Annoying Distraction

*UPDATE* The 'designer' outlined below is Imtizaj wear, i initially didnt want to name her but then decided its best to warn others so they can avoid getting ripped off!

With great regret I am posting about my first bad FB experience.

I've ordered quite a bit online and have been very careful in only ordering from people with a good reputation and can honestly say that I have been very lucky - sometimes things haven't been up to standard and many times not quite as expected which can be disappointing but to be fair to all sellers they have been fairly good at communicating with me and rectifying any issues and usually the errors have been down to miscommunication.

When I had been checking up on other sellers I was interested in ordering from a few people had been directing me to ******* I joined her page and was very impressed with the outfits posted - they all looked well made and a few inspired outfits were the best I had seen. Luckily for me I decided to hold back and only ordered when some winter linens caught my eye. They were really pretty casual's with colourful embroidery and reasonably priced - I struck up a deal with her and placed my order....

That was 9 weeks ago! Since then I have only received one of the outfits and that too was only last week! What we have to bare in mind is that these are simple casuals - yes they're embroidered but they shouldn't have taken that long especially as I was promised delivery within 25 days!

The suit that has arrived is okay - I think it is overpriced (I paid 15000 pak rupees for two embroidered linen suits) as the linen is very thin and of a poor quality and to make matters worse the colour is rubbing off on my hands :( the stitching and embroidery however is good and the kameez has a good ghaira (flare) so its a shame she skimped on the fabric as otherwise its a nice outfit.

The second outfit has ended up on another continent all together - I know these things happen and that wouldn't warrant such annoyance on my part - I am a pretty easy going girl! What angers me is lack of communication from the sellers part - it took her two weeks just to tell me the outfits have finally been shipped which ended up being a lie as when I did eventually get a tracking number it showed the actual shipping date to be a week later! I also haven't heard anything about my missing suit for over a week. Its not nice to be ignored... Lets just hope it eventually turns up. I have faith she isn't a fraud especially as I know its been shipped but I know I will never order again from her.

Where did I go wrong? What I should have done is contacted a few of the people that have been tagged in her clients album before placing an order as I would have then gotten a better idea of her standards - when I initially didn't hear back from her I panicked and emailed a few of these clients for her phone number and of the 5 I emailed 4 complained about her! All saying that the odd outfit she did well and everything else was of poor quality and every single one said their outfits always arrived super late!

People Please - if you're not 100% satisfied with a seller then please don't allow them to display your pics as happy satisfied clients!!

I am of the opinion that even though I have certain sellers that I like, I prefer to buy what I can see as disappointment is usually a result of receiving something slightly different to expected. This time it unfortunately hasn't fully gone in my favour!

* I have mulled over whether or not to name the seller - the whole point of this blog is to help others but I have not named the seller as I am not keen on trashing anyone publicly on here despite the bad customer service I have received at least on outfit and second should be here at some point - you never know what is going on behind the scenes everyone has their own issues.  If anyone wants some advice feel free to contact me either by commenting on here (you can state if you don't want your comment published) or through my FB page https://www.facebook.com/Supersummersdistractions. I have shared my experience so lessons can be learnt!

Sabyasachi Bridal

Just had to post this - Beautiful mix of colours - such a regal outfit!

Muzna Hameed - Todays Distraction

I lied - Muzna distracted me not today but a few weeks ago but I just remembered now and thought I'd share!

It was this Nickie Nina-esque outfit which actually caught my eye - I like the way the different shades, colours and embroidery come together to form quite a pretty outfit. Its simple yet eye catching and as I have a thing for green at the moment it is hitting all the right notes with its forest like shades! I have been quoted just under 17000 which is around £120 which I think is a little on the pricey side for what it is.

The second outfit which made me look is this dressier number below- again I like the colour combination, it appears to be on silk which is a nice and welcome change from chiffon (which gets my goat with its constant snagging - that's a whole different rant post still to come!) the bodice appears to be heavily embroidered and I imagine it will be quite the eye turner at any function. This seems to be priced more reasonably for what it is at around £300 provided the work is of a high standard which for a bonafide designer I imagine it should be.

Muzna was fairly quick to respond and knowing she showcases at fashion lounge Pakistan Lahore gives piece of mind that at least she will aim to deliver a quality outfit.  I don't plan on ordering anything from her collection her at the mo, but will definatitley be keeping an eye on what she has coming up. Some of her other designs I like follow.

