35 PLUS, finally getting it right!

From silly to slick: This Bong beauty has come a long way from her high school inspired miniskirts and bright spaghetti straps. Loud makeup, dated hairstyles and over the top ensembles were part of Rani’s girl- next- door charm. However, once she shed baby fat and the extra pounds, the actress wowed us with a glamourous makeover. Minimal makeup, kohl filled eyes and simple hair were accompanied with sexy Manish Malhotra saris, chic skirts, elegant dresses. The diva changes up her look every now and then, from trendy jumpsuits, to fashionable gowns and elegant understated traditional wear that she accessories rather stylishly. At 35, she has finally hit a good run.

    

From BTM to babe: Sonali Bendre was one actress who had immense potential to look pretty but was made to look behenji and trashy owing to the fashion of the time. With classic good looks and a figure to die for, one would think she'd be a stylist’s dream come true. But back in the day, she was often seen in awkward cut- out dresses, elaborate hair dos and that dirty brown lip colour of the Nineties. In her second innings today, Sonali cuts a picture of high fashion and graceful poise on television and at fashion week appearances. She does justice to anything from Indian to western to fusion with the confidence of a supermodel .

   

From fashion awkward to sexy mommy: Hell bent on proving herself in the acting department, it seemed like Kajol, consistently and purposely dressed herself in shabby drab. Maybe in order to separate from the glam- set, and ensure the focus remained on her art, she made the unforgivable mistake of letting her clothes and fashion pay the price. No pain, no gain; unfortunately it was only her audience that had to suffer an eyeful of fashion agony and repetitive fashion disasters.Nonetheless, a decade too late, but the top actress has finally shed those awful over sized salwar kurtas, nerdy glasses, tacky heels and curly unkempt hair. In her rare appearances today Kajol is often spotted wearing elegant pencil skirts, trendy trousers and stylish saris teamed with unfussy accessories. Straight forward fashion with a no- frills approach has worked well for this star. However, her struggle with fashion has not ended as yet. It’s only one of those few times when Kajol gets it bang on trend unlike her contemporaries such as Sonali and Karisma who constantly experiment with their style and hit the right fashion spot mostly. The good thing is, she is finally putting in effort in departments like fashion, fitness and grooming and looking many years younger than she is.

    

From flouncy to ladylike: Raveena Tandon always struggled with weight issues at the beginning of her career. By her own admission, she was a “bigboned” girl who in the Nineties had to often fit into clothes ideal for petite girls like Karisma, Sonali Bendre and Urmila Matondkar. Her struggle continued off screen with big hair that hid her broad shoulders and boot cut jeans aimed to hide her pear shaped rear. It’s only in her second coming today that this gorgeous girl dresses body and age appropriate. She has given up the kurti and jeans routine and replaced it with figure flattering dresses and easy hair and makeup making her look young and stylish.

  

From gawky to super chic: Her makeover in Raja Hindustani is still one of those overnight cindrella- esque makeover stories that stay on like urban B- town legends.Karisma Kapoor went from a gawky thick eye- browed blue eyed girl to a sleek haired, mid riff baring diva. But her career was still dotted with a certain fashion struggle barring a few movies later on like Dil toh Pagal Hai . It was a kind of struggle that was born out of an inherent tussle between her style personality that was chic and the dominant filmy fashion of the time, which was OTT. It’s only in her second innings today that Lolo has found a solid style ground that is as far away from the 90s filmy fashion as it can be. Understated chic, muted colours, minimal makeup and hair and classic cuts — she looks like a picture of elegant and classy charm today.