So the winters are here, not that chilly in Karachi, but I'm sure my friends more up north will be swearing by the extreme chill.

Winter attire has always been a very tricky matter to me. Come to think of it, ours is not a country where you can comfortably sport a cool long coat with boots and get away without becoming the apple of every, I repeat EVERY, eye anywhere.

So the girls have to do with working around shalwar kameez. I personally hate the waist-length sweaters on a kurta. I hate them with a capital H. I'd rather be carrying around a hoarse throat than wear one sometimes. Of course, when 'mummy-dom' or 'husband-dom' jolts up on particular days, I dont have much choice.

Then, us Pakistani chicks and ladies are left with the option of shawls (which I shall be covering soon) and winter cloth material.

Here I am gonna start with sharing with you the photos of Al-Karam's winter collection. You can get them from the Al-Karam studio near 2-swords in Karachi and Gulberg in Lahore.

Al-Karam's winter collection is launched in 5 categories:
1) Resham Lenin embroidery
2) Jamavar collection
3) Khaddar print
4) Resham Lenin print
5) Khaddar embroidery

Have a look at the Resham Linen embroidery collection:




While I like the 3rd dress a lot (the light blue one on the right of the 2nd picture), I dont like the black one right next to it. It's got too many prints and it scores a perfect 10/10 on my clutter scale!

I also like the pistachio coloured one in the last picture, especially the way it's stitched! Check out how the front 'daman' curves out into a slightly longer back daman.

Next, let's see the Resham Linen Print:





I kinda like the print more than the embroidered ones. Check out the lovely colour combinations on most of the outfits here. However, the last one of this lot - the dark blue one - doesn't make me drool as much, most likely because it's not stitched very well. On a closer look, the cloth of that looks very bright and lovely too.

Ok so we've got the Khaddar embroidery next:




None of these meet my fancy, honestly. Only the light beige one with the dark green embroidery (the last one)...

Following this is the printed Khaddar:




I think the Al-Karams have done better with their prints than with their embroideries. Here, the dark brown and grey one really strike out, though the others are good too. I guess the printed versions have better colour combinations which make them look nicer. What say?

Finally, we move on to their Jamavar collection:




Now these are some fine clothes. Check out how delicate and beautiful the work on the dresses are. The white one on the cover looks particularly graceful. I only wish the colour palette on this range would have included some brighter shades as well..

Ok ladies, I'll be signing off for now, until I come up with more stuff for you to read. I have been requested to write about men's fashion too so that will be following soon too :)

until then, CIAO!