Entertainment
Play with fringes, ruffles to style up festive wardrobe (Style tips)
By Sugandha Rawal
New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) Some women go shopping, while others start rummaging through their wardrobe in search of the perfect outfit to make a statement during the festive season. Ladies, it’s time to update the fashion quotient with fringes and ruffles — and a splash of bright and pastel hues, say experts.
According to designer Archana Kochhar, this festive season is all about colours, fringes and ruffles.
“This season, the 1970s’ boho-chic look has made a comeback. Fringes fused on Indian silhouettes and contemporary outfits make every look trendy and versatile. The beauty of this trend lies in its softness,” Kochhar told IANS.
Kochhar says “from tassels, earrings, bags, neck pieces and clothes, fringes can be found everywhere”.
“Ruffles are the biggest trend this festive season. From ruffle lehenga skirts, ruffle asymmetric sleeves, ruffle dupattas and ruffle statement shoulder blouses; this trend is everywhere and definitely a must-have. Bright pastels and pop colours are the right way to go. Avoid dark and dull colours like black, brown and grey,” she adds.
Designer Anvita Jain, known for weaving a fashion story with Indian aesthetics and modern silhouettes, says velvet is the fabric for the season.
“Velvet long dresses, skirts, cover-ups can add a chic and feminine touch to your look,” she says, adding that “the best party pieces are made for shimmy-shaking, that is fringes”.
“Whether added on the hem of a skirt or cascading down the length of a dress or on the sleeves, fringes added a sense of playfulness to any garment,” Jain believes.
Pointing out another trend, she adds that “one shoulder is here to stay”.
“One-shoulder blouses can be paired with skirts, one-shoulder long gowns, tunics can be the attire for any mehendi or cocktail evening.”
Not a fan of traditional attire? Well, you can go for a fusion twist to your “desi” look too. Designer Amit Sachdeva gave out some cues.
“A slightly embellished asymmetrical A-line tunic teamed up with jeggings is hassle-free fusion wear for a card party. An ethnic skirt with a collared shirt is a hot trend from the ramp. Just pick a crinkled or kalidar skirt in silk or cotton and tuck in your collared shirt inside,” says Sachdeva.
He suggests women keep jackets handy.
“Wear that short shift dress or your LBD (little black dress) with a nice ethnic knee length or bolero jacket. Brocade or light embellished jacket in black worn over any colour of your shift dress can do wonders,” he suggests.
Add more oomph to a simple cotton or pure silk sari by teaming it up with a blouse with a deep plunging back, Sachdeva adds.
For designer Ravi Bhalotia, the festive season is all about celebrating the individuality of style through the “multitude of trends waiting to be worn”.
Taking some notes from ramp shows, Bhalotia says: “Different versions of exaggerated sleeves were spotted on the runways of Gaurav Gupta and Manish Malhotra. We loved the ultra-long, bell-shaped and the over-sized ones with cuff detailing. They added an element of drama and intrigue to the outfit.
“From Kasha to Farah Sanjana’s collection, the sari saw ruffle detailing like never before. Victorian-style blouses with ruffles around the collar were teamed with the sari — the sari skirt earned itself some frilly layers and exaggerated ruched up embellishments were seen on the sari pallu too.
“Designer Sanjukta Dutta gave us silk in vibrant red and black, while Gaurang Shah did delicate muslin to perfection. The trend would be to go traditional with the weave and modern with the drape.”
When it comes to fashion, there is no rule book that one needs to go by. So, play with styles and make a statement of your own.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at [email protected])
–IANS
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Entertainment
Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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