The real victory of contemporary Indianwear is blending eastern and western influences with seamless ease. While there are several new-age silhouettes that stand testimony to this, it is the micro-trend of ankle-grazing lehenga skirts that has caught our attention. A cropped version of the voluminous trailing lehenga that is at the centre of any wedding wardrobe (and ensuing Instagram posts), this one borrows from the tea length skirt. Come 2019, the cropped skirt trend is fast gaining popularity amongst millennials looking for effortless festive dressing.
Born during the war-stricken turn of the 20th century and championed by Dior’s revolutionary New Look, the cropped skirt become the favoured uniform of the ultra-feminine ’50s – in its heyday, the skirt stood for freedom and emancipation. More recently, there was Elle Fanning’s Dior silk organza shirt and night-blue tulle skirt for the red carpet at Cannes. We aren’t forgetting Delpozo’s vivid jacquard skirts and Fendi’s sheer tulles either.
Its modern Indian counterpart today is a study in cool. This raised hemline has found a kindred spirit in the millennial sartorialist who wants to knock back drinks at the wedding’s open bar and then take over the dance floor before racing to the beach for the after party, rather than using her bulky ensemble as an excuse to merely sit pretty. She’s also not one for dust-gathering keep-them-stored-until-wedding-season silhouettes. She’s all about transitional staples. And the mid-length lehenga checks both boxes. You can wear them with dramatic blouses sans dupatta come wedding season, but also transition them into more western settings with formal blouses or crop tops followed by a quick change in accessories.
Designers have turned the spotlight on the hemline too. This calf-skimming length was a fixture at Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s Kashgaar Bazaar presentation — worn with jacket or off-shoulder top, polki jewellery and mojris, this heavily embroidered skirt can be a sangeet darling. Tone down the jewellery and throw in heels, and you have a fancy dinner party look. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja’s latest outing in this skirt only furthers its versatility.
Deepika Padukone, on the other hand, teamed her embroidered Sabyasachi midi skirt with a crisp white shirt making for an exceedingly fitting cocktail hour ensemble.
Payal Singhal has always favoured the hemline since her earlier collections owing to the marriage of comfort and unconventionality that it promises. Her signature pairing of the cropped lehenga is with churidaars and a crop top, perfect for destination weddings.
Anita Dongre’s raised hemlines are often teamed with jacket-inspired cropped blouses for mehendi-friendly looks while Papa Don’t Preach’s eclectic belted numbers worn with bustier blouses are the only party starters your festive wardrobe needs.