Latest news with #HarbisonStudios
Mint
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
How to cinch it with a cummerbund like Shah Rukh Khan
Besides a variety of hats and walking sticks, the accessory that stood out at this year's Met Gala, or the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Benefit, was the cummerbund. From Shah Rukh Khan, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Adrien Brody to Law Roach and Nick Jonas, many male celebrities sported the wide sash worn across the waist and hips in contrasting colours and prints, trying to match the 2025 theme of 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style". Female stars, too, added the cummerbund—classically designed to flatten and smoothen the portion where the trousers meet the shirt—to their sharply tailored suits and suit-like dresses. The actor who stood out was Mindy Kaling in a custom Harbison Studios suit, with a satin white tie and red and blue embellishments, and a cummerbund doubling as a train. Also read: Are ballet flats the 'it' shoes of 2025? Long before the cummerbund (originating from the Urdu term kamarband, meaning 'waistband", sashes worn around the waist in India) became a decorative piece, it was part of the army officer's uniform during British Raj as a more comfortable alternative to the waistcoat. While it's hard to zero in on the cummerbund's origins, it was part of the clothing culture in the Ottoman Empire, Crete and Nepal. Over the years, the fashion conscious have fallen in and out of love with this accessory, once considered an integral part of the black-tie dress code. Designer brands like Saint Laurent have wrapped it like the Japanese obi. Giorgio Armani has pleated it like an accordion—just the way Shah Rukh Khan wore it as part of his Sabyasachi ensemble. Givenchy added a zip to make it more streetwear-friendly. The Met Gala, though, put the spotlight on the cummerbund, making it, what menswear designer Sandeep Gonsalves, calls the 'statement piece" of the year. 'It is the ultimate finishing touch that brings polish, proportion and personality to formal wear," says Gonsalves, the co-founder of the label Sarah and Sandeep. 'The key is fit and simplicity." The beauty of a cummerbund is that it can be worn by anyone, irrespective of their shape, size and gender and offers a defined silhouette that blurs the lines between masculinity and femininity. But you need to keep a few things in mind in case you're planning to make wear a cummerbund. Also read: Met Gala 2025: Shahrukh Khan and Diljit Dosanjh make dandyism personal For starters, a cummerbund should sit high on the natural waist and cover the trouser band cleanly. To illustrate, consider Madonna's androgynous look at the Met Gala. While her ivory Tom Ford suit, complete with tailored trousers, a matching snug blazer, and a crisp white button-down shirt, seemed on point with the theme, her cummerbund didn't cover the pants band fully, making the whole look a bit uneven. Another big no-no is a cummerbund with a belt, and slipping below the shirt line. The ideal width of a cummerbund is 5-6 inches, depending on one's body type. The choice of fabric plays a crucial role as well. Opt for a classic silk satin or grosgrain for tuxedos; velvet or fine wool can be a great option for seasonal or textured looks. Indie brands like Cord Studio have cummerbund-style leather or denim belts, which are perfect for casual/officewear. 'For slimmer frames, a broader band adds drama," says Gonsalves. 'For broader waists, a custom-tailored fit helps smooth and streamline. Women can wear it like a structured sash or corset, paired with sharp tailoring." For petite individuals, wearing it slightly higher on the waist in monochromatic tones can help elongate the frame. 'The taller bunch can play with contrasting colours, textured fabrics, and wider bands," suggests Priyanka Kathuria, a fashion curator and co-founder of wardrobe consultancy Altique. 'It's a versatile accessory and can be worn over shirts, skirts, and blazers. If you want to make it part of a streetwear-style outfit, pair it with high-waisted pants and tucked-in tee or oversized shirts." That's the other reason for the growing fondness for cummerbunds. Fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M are experimenting with its shape, offering garments such as denim long A-line skirts and a pair of jeans with cummerbund-style band, helping create a formal-meets-casual look. It's a great example of how a simple, old-school formal wear accessory can make you look effortlessly cool. 'A cummerbund is a unique accessory because it can accentuate proportion in smaller waists, and in broader waists," says fashion stylist Vikram Seth. 'It's a clever styling tool, snatching the waist, elongating the torso, and adding drama without shouting." Also read: Can the corset be the new shirt? Manish Mishra is a Delhi-based writer and content creator.
