Ace celebrity designer Kunal Rawal’s collections reflect his eye for precision and incredible styling techniques. Having dressed several Bollywood actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, among others, Rawal’s label follows the idea of multi-functional and comfortable couture. On August 28, Rawal married Arpita Mehta. The couple took to social media to share some hearty snippets from the wedding. Dressed in ethereal ivory outfits, Kunal and Arpita made a twinning statement for their nuptials. To understand how clothes and styling is important for the groom, we got in touch with Kunal Rawal. Here’s his guide for the to-be-grooms:
Dos for grooms
1. Choose an outfit that suits your aesthetic and personality, rather than a brand – Your wedding outfit needs to be cherished so focus on what would make you feel good rather than on a brand. You should enjoy what you’re wearing, wear what you like. Your outfit should represent your personality and choose a look that makes you feel amazing and great on your wedding day.
2. Fit is key – when you’re choosing the fit, make sure it is well-fitted without compromising on comfort. For example: we add panels to our sherwanis to aid mobility without compromising on the look. Also look at details like sweat absorbent linings, which we always add to our looks to ensure you enjoy comfort while looking your best.
3. Play with textures & micro motifs – Micro motifs are infinitely more versatile than bigger motifs as the outfit can be repurposed or used for another occasion, so that’s always my suggestion to grooms. And textures on textures is a great way to add a luxurious element to your look. But always keep it tone on tone. I personally love tonal embroideries, tone on tone thread work is my favourite for grooms. It adds such a luxe feeling and looks beautiful.
4. Choose neutral colours – A groom’s outfit should have elements of contemporary but is inspired by traditions, so in my opinion, you should keep it classic and not trend-based. That’s why I prefer neutral colours instead of more fun, brighter colours. My absolute favourite colour for day grooms is ivory – there is nothing more classic, timeless and impactful for a day wedding. Choose netural tones like ivory, light champagne, these work for day events. For evening events, I recommend deeper shades like dark wine which is traditional and beautiful at the same time.
5. Wear a sherwani with slim breech pants instead of churidars – I think slim breech pants always look better and cleaner than churidars, especially when it comes to groom outfits.
6. Stick to oxidised tones for your buttons, trims and accessories – I always prefer more oxidised tones over brighter tones as it adds a more heritage feel to the whole outfit.
7. Keep your look tonal – Even if you are playing with different tones of the same colour, whether in the surface texture or your overall look, stick to tonals as it is far more formal and you need to be dressed for the occasion, more cleaner rather than fashion. You can have fun for the other functions with your silhouettes, colours but for the wedding function, formal is the way to be dressed.
Don’ts for grooms
8. Choose your hems and lengths wisely- When choosing your hem, make sure it isn’t too long. I personally prefer hemlines around knee or above the knee or mid-thigh depending on your body proportion. Anything too long can stunt you visually.
Also read: A style guide by ace designer Pernia Qureshi on kinder wardrobe staples
9. Don’t over-complicate or over-accessorise – I personally feel that today the aesthetic is a little cleaner than what it used to be – so be you, wear what you like and want – but don’t go overboard. You can tend to do way too much with kilangis, brooches etc. but this takes away from the look rather than adding to it. Designers these days are more than happy to add personal details to your outfit, which really eliminates the need for adding too much styling. Choose one statement element and let that be the hero. It could be your saafa colour, the colour of your shoes or your jewellery.
