Indian brides in nude colours are the latest trend and a shut down to the age-old beliefs that say a bride should only wear bright colours on her big day. Gone are the days of pure red lehengas and bold makeup, grab your peach coloured shaadi-ka-joda (the bridal attire) and a no-makeup makeup look because colours don't matter when you have love by your side.
Since the pictures from the most-anticipated Bollywood wedding of actors Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were shared on the internet, people have been talking about how serene Alia looks in the nude bridal attire and the subtle makeup. Surely, it is going to be a popular wedding trend just like Anushka Sharma's pastel bridal attire became one.
Indian women are often told that they, on their wedding day, must wear bright coloured clothes and makeup and avoid any clothes that have even a hint of white and black colours in them. Because we have divided colours based on our beliefs and both white and black are considered to be unlucky. While the whites, nudes and dull plain colours are associated with widowhood and black is infamous for being ominous. Well, Mastani rightly said in Bajirao Mastani that it is us, humans who associate meanings to colour, they just exist.
Suggested Readings: In Case You Missed: Florida Governor Signed 15-Week Abortion Ban Law With A Smile
Indian Brides In Nude Colours
An Indian bride is always told to wear bright coloured attires and jewellery, during and after wedding, as a sign of her being married. Some families even prohibit them to wear black or white clothes months after the wedding. What is the mentality behind this absurd belief is that nude and dull colours are reserved for the mourning ladies and widows and they are assumed to bring bad luck. But are we allowed to sabotage a bride's choice of colour just because of such baseless beliefs?
Who gave us the right to assign certain colours to widows and mourning ladies? What wrong there is in the fact that widows have a life ahead of their dead husbands and have right on every colour they like and live their life normally?
Similarly, a bride also has the right to wear any colour they wish, on their wedding day. Colours are fractions of human emotions as they stimulate feelings in us. They are universal, they don't belong to a particular group. We need to internalise that colours simply exist and it is we who attach meanings. Unlearning the preconceived notions is a little difficult but not impossible.
Nowadays, we see a lot of Indian brides in nude colours as their wedding attires. These lehengas are pretty and elegant and above all they are the bride's choice and hence, they are beautiful. Now a typical Indian aunty would look at her and go, "It is dull, beta, brides should wear bright colours like red", "You saw the bride, how pheeke-pheeke clothes she was wearing". Well aunty, you should know that this is my wedding and my choice of a lehenga, if it makes me happy why are so worried? Maybe you need some fresh air and fresh mentality to get in terms with.
A wedding is a big day in the life of a bride that happens once and it is obvious she would like to do it the way she likes. Whether she wants a bright red lehenga with smoky eyes or a off-white one with natural makeup, she should have it. No beliefs should stop her from doing so as colours don't bring bad luck, our mindset does. So drop those stupid ideas and slay it on your big day in your nude lehenga.
The views expressed are the author's own.