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Travel + Leisure
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Travel + Leisure
Mindy Kaling's Unexpected Hack for Getting Over Jet Lag—Plus Her Sweet Tip for Parents Traveling Without Their Kids
Though travel looks a bit different these days for Mindy Kaling—now mom to a 7-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 1-year-old—she still has a few tricks up her sleeve from her solo travel days. Her best tip for dealing with jet lag? Get off the plane and go to a store. 'I went to Paris a couple months ago for Fashion Week, and my love of shopping outweighs my love of sleep. And so I just made an appointment to go to the Paris Flea Market right after I arrived, and I just made myself get up and go, and it cured it instantly,' she told Travel + Leisure earlier this month. Kaling has quite the toolkit to survive travel, plus an adorable tip for parents on the go. We caught up with the writer, producer, and actress to talk about all her smart travel hacks and why her new hotel partnership brings her back to her childhood in New England. Mindy Kaling enjoying a rainy evening in Paris. Though you would think the glamorous Emmy nominee, who just wore custom Harbison Studios and Marco Bichego jewelry to the Met Gala earlier this month, would only dine at the fanciest of restaurants when she travels, Kaling prefers to bring her own snacks. 'When I'm going to a place, especially if there's a hotel, I often don't need an elaborate room service meal three times a day. It isn't that unexpected, but I bring like 20 granola bars with me. And, also, if I can check it in, I'll even bring little protein drinks, because I am in my 40s. I have whatever trendy protein drink packed in my suitcase,' she told T+L. The creator of The Mindy Project , Never Have I Ever, and the new Kate Hudson show, Running Point , is clearly an incredible storyteller. When she travels for work, she records bedtime stories—self-composed, of course—for her young children that they can listen to before they go to sleep. 'I come up with my own story because they know that I'm a writer. At the end of a day of writing stories for TV, I have to come up with personalized stories for them every single night.' Window or aisle? Aisle seat. What's your go-to plane activity? Instantly go to sleep. Like the minute I put my seatbelt on. What's your go-to travel outfit? I literally look on Pinterest for celebrity airplane outfits. So right now, I haven't quite nailed it, but like a sweat suit, sneakers, and a faux fur jacket. What's an item you can't travel without? My workout headphones. I can't wear AirPods or whatever it is. I don't have the right shaped ear holes for them. So I have my enormous headphones that I wear. Ideal co-star to travel with? You know, to me, 80 percent of traveling is about the food destinations, and I'm such a foodie. So for me, it'd be my friend Ike Barinholtz, who is on a show called The Studio , and I just created the show Running Point with him. He's such a foodie, so for me, he would be such a great person to travel to any city with. We would be going to the best restaurants in every country there is! Mindy while traveling in Mumbai. But when she does get to travel with the kids, she is a typical mom entertaining the two older children with iPads (it's one of the few times they get their screens) and walking the youngest up and down the aisle to fall asleep as she carries her. She does miss the days when she would get to the airport only a few minutes before boarding. Before her children, she said, 'I just wanted to be able to walk straight from my car through security and run on to the plane. But with children, there's so much unexpected delaying and having to go to the bathroom, and 'my shoelaces are untied' or 'I dropped my backpack and everything fell out of it.' One downgrade of having children is how much extra time I have to allow to go to the airport.' Mindy at the Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket. Even though traveling with young children is always full of challenges, Kaling is willing to fly cross-country with her brood this summer to take them to the brand-new Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket in Connecticut. Kaling has partnered with the family resort on the grand opening of their 23rd location in North America. As a Cambridge native who now resides in Los Angeles, the New England resort holds a special place in her heart. 'Just growing up in New England, it was the place where you wanted to go for your birthday. It really triggered some great memories for me when they asked me to be part of this. And I also was just, selfishly, really excited to try all the rides before everyone else.' Kaling said for scaredy-cats like her, there are plenty of less-adventurous slide options. She can't wait to take the kids, and though there is a Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim, she thinks this new property is worth the trek. 'Trying to find something super fun where I can literally park in one place is ideal. This is so much more fun than other kinds of trips we've taken them on. Plus, the cabanas are sick!'
