New Delhi, Apr.9, 2008 (ANI)

 

Ah double relief the Lakme fashion Week has ended and Miss India 2008 has been crowned. Glamour please take a back seat. But wait! Horror of horrors, did you notice, that awful fashion item, the kaftan is back? It was seen last week on the ramp, in all its 'awful glory' and fashion gurus gleefully gave sound bites to pyts on TV channels that it's time Indian women stocked up on this throwback to the seventies.

 

So all those who have busted their butts at the gym to fit into size zero jeans like Kareena Kapoor can fret and fume over their wasted effort because this voluminous, free flowing gown is back with a bang. Its not just Indian designers like Sonam Dubal or Ashima-Leena at the Lakme Fashion Week who showcased the Kaftan, this fashion faux pax has found its way into chic stores in the UK too.

 

Heidi Klein, a designer holiday wear and accessories boutique stocks kaftans upwards of 50-pound sterling. Not to be left out, Salvatore Ferragamo, Just Cavalli and Alexander McQueen have brought out their collections of diaphanous kaftans in sheer fabric for the summer.

 

Now, if you are a Heidi Klum or Naomi Campbell, you could carry off the new avtaar of the kaftan or else you will look as dumpy as Kajol in that ghastly poncho/mini kaftan we saw all year round last year. Or Shehnaz Hussain in tiger printed maxi/gown/kaftan amalgamation. Or, worse like Jayalalitha in her 1980's style matching capes and sarees in fabrics like shamo satin (help!).

 

A kaftan just can't look elegant. The era of Zeenat Aman in kaftans also had Zareena Wahab and Jayshree T in kaftans. Have we forgotten them? And even if you are a trifle overweight and presume that a Kaftan's multiple folds will hide those multiple folds of flesh, think again! Ignore fashion gurus who tell you that volume in fabric takes away volume in body. See how the Anarkali cut was thrown away by the sensible barely two months after it entered shops this winter? Farragamo's yogi chic for the summer is only for the ramps!