Street fashion, Lahore-style

Street fashion, Lahore-style




By Afia Zahoor

Among the first few things that you notice about the female populace of Lahore is the fact that they are highly fashion conscious. Most women in Lahore follow the whimsical dictates of international and local fashion trends tooth and nail. If patiala shalwars are in, they do not want to be caught dead in Capri pants, not even if there are a dozen of them in their wardrobes.

Besides the exaggerated account of an average Lahori gal’s fashion sensibility, the fact remains that Lahori women put their sweat and blood into looking good. Whether it’s a girls’ night out, or early morning halwa puri or just picking up a pair of sandals from Liberty, they are always dressed to kill.

In Karachi, it is fairly normal to venture out for grocery shopping in your comfortable slippers and casual home wear. Some bohemians even hit shopping malls or round-the-corner fast food places in their ghareloo shalwar kameez or faded jeans and much worn Ts. However, in Lahore, the picture is a little different. In most cases, the ladies actually dress up to go get bread from the bakery nearby. Yes, if you have Lahori blood, you’ll be wearing a trendy outfit with trendy footwear and preferably carrying a matching purse to the bakery. And currently the race seems to be to wear the shortest possible shirt over the famous patiala.

Being an amateur in this beautiful city, this scribe is still getting accustomed to the dressing norms of the ladies out on the roads. On a visit to a lace and button shop, one saw several ladies flaunting heavy gold jewellery; a phenomenon which is simply not seen on Karachi’s roads, perhaps due to the rampant looting and gunpoint snatching or due to the relatively austere mindsets. One also felt that women on Lahore’s streets, as compared to their counterparts in Karachi, are way more likely to give you a swift surgical scan to quickly gauge what clothes, shoes, jewellery and accessories you have on your person. In Karachi conversely, people usually don’t give you a second glance on the streets unless you are being weird or wearing something ultra-trendy or eye catching.

At The Forum in Karachi, you see lots of girls shopping or strolling about. Some wear casual body-hugging hipsters, bell bottoms or straight pants, others stick to the usual shalwar kameez. But at the equally trendy Defence Y Block in Lahore, you will perhaps not come across a single girl wearing anything less than trendy party-wear. The occasional western wear that you see on the roads would probably be top-notch designer stuff.

Feeding this mass wave of fashion norms is an onslaught of print and electronic media. Magazines are religiously poured over each season to get the latest in style and hemlines. Also contributing to the fashion mania is the extreme weather in Lahore. What you wear in summers usually does not last till the next season due to the scorching heat. People actually plan elaborately on what they have to wear for the next season, a trend which is now catching on in Karachi too.

The bulk of elite Lahoris prefer to venture to numerous boutiques — along the Fortress (Stadium), Defence and Liberty — to pick up designer labels. The dozens of boutiques along the Fortress offer trendy ready-to-wear informal and formal wear for as low as Rs650. Upscale boutiques like Nee Punhal and Miss Soni offer expensive designer wear ranging from Rs1,500 to Rs5,000 and onwards.

To satiate the western tastes Levis, H. Karim Buksh (HKB) and boutiques like Extra do roaring business in selling funky to sophisticated jeans, skirts, tops and accessories. In fact Extra manages to attract plenty of youngsters who want to get piercing or tattoos to fall in the very ‘cool’ slot. One wonders where the clientele sports such minimal wear, only to find out that this is the dress code for parties especially at Valentine’s Day, Halloween or the New Year’s eve if not throughout the year.




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Perhaps the Lahore centric phenomenon of an extreme fashion consciousness, nurtured by a culture of splendour and opulence is finally trickling on to the general population permanently. Or perhaps it is simply keeping up with the city’s tradition of being high- spirited, feisty and ostentatious
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The rage to maintain a beautiful image is not restricted to attire. Skin treatment clinics have their heyday with the elite making a beeline for Botox or laser treatments. Dozens of gyms and fitness clubs like Shapes and Body Talk are frequented, not only by the tinsel town celebs but also by the ordinary executive and even college girls. Similar is the fetish for cosmetics and the like. A visit to upscale departmental stores like HKB and Pot Pourri is a revelation, with aisles and aisles of cosmetics and toiletries to make one prettier. Imported items are displayed with so many variants to a product that it leaves one in a dilemma. No doubt, the well-stocked supermarket culture has really caught on in Lahore. To cater to the mass mania of keeping fit and being adorned, a chain of upscale ‘lifestyle pharmacies’ has recently opened up that professes to sell anti-aging, anti-stress and fitness regimes.

Those who want to save a few bucks and play around with their design creativity or simply want to replicate designer wear from fashion mags, like to venture to numerous markets in Lahore where the variety of embroidery and colour combinations to choose from is mind-boggling. The Main Market Gulberg is one of the favourites where each shop is lined with scores of outfits to suit all Lahori tastes.

Perhaps the Lahore centric phenomenon of an extreme fashion consciousness, nurtured by a culture of splendour and opulence — fuelled by the Mughal, Sikh and British rulers and patronised by the refined courtesans of yore — is finally trickling on to the general population permanently. Or perhaps it is simply keeping up with the city’s tradition of being high-spirited, feisty and ostentatious. Whatever the reason, street fashion in Lahore is sure to keep you engaged for hours on end with its colour, style and zest.

luckily im going to lahore ....

true yar... went to lahore last month... chicks there r highly fashion concious... every chick is always in "KIT (as we call here in karachi)"... and there is no 'class' limit.

good il be able to see some good sights and ive just bought my new w800i phone and i wont be afraid to use it to take pictures....;)

best of luck mate ... and dont forget to upload them here for us ... sawab kamao u see

sure, but ill keep the best ones for myself....