Rohit Bal - Holiday Distraction

Seasons Greetings!

I've been chilaxing over the Christmas break and no - haven't hit the boxing day sales - never do. Holidays are for de-stressing not fighting with crowds to get a few of quid off - or if I want a real bargain at the designer sales you have to queue from early hours in the cold to get anywhere near anything decent - nah first few sale days are not for me!!

Apart from watching Christmas classics on TV I've been going through bits and bobs I have my eye on..

I saw this Rohit Bal outfit some months back which was my fav from his Delhi Couture Week Collection. I like the earthiness of the outfit - the bold embroidery, crochet and the cut of the dress really caught my eye. I did try and get in touch with them to get more details and an idea of costs without much luck.

Anyway, since then I have come across designer Maryam Malik who seems to have made an inspired piece pretty well. Hers is a 16 panelled dress with motifs on all panels for £150. Designers obviously have the edge as their creativity, mastery and showman ship allows them to develop beautiful pieces but for the rest of us who want to emulate a little bit of that style we do need to compromise a little and can not expect the same finesse; with that in mind I quite like her version. There are some changes and a few things missing in her outfit but I think if we add back the velvet strip, give it a tailed cut and perhaps a better quality crochet this can be enhanced into something prettier although this is a good base to work with.

As for the seller Maryam Malik she seems pretty genuine, by random coincidence she has made outfits for a family to wear to a wedding I attended - the clothes looked really good but I can not comment on the quality as I didn't see anything up close. The other outfits she has photos of that she has made look okay but what I like most is she has a separate album with close-ups of the types of handwork she can get done. I think this is a very useful feature as this is where I am usually let down. If you can chose in advance exactly what the embroidery will look like it can save a lot of disappointment!

Sehar Ali – My Review

I ordered these outfits a while back so cannot comment on current standards but my experience with Sehar was very good!

The suits I ordered were ALL over FB back when I ordered them, that usually puts me off but I just fell in love with the designs and colour combinations. Back then I was a novice and had no idea who the actual designer was nor did I pay much attention until I started getting ridiculously high quotes from sellers offering to replicate them. That’s when I thought if I am going to pay a high price I may as well find out who actually made it and get it direct from the designer!

When I got in touch they were incredibly friendly and were willing to negotiate – I managed to get both suits for the same price I had one seller offering to copy one for!!

Both suits are absolutely beautiful and are fab for parties and dinners. The fabrics are pure and stitching is superb. The suits are prettier than the photos and I fell in love with the photos! Also, they arrived 3 days earlier than requested and that too was in Ramadan a very busy period. I get so many compliments whenever I wear either of them as they look very stylish and elegant. I can’t praise her enough for her customer service either! The only gripe I have is that the colour for one of the suits as you can see is very different to the image which I was not informed of in advance, I was initially a tad annoyed as I wasn’t too keen but since wearing it I actually prefer it as its quite unique and very different to anything I have.

I would definitely order from her again although I think now that she is more established there is less room for negotiating… I did try not too long ago ;0)

PS these photos do not do the outfits any justice – the beauty is in the combination of the work, stitching and fall of the fabric

Below are a few of my favs from her collection

Beautiful Bridal

I saw this wedding video this morning and just had to share it! I've seen quite a few very good ones but this particularly caught my eye as I LOVE the brides look. I am a sucker for very traditional bridal looks and hers is just stunning!

The jewellery is shamelessly elaborate yet elegant and compliments her outfit with its traditional gotta work, colours and cut. I cant see much of the bottom which I imagine is a gharara but it looks as though the emphasis is on the beautiful dupatta and three different colours have been used.

I also have to give it to Guddu Shani for capturing the details and moments between the bride and groom in a light and airy fashion - the clip just looks very pretty and romantic!

After some digging it turns out the bride Hilia designed her own outfit - Great work!

Lace!

When our prince married his princess I was reminded of the beauty of lace!

Others may disagree but I adored the wedding dress which was suitably elegant, feminine, stylishly timeless and fitting for a royal!

I was inspired back then to order myself a lace suit - even went as far as drawing a sketch but never got around to ordering it but it is now next on my list! I am yet to come across a lace design that I like enough to order so will need to get sketching again! I am considering getting something panelled with other fabrics so the lace is not overwhelming however, I find too much complication can leave lace outfits on the tacky side... Lets see what happens!

