What's trending in wedding wear? Fun, playful bralettes

If the images from the recent wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant are any indication, fun and playful bralettes are the latest trend in wedding wear.

Celebrity Kim Kardashian, for instance, was seen rocking a tasselled bralette from Manish Malhotra for the wedding festivities. Navya Nanda opted for a winged bralette designed by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, while Natasha Poonawalla flaunted a tasselled bralette/choli hybrid, also by Jani and Khosla. Janhvi Kapoor, too, turned heads in a bejewelled version by Falguni Shane Peacock, and Ananya Pandey picked a sparkly bandeau style bralette by Malhotra.

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“The traditional blouse will never be dead. They are a classic,” says Khosla. “But the bralette in its various avatars is a new trend, an evolution in design.”

The bralette, with its sexy and minimal fabric and adventurous silhouette, is especially popular among younger women who opt for slinky saris and lehngas, in sequins, crystals and pearls as embellishments and embroideries.

“The bralette shows off a woman’s curves and is sensuous in the extreme, so it is a very popular silhouette,” says Jani. "Today’s woman has the body confidence and mental freedom to experiment with her look." share Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, who began experimenting with the versatile sari blouse three decades ago.

The itsy-bitsy choli, or the bralette, started making waves last year after several designers at the India Couture Week 2023 showcased a range of edgy bralettes, replacing the traditional choli.

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Some bralettes were sliced to reveal the midriff, while others were adorned with beaded harness-like detailing. Suneet Varma, the creator of metallic breastplates, had showcased a sensuous collection, featuring bralettes paired with lehnga skirts and saris. Rimzim Dadu and Falguni Shane Peacock, on the other hand, had presented sculpted bralettes worn effortlessly with lehnga skirts.

Janhvi Kapoor even graced the runway as the showstopper for Gaurav Gupta's showcase Hiranyagarbha, wearing an electric blue bralette with a lehnga embellished with 3,000 hand-embroidered bugle beads, paired with a stunning floor-sweeping cape.

One of the big reasons for the popularity of the bralette is that lehnga skirts are no longer covered with dupattas. Hence, the bralette has emerged as a statement piece, says stylist Akshay Tyagi. “Designers have experimented with the traditional choli, lending it a more global touch in the form of the trending bralette,” he says. “It's a beautiful example of the East meets West silhouette.”

Manish Mishra is a Delhi-based writer and content creator.

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