Red Hot Brides!

Have you decided on the color of your wedding dress for 2009? It is not necessary for you to match the color of your wedding dress to your wedding theme. Deciding on what colors to wear and a theme is both fun and time consuming. Plan ahead. One of the most exciting parts of your planning the wedding is deciding what you will wear on the big day.

Traditionally the color of wedding dresses is either white or ivory. However as you can see that trends are bucking. If a color such as red is too bold, a nice in between alternative is to go with a dress that has a slight tint of color in it such as a pinkish hue or soft beige.

Balochi what?

As my trips to Iran and Zahedan("doozdab") increased, so did my will to get to keep my roots stronger. Coming back home from the trips, I realized how unusual it really was to stay connected to the balochi culture or identity. Sure, Pakistani Balochis has a lot of sites etc but not much about Iranian Balochs. I wonder why. Especially the Iranian Balochi girls, that were never mentioned or participated at any site at all....

So after wasting a lot of time googling "balochi clothes", "balochi people zahedan" (without any results), I decided to create my own blog. I knew that young people in my age, living outside Iran and Balochistan lacked a place to get info about the latest balochi music, clothes or the changes that are faced.

The balochi dress with its unique embroidment is not getting the attention that it deserves, nor the does the Iranian balochs. It is sad. But I hope that I, with a little effort or time, can make someone out there happy and excited.

Kurta Shalwar, a 2nd class dress

Kurta Shalwar is the national dress of Pakistan, still one sees very less of it in our corporate office environment. Why this discrimination? No explanation, but lame excuses.

I don't have anything against the prevalent Pant Shirt, Court and Tie culture, which some say is purely Westernized, but there should not be a complete bias/ ban against our National Dress. Ok, I also give it to them that Pant Shirt looks more professional and tidy to be worn in the office environment, but atleast on Fridays Kurta Shalwar should be allowed.

Jumma (Friday) has a special importance in the life of a Muslim and Islam has placed special emphasis on organizing, preparing and saying the Jumma (Friday) prayer. For this day atleast, wearing Shalwar Qameez in corporate offices should be allowed and left to the person's choice. Other than this, Pant Shirt is fine and should be followed strictly, nothing against that.

What say you ?

No Swimming in this $82,000 Golden Swimsuit

It's hard to find the perfect suit, but this gold weave suit out of Japan is apparently "better than feeling a million diamonds" and "like swimming in gold." Well it's more than "like" swimming in gold -- if you get in the water while wearing this baby you actually are swimming in gold -- the precious metal is woven right into the fabric. Valued at $82,000 the suit goes through a month-long weaving process where gold fibers about the size of a human hair are incorporated into the material. And also available in the same sparkling golden fabric is an even more expensive long dress valued at $243,900.

I wonder if they're scratchy or silky? And an important note from the designers on the swimsuit: it's not meant to go in the water.

What?! ...whatever.

Princess Diana's Dress to be Auctioned on E-Bay

A few months before Princess Diana's tragic death in a car crash in Paris, 80 gowns from her personal collection went up for auction at Christie's. Three of those gowns were purchased by the cable television network WE TV and have been preserved ever since, waiting for the right moment to bring them out as a celebration of her memory and style. Two will be touring the country this fall, the other will be auctioned for charity.

Beginning August 12, this beautiful chiffon evening gown designed by Catherine Walker will go up for auction on E-Bay. Valued at more than $300,000, the Princess wore the gown to the Cannes Film Festival in 1987 and again to the opening of Miss Saigon in 1989. All proceeds from the sale will go to America's Promise Alliance to support a cause close to Diana's heart - helping underprivileged children. America's Promise Alliance is a non-profit organization founded by General Colin Powell to to ensure that all children have the fundamental resources needed to lead successful happy lives.

The auction runs through August 22 and the starting bid is $125,000.

A Wedding Dress with 4 Pounds of Jewels

Wedding dresses come in all shapes and sizes from sleek and stylish to large and marshmallow-like, and from hand-embroidered to mass-produced. And although jewels aren't that uncommon in small doses, what about 4 pounds of jewels? A designer in Hong Kong has created a wedding dress with 9,999 karats of jewels (that's a very deliberate number!) and it's on sale for over $130,000.

It's beautiful but I personally wouldn't want a wedding dress with so many different colors, and I think for that price it might be more worth it to just get something custom-made -- I think I'd still be able to afford plenty of jewels.

Barack Obama Adorns Runway Fashion

Barack Obama has already had an influence on fashion and while some have used his sartorial style or his image as a touchstone perhaps none have done so as flamboyantly as Jean Charles de Castelbajac. The showpiece of his most recent runway show was a bright yellow dress that features a sequinned image of Obama. The short dress was part of a colorful line with dresses emblazoned with clouds, superhero insignia and beauty queen faces in tiaras complete with flowing hair. In The Telgegraph de Castelbajac calls Obama, the most charismatic leader in politics today.