In the meantime I am satisfying my obsession with bits and bobs from the high street and my all time online fav ASOS!

Today I picked up this very pretty black lace blazer from Zara -  the very feminine fabric is nicely balanced by a classic masculine cut - its very lightweight so with the current weather not sure when I will get around to wearing it but Me Love!

Lace is right on trend and incorporated in with a classic cut blazer this will make nice classic addition to my wardrobe :0)

They also have a very pretty clutch which I have my eye on...

Mausummery Winter Collection

My latest purchase arrived yesterday - a parcel full of casual winter clothes for me and my family!

I ordered a couple of Mausummery 'winter' linens and some Sana Safinaz lawns.

The SS lawns are old news now so I'll leave those out...

On to the 'winter' wear, I am not particularly familiar with Pakistani fabric brands but when looking for some casual winter wear they had to be my first call - its just easier to go online, look through a catalogue and get someone reliable from Pak to have them stitched and shipped. 

I did a bit of research and settled on Mausummery and Nishat, unfortunately the Nishat ones were all out of stock which was a bit of a disappointment but hey ho - we cant always get what we want! What I liked most about the Mausummery catalogue is that it made clear if the outfit can be stitched in the style displayed. My only gripe is they didn't display a swatch of the colours available - although having alternative colours listed at all was very helpful. Many other catalogues have outfits stitched in elaborate styles which often require the purchase of double the amount of fabric or worse still don't even have the embroidery on the fabric at all which they don't even make clear!! Personally I think that's cheating and very deceptive!! 

I wanted these to be warm outfits, especially the ones for my mother but was surprised to see they weren't what I would call winter wear - the fabric is lovely but not particularly warm - just feels like a thicker lawn to be honest. These suits are for the Pakistani market so I suppose warm enough for most. I did think at the time of ordering it was weird that here in the UK we get linens for the summer but in Pak that is what winter wear is called - I foolishly thought it would be thicker linen perhaps - but my fault - need to swat up on my fabrics!!

The embroidery on the suits is neat and they generally look like nice, good quality casual outfits which I can wear out for informal get togethers.

I ordered all the suits through a group called 'Kapray Shapray' on FB - the lady running this is brilliant to work with; she is very informative, has good suggestions and responds very quickly! I have ordered a few times from her now but have stuck with stitched branded fabrics. The fitting and stitching is to a good standard too. she has formals and bridals also - her bridals in particular look good.

Ayesha from Kapray Shapray has suggested if I want something warmer to stick with Khaddar next time - Lesson Learnt!!

I just had to post these pics!

Nomi Ansari

You you can barely see the outfits but what is seen looks just amazing – beautiful colours, amazing kaam and styled well by the ladies!

Love this pic!

Mr Malhotra at his best! The longer kameez trend has been trickling into Indian fashion for some time now although I cant see it taking over the way it did with Pakistani fashion. Any hoooo liking the mix of colours with bold full on kaam – Lovely!

Afsha & Nuzhat

Looks Promising…

I received an email from this group today directing me to their page. All the pictures seem to be original and have been taken in the same room which is always a good sign! An address and phone number is also provided so they appear to be genuine

The designs aren’t massively original but look well made and the Navy Blue one has caught my eye!

I have no idea of prices at this stage but will keep you posted!

Today's Distraction - Gulzeb Asif

I've just spotted Gulzeb Asif's latest shoot – very much hot off the memory card and it looks good!

I got in touch with Gul a few weeks back as I really liked the look of some of her bridal outfits and she quoted me  reasonable prices to have them as formals. The below outfit (same as pic 2 above me thinks)  is around 45K pak rupees – roughly £335. The kameez is mint green jamawar with a  trail back . The work is hand work of naqshi, stones and diamantes with a motif at the back and Jamevaar Lehnga.  

Second Emerald Green outfit is for 35K Pak Rupees, around £260

Not bad compared to other designers right? I haven’t ordered anything yet as my functions aren't until mid next year but will definitely be keeping an eye on her collections. She herself was very quick in getting back to me, provided me the info I required and was willing to work within a budget for  the outfits I was interested in and even agreed to show me samples next time she is in London so I can see the quality of her work in advance of ordering – will let you know what happens!