Dress for Valentine’s Day: Bollywood shows you how!

OK, everybody knows we’re supposed to wear red on Valentine’s Day, right? But many of us are wary of that bold-if-beautiful colour, and aren’t sure exactly how to carry it off without looking completely over the top. Also, if we’re going all red — or even partly red — what do we choose? Play it safe with a sari or go all out to steal the scene with a body-hugging dress? And why should girls have all the dressing-up fun? Can men wear red and get away with it? Not known to be role models in a bunch of other areas, Bollywood stars can be great examples in this one respect. Watch them work those red outfits here!

Nobody can do a pant suit with quite the panache that Priyanka Chopra always brings to her dressing. This one is super cool, and we love the funky and just-right ‘tie’ necklace.

So you don’t want to go out on a fashion limb and would rather stick to a kurti with your trousers? In general, after the sedate patiala salwars of ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’, Anushka has favoured western attire in her films. And certainly also when she graces the stands to cheer for Virat. But she does do kurtis once in a while, and here she is in a quite contemporary and beautifully embellished number that would look good on practically anyone and any occasion, and certainly for any Valentine’s Day do.

But if you have both the figure and the nerve for it, there’s another option that’s very much in vogue: the jumpsuit. Not the easiest of outfits to carry off, though of course, our Bebo can do so without blinking a perfectly mascaraed eyelash. This is her in an Emanuel Ungaro creation.

At the other end of the spectrum is the safe salwar kameez. You can’t go wrong with that, and if you wear one like the festive yet restrained classic that newlywed Dia Mirza sports here, there’s a hidden bonus: you’ll be dressed just right in case you get rounded up and married off for your Valentine’s Day transgressions. Or – wow! – in case your beau pops the questions and you both make off for a spur of the moment temple wedding.

Then, of course, there’s always the gown. Does that feel too dressy, too long and fussy, too revealing on top, too something-or-the-other that you’re not comfortable with? Look how Katrina does it!

And  then there’s the Valentine’s equivalent of the LBD, the LRD or Little Red Dress. Just simple and perfect for those of us with the bods to dare it. Kangana Ranaut certainly has a body to die for, and this lacy piece tell us so!

Finally, there’s that good old all-forgiving, never-fail staple, the sari. Wear it traditionally, or with a hip new take on the pallu or the pleats, and you can’t go wrong. Or team it up with the plunging back of a blouse, as Deepika does, and knock him out.

As we said, men can dress up for Valentine’s too! Besides, we want our female readers to have a nice bit of eye candy as well. So here are some B-town men who’ll make you see red in rather a different way. Starting, of course, with Hrithik, who still rocks a red tee as fabulously as he always did.

And of course, SRK, whose continuing hotness quotient only goes up in devilish red: guys take note, red formal shirts look good too. So throw out your predictable whites and pale blues for the day.

Ranbir can carry a formal look quite smashingly, and here he is in a red jacket that would look delectable on most V-Day dressers.

And how could we leave Ranveer Singh out of this fashion piece? He shows us what a statement the right gala-bandh or even a formal kurta can be. Wow your girl with a special red number.

Finally, no article on Bollywood is complete without an image of bad-boy Salman. Here he is in a stylish red jacket that should come in handy for all you Valentine hopefuls up in the cold North! That brooding Byronic look is probably a good idea too, especially if you want to make a grand declaration of undying love.

So go out there, ladies and their beaux, and put on your glad rags! Who knows where making that little extra effort can get you?