The Island leisure

HIGH FASHION
Elegance and Diplomacy

Text and Pics by Kirthi Sri Karunaratne
Ambassadors and diplomats, Ministers and Parliamentarians, and friends gathered to congratulate the newly appointed Consul General of the Republic of Singapore, Deshamanya Lalith Kotalawela. The cocktail hosted by Lalith and his charming wife Sicille was held at the ‘Patio’ of the Galle Face Hotel. Dark suits mingled with silks and satins worn by the women to make the scenario of celebration. There was also another reason for the festivities as Sicille in her own right is one of Sri Lanka's leading ladies with her many achievements, including being the only Asian included in the International encyclopedia of dancing, with her articles and photographs from her dancing days, when she enchanted audiences in many parts of the world, with her interpretations of our own dance forms. To greet her guests Sicille wore a saree of classic elegance in black silk, bordered in ivory and gold with a unusual pallu. Her blouse had three quarter length sleeves edged in the border, and she wore a magnificent necklace of pearls and ruby studded clasps with earstuds to match. A spray of white flowers in her hair, and gold accessories completed the picture.

Ranjanie

Striking in its colour and design was the saree Ranjanie Wijewardene wore. Her black silk saree had borders in the Ganga Jumna style, the border on top in white with serrated vandykes fusion into the black, and the border at the hemline in red in the same design. The pallu was in a combination of the alternate colours in bold stripes. She wore a black blouse and a many strand necklace of pearls. A simple print in fuschia and deep blue in a design of commas, Krishani Gunawardene wore with a sleeveless blue blouse. A simple gold chain and stud earrings were her choice of ornaments.

Padminie Karunanayake had the elegance of her soft sand toned saree bordered in motifs of shimmering pink verging on bronze. Her blouse was in the same colour as her saree, and her jewellery was in gold. Her handbag was in a perfectly matched pink. Ghagra (Anusha) Wijeratne relied on colour. Her black Dacca cotton saree was bordered in viritidan, kum kum pink and saffron with hints of gold. The entire saree had a web of design in the same colours. A black blouse with cutaway armholes completed the outfit, and she wore no jewellery except for a wide gold bracelet. Simple but charming was the white saree Dianeeta de Silva wore. The saree had a self stripe and the narrowest of a gold border, and little coral toned motifs on it. Her jewellery was in diamonds and gold. Black dresses were the choice of Fleur Mack and Surekha Gardiner. Surekha's dress had cutaway armholes and a high neck, with which she wore a choker necklace of pearls and drop earrings to match.

Style at high noon
A jolly good time was had by thirty women when Swarna Ameratunge hosted them to lunch at the "Gables" in the Colombo Hilton one afternoon, last week. Yoga Rodrigo set the ball rolling by leading the singing clad in a saree of shot deep coral chiffon, with a necklace of black beads, which was a veritable collar. Swarna for noon time elegance veered away from her usual Kandyan saree in a printed silk in shades of old rose in smudged patches of colour, over which was a floral print in shades of bluey grey, ochre and a deeper pink outlined in chalkys white. Her blouse was in the pink and she wore a pendent of rubies for an ornament, and her accessories were in pink. Sister Lalana Amerasinghe's saree of shot green silk was dramatically bordered in vivid magenta. Her blouse was in the magenta and she wore a necklace of emeralds in the attial style.

The royal blue Kandyan saree Padminie Pilapitiya were had a cutchwork border in golden yellow on the cloth of the saree, and on the sleeves of the blouse and on the handbag. A long gold ‘attamale’ made her necklace. The saree Malinee Bodinagoda wore too was in a dull tone of pinks more inclined to mush-room, with a elaborate scroll patterned pallu in terra cotta. The blouse was in the terra cotta colour, and she wore garnets for ornaments. Several salwar kamez outfits made pleasing wear. Vinodinie Perera picked on the soft hues of peach and caramel for her ensemble.

Vinodinie Perera

Padma Maharaja wore shades of green, with yellow, white and pink, on her shawl to make it distinctive, and Badra Wijesena a dull olive green out it, over which was a long open tunic in beige embroidered in orange, beige and olive. Three metal chains in a bronze hue made her unusual necklace. Daughter Kalpana Wijesinghe had the sleeves of her black pin striped suit dress slotted with a wide white ribbon at the base. The buttons were in gold, and her jewellery was in pearls. Srimani Dharmaraja proposed a toast, and Beverly Rodrigo provided beautiful nostalgic music from the past, and some of today's favourite pops, on the piano.

The Hotel Taj Exotica in Bentota had their first ever house full weekend, since its fairly recent opening. The beautiful hotel was a hub of activity and excitement with many Sri Lankans mingling with some tourists on this special night of the exotic from India.

In keeping with the theme of the evening, was the highlight, a fashion show produced by Sharmini de Silva of Silk Wrap. Sarees, salvars and sarong styles were featured in the show. The sarees and the salwars came from a leading saree and fabric shop in main street, and the sarongs and tops were the creations dreamed up by Sharmini. It was a very pleasant evening as one met many friends from Colombo and even some from other lands. The success of the evening is bound to draw crowds who want to getaway from Colombo in the future.

Jewels on your gown?

Adding loads of oomph to your chutzpah is what accessorising is all about! And it is no secret that hand-crafted costume jewellery — chosen with care, put to use in many creative ways and worn with panache — is much more exciting than its rather staid and costly relation. It is for freer spirits who like to make their identity differently, and who, like Coco Chanel, dislike the crudity or giant solitaires set in mammoth rings — so huge that "one might as well tie a cheque around one's neck".

Subtlety is the undertone of costume jewellery, not vulgar intimations of wealth and power that surround glittering rocks. Worn with dash, it communicates an innate sense of style and confidence that prompts you to wear something because of its verve and audacity — not because of the numbers it reads out aloud.

It is easy to believe that once plastics and metals, glass and faux pearls become the raw material, the designer too can indulge his creativity with more gay abandon than if the ingredients comprised an awe-inspiring rock or gem. And when the material is crystal, the nature of which is to gambol around with light, then the artistic options that open are limitless.

But it is only recently, after years of relegating their designers' spontaneous expressions in jewellery to their archives, that Baccarat — the name synonymous with crystal — finally decided to add jewellery to its range of delicately cut decanters, chandeliers and other utility items. Such has been the excitement in the fashion world that, within three years of its introduction, this divisions is already contributing a whopping 12 per cent to the company's entire turnover.

Recently, and for the very fist time in the Middle east, Baccarat launched its entire collection of jewellery in Dubai at a fashion show held at the Dubai Intercontinental. An array of pendants, rings, pierce and clip-on earrings and brooches — in primary colours like black, red, blue and green and a few tonal shades like honey — were this season's offerings.

Says Janine Eccles, divisional manager, art die vivre, at Chaloub Trading, the Gulf agents for the brand: "Actually, I was at the Baccarat show in Frankfurt when the summer collection was presented. Joining these primary shades next summer will be bronze, which will be suitable for clothes in beige, camel and cream. This colour is the effect derived from the crystal being either encased or backed up with gold — to emit a bronze tone that is extremely versatile."

So, if you are building up a collection of Baccarat jewellery, it is essential that you learn the art of accesorising with Baccarat or baccessorising. It is a skill that will enable you to put your Baccarat, or any other