On Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's 43rd birthday, a look at her sartorial evolution over two decades

Chic, cringe-worthy or cool. 

Bow-ties, suspenders, waistcoats.

From tacky shoulder-pads to flawlessly fitting suits, we have chronicled it all.

Today, digging deep into our archives, we bring you the fashion evolution of — Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Over the years, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has come to be known as one of the greatest style icons in India. The Padma Shri awardee, who was crowned Miss World in 1994, has worn everything from sequinned saris to shimmery gowns to oversized suits.

Her appearances on the Cannes red carpet have drawn as much appreciation as they have drawn flak. Case in point: Her purple lipstick that gave the internet a major Friends throwback with its striking similarity to Joey Tribbiani’s Ichiban lipstick. Or her parrot green Neeta Lulla sari that divided the fashion police.

Love it or hate it, but it’s impossible to ignore her sartorial sensibilities.

Today, as she turns 45, here is a look at Aishawarya Rai Bachchan’s style evolution over two decades:

For her love of the nine yards

Aishwarya is the first mainstream Hindi film actress who left a global footprint with her debut at the Cannes Fashion Week in 2002. She wore a yellow net sari with matching golden jewellery (time has not been on the side of this look; today this looks more like a bridal photoshoot). In 2003, she wore a parrot green sari and floral blouse, pairing it with with a top knot.

Head-turning gowns

She slowly slid out of her sari phase to enter what in fashion terms is called a ‘revolution’. In 2005, Rai sported a black Gucci gown with a plunging neckline. The same year, her printed Giorgio Armani dress was lauded for its simplicity. Continuing her fashion triumph, in 2016, Rai wore a navy blue strapless gown with ruffles at the bottom and accessorised it with a snake-like neck piece.

Back to ethnics

In 2013, Aishwarya Rai moved away from a bright colour palette and chose beige, black saris for her appearances. Bachchan opted for a black lehenga-sari with golden embroidery by Sabyasachi for her appearance at the evening gala of Bombay Talkies, celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema. In another event in the same year, Aishwarya sported a golden sari by Tarun Tahiliani.

Experiments 

Her love for the classics is not unknown. Aishwarya’s fashion staple —perfectly blow-dried hair, bold eye-liner and nude lip colour — took a bit of a backseat in more recent years, giving way to purple lips, red hair, and smoky eyes. A career-defining film for the actress was Dhoom 2. In it, Aishwarya rocked kohl-rimmed eyes, messy, bleached hair, and bronzed skin. Her latest release, Fanney Khan, also became a talking point for many because of Rai’s scarlet hair.

All hail Her Divaness

With her Roberto Cavalli golden gown at Cannes 2014, Aishwarya resembled royalty. The geometric patterned gown was paired with a ruby red lipstick and carefully tousled hair. For her 2016 Cannes outing, she wore an ivory and gold gown with a cape by Kuwait’s Ali Younes and drew a contrast with her bright peacock-coloured eye shadow.

Like fine wine, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has grown from strength to strength with her sartorial choices over the years.