Lehengas that would feel at home in a period drama

Corsets have been spending the last few years working their way into nearly every corner of Indian occasionwear. They’ve officially replaced blouses and cholis, paired with saris and lehengas so often that the combination no longer feels novel or subversive. So, naturally, designers seem to have moved on to the rest of the European costume department. This time, the influence migrated south.

The skirts at India Couture Week this past week came with considerably grander ambitions: hooped, inflated, and pushed out into ballgown proportions. There were layers of cancan below, sure, but the theatricality began way up, near the waist, with the silhouettes recalling the crinolines, panniers, and hooped underskirts that shaped European dress in the 18th and 19th centuries. These contraptions once helped gowns achieve exaggerated proportions, and now they’re helping lehengas do the same.

At Anamika Khanna’s show in Hyderabad, poufy skirts looked like they concealed entire structures beneath them. A jamuni silk lehenga scattered with silver embellishments ballooned out from the waist, while a black tulle creation extended outwards at the hips. Another ivory look with a lace bodice and swollen skirt felt like it was picked out of a period drama. It made sense that the collection was titled ‘Moonlit Palace’—you can imagine a bride in these looks descending from a grand staircase.

Jayanti Reddy made the reference especially hard to miss with a look that you could see promenading through the manicured gardens in Bridgerton: a semi-sheer domed skirt worn with a cropped jacket, accessorised with a matching parasol. Roseroom by Isha Jajodia, of course, has long been fascinated by European romanticism, so corsets, guipure lace, and historical construction were expected. But this season, she pushed her corsets into more elaborate territory, with dramatic hip shelves jutting over equally frothy skirts underneath. The caged structures at these shows were not just an invisible support system but part of the look, on display underneath skirts in sheer fabrics.

House of Masaba offered a less literal version of the same idea, pairing an enormous skirt with a cropped jacket blouse, while at Rohit Bal the period influence appeared above the waist. Full skirts were teamed up with fitted, long-sleeved polka-dotted jackets that hugged the torso before flaring over the hips. With their cinched waists and gently splayed hems, the tops resembled caracos—jackets worn by European women in the 18th century.

But what stood out throughout the week was the lehenga in all its voluminous glory. At most shows, it didn’t swish and twirl so much as it occupied space. If weddings are meant to be fairytales, these lehengas sure fit the fantasy. Why pick between a lehenga or a gown for your reception when an outfit could be both?