. Finance graduate. Aspiring entrepreneur. Reads too many books for her own good. Laughs at inappropriate times. Hoards too many shoes and dreams about beaches constantly. Fashion and lifestyle blogger read more...

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