Daily Mail
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Shrinking Mindy Kaling shows off weight loss in tuxedo dress at Met Gala 2025 amid Ozempic rumors
Mindy Kaling continued to show off her incredible weight loss transformation as she arrived at the 2025 Met Gala in New York City on Monday. The 45-year-old Office alum looked stunning in a custom Harbison Studios tuxedo dress accented by a white collar and a striking velvet belt that cascaded into a long train, as she embraced the 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' theme of the night. The gown was embellished with large gold buttons in diverse geometric shapes running down its length, complemented by numerous smaller gold buttons at her cuffs. The Running Point creator — whose slimmed down frame has ignited Ozempic speculation — wore her raven tresses in a slicked back ponytail and accessorized with chunky gold earrings and Marco Bichego jewelry. Keeping her makeup understated, she chose a simple smokey eye and a nude lip. Kaling's last Met Gala appearance was in 2024, where she embraced the 'Garden of Time' theme in a voluminous, nude strapless gown by Gaurav Gupta. The star has spent the past few years undergoing an astonishing weight loss transformation that has ignited Ozempic rumors; (R) pictured at the 2019 Met Gala The star has spent the past few years undergoing an astonishing weight loss transformation and now looks a far cry from her early days of fame on The Office. Early in 2022 she ignited a storm of chatter online after posting several Instagram photos that showcased her noticeably reduced frame. She commented on the change that April, explaining that she did not deny herself any of the foods she wanted but merely exercised portion control. As her figure continued to shrink, rumors started flying about how she lost the weight, particularly after it emerged that she gave birth to her third child - her daughter Anne - last February. Despite her years-long physical transformation, which began with an impressive 40lb weight loss, the film and television star has continued to shed the pounds, though she has stayed mum on fan rumors that she has used Ozempic or other weight-loss drugs. Although she did not publicly comment on the conjecture about Ozempic, she did offer some insight into her workout routine. She shared that she loved to hike or run, and covered 20 miles per week doing one or the other activity, in a May 2023 interview with People. 'I'm feeling really confident in my body these days, which is not something that I've been able to say for my whole life, unfortunately. I feel great,' she declared. Mindy attended her first Met Gala in 2013, with Office costar and rumored baby daddy B.J. Novak. Later she revealed feeling out of place at the event. 'I did feel like fraudulent the first year I went,' she shared on Meghan Markle's Archetype podcast in 2022. 'I didn't know you were supposed to stay uptown near the Met. You're supposed to get in a standing van so your dress didn't wrinkle. I was just in a cab, in my dress, sitting in the backseat of a car, you know, driving for 45 minutes.' 'I was so honored to go, and that's how I feel every single year I'm invited,' she added. Other big names at this year's Met Gala event included Sydney Sweeney, Zendaya, Gigi Hadid, Simone Biles and more. Every year on the first Monday of May, a series of A-listers gather in their most extravagant looks for a lavish ball hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour. The annual invite-only event has a theme each year, with this year's theme as 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,' inspired by Monica Miller's work, which includes her book Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity. It is meant to pay homage to black dandyism, a style with European roots which started post-Emancipation and came out in full force during the Harlem Renaissance. Monica is the chair of Africana Studies at Barnard College, as well as a professor at the institute. According to Monica, Black dandyism is 'a strategy and a tool to rethink identity, to reimagine the self in a different context. To really push a boundary - especially during the time of enslavement, to really push a boundary on who and what counts as human, even,' via Vogue. The 2025 gala theme focuses on menswear, 22 years after the 'Men In Skirts' theme - which was the first gala to focus only on menswear. The Met Gala 2025 will be co-chaired by Wintour, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Colman Domingo, and Pharrell Williams. NBA icon LeBron James was one of six athletes named to the committee of the 2025 Met Gala. Unfortunately, the Lakers star won't be attending.
