The 3 trends we enjoyed

The glam fatale

A glam fatale might not be a real thing, but that’s what Ayesha Omar was giving in her Rashmi Kumari beaded cape and skirt and bustier ensemble, but honestly, that wasn’t it. Ayesha Omar’s hair is what brought the whole look together, with the waves in her updo complementing the scallops on her cape. Try to imagine this outfit with a blowdry worn down: it doesn’t have quite the same appeal, does it?

Lit-from-within skin

Saba Qamar made up for any other shortcomings or faux pas with her glass-like, luminescent skin onstage as she hosted. We got super close looks as giant screens beamed her face at us in the auditorium, and the lesson here obviously is: if your skin looks good (whether naturally or with makeup) that’s 95% of the battle won. The rest is the clothes and hair and other makeup, but if your skin’s good on a night out, you’re good.

Generally better-dressed celebs

Don’t kill us, but if you go through millions of images of celebrities on the LSA red carpet over the years, you’ll definitely think we’re on to something. Firstly, celebrities generally spent the first decade of the ‘00s thinking a red carpet was really their sister’s barat in 1996. There was a lot of eastern wear, and while we love Pakistani fashion, a bridal or wedding guest attire is not ‘fashion’. It’s wedding wear. Then, once people moved on to gowns - if you want to call them that - they a) didn’t know how to carry them, b) designers couldn’t quite get the hang of them, and c) something would be off inevitably with the accessorizing and look overall. Now that the crowd’s become a bit more Gen Z, who didn’t dress like whatever their ammi made them wear to their sister’s barat in 1996 as kids, but were exposed to so much more style than the early celeb, you can spot more than one good look on any red carpet. And of course, older celebrities have young stylists. So it’s not a total fashion massacre. We’re happy to see the well-heeled – or better-heeled – walking down those red carpets.

3 trends that need to take a hike, into the wilderness, on a dark stormy night, and let nature take its course

Badly-stitched white
ensembles

Every lady wearing white this year to the LSAs somehow got it wrong. Durefishan Saleem’s Elan outfit may look good in photos, but you could see where the stitches were straining or warping under stage lights, and that is really on the costumer, not the costumee. Ditto for Yumna Zaidi’s pants (outfit by Noor’H Gul), and Shae Gill’s armholes (Zuriador).

That weird cape/trail/
dupatta thing

Did all designers get a memo to make the outfits white, subpar, and with a cape, because not all superheroes wear a cape but all subpar couture does? Guys, what was happening here? Why did we need filmy fabric trailing behind the ladies in pants and dresses and velvet and silk? The trails weren’t whimsical and pretty, they were confusing and badly designed.

Bad accessories

We think that worse than wearing a meh-to-okay outfit is accessorizing it like you don’t care how you look. And you know what - it’s fine to not care how you look. You can turn up on a red carpet in jeans and a tee, and if it’s all intentional and how you’d normally dress, fine. But if you are making the effort, and calling a stylist, and getting that designer outfit, at least accessorize it right. Don’t be the person wearing a badly-stitched white outfit with a cape-trail, and also black close-toed shoes one would expect to see on their 6th grade English teacher.

Disclaimer: Opinions are just that: opinions, maybe no one else agrees with any of the above. If so, tell us what you think!

– Red carpet images by PH Solutions - Mohammad Ahmed Team