From 1997 To 2020, Preity Zinta's Fashion Journey Explained On Her Birthday

| on January 31, 2020

Preity Zinta is considered one of the most fresh faces in the Bollywood industry. Her dimpled smile and cuteness charmed everyone and soon she was the most sought-after actress. She has acted in about 34 films till now and has consistently impressed us with her acting prowess. However, born on 31 January, 1975 today is Preity Zinta's birthday, and we are not going to talk particularly about her impressive acting skills. We are, on the contrary, are going to discuss about how her fashion has evolved over the years. So, starting from her Liril and Perk ad.

Before she dazzled everyone on the big screen, Preity Zinta appeared in advertisements. Hailing from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, since her advertisement days to the present times, Preity's outfit game has become more nuanced and on-point over the years. Beginning with her Liril advertisement, after which she gained fame and we the 90s generation, how can we forget the Lalalala...tune of the Liril Ad, which had Preity Zinta dancing in the backdrop of waterfall.

The advertisement not only became popular because of her happy dancing but the ad makers also ensured that her outfit matched with the background. It was one of the prettiest advertisements of those times, because first not just the energy of Preity Zinta in the ad was unparalleled but her green swimsuit also caught the attention and added to the effect and matched with the hue of the soap. And soon came her Cadbury Perk advertisement and well, we thought she looked cute as a button in her checkered dress. We thought her minimal styling in that ad was quite ahead of its time.

Thereafter, she was offered movies. Preity Zinta secured a small role in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se, where she mostly appeared in the second half. But in her 20-minutes role, she won us with her white sari, casual outfits, and some bold traditional ensembles. Well, back in those days, the paparazzi culture and social media had still not become famous in India and so one of the most popular ways, one could ascertain fashion of actors was through their movies. So, Preity Zinta's fashion evolution can be largely decoded through her movies.

Then subsequently after Dil Se, came her Telugu movies, Premante Idera and Raja Kumarudu. The fashion in her Telugu films was contrasting, it went on being from too simple to too elaborate. Yes, in those movies, if she flaunted simple western outfits, she even had to wear elaborate silk outfits and be decked up in jewellery. However, switching back to Bollywood, Soldier was quite a significant film because not only was it a super hit but to us fashion lovers, it offered diverse style statements. Preity Zinta's outfits in Soldier ranged from floral dresses to sporty outfits to checkered numbers with jackets to that famous black traditional wear. Also, with the song, Soldier, Soldier, she made the black winter cap famous. While her fashion was creating trends with movies including Sangharsh, Dillagi, and Kya Kehna, but let us remind you that she with Rani Mukerji made twinning trending before a hashtag could be created for it. Yes, in Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, she twinned with co-star Rani in a red tee that said 'Hot'. Also, they pouted. So, Preity for sure made trends.

The middle of her career was defined by versatile fashion. If she flaunted Kashmiri pheran and suits in Mission Kashmir - not to forget her white ethnic ensemble and heavy gold jewellery in one of the songs, she also sported sleeveless tops and skirts in movies like Dil Chahta Hai with equal ease. Preity Zinta made curly hair and pastel shades popular in Dil Chahta Hai but she also made spectacled look famous with her superhit Kal Ho Naa Ho. In this movie, her fashion is the most relatable and humble. There is a level of empathy that she could draw with her ensembles in the movie. Her unassuming jacket and jeans look wowed us as much as her red dress or lehenga.

Lakshya, however is a movie, where you not only see transition in her character in just one film but also a sudden shift in her fashion choice. In the first half of the movie, she is fusion outfits-rocking student of a college. Her fashion, as a student, is about accessories and curly hair. The clothes are also a bit eye-catching with top and long skirts- there's a desi vibe to her looks. But in the second half as a reporter for television channel, the first thing that caught our interest was her short hair. Preity Zinta has to be given a credit for making short hair popular among girls. But apart from her hair, her fashion is also basic and simple as opposed to girly fashion that she flaunts in her college days. The pink sweater and blue jeans of hers are as convincing as her skirts and tops. With her clothes as well, Preity is able to communicate her character in the movie to quite an extent.

She took the fashion to a whole new level with her next few films. Salaam Namaste represented careless abandon from all things conventional dressing and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was about glamorous set of outfits - the embellished skirts became quite popular after this. However, Veer Zaara is where, she made a strong case for simple and sophisticated traditional fashion. Her plain and simple yellow, black, and blue suits was unintentionally a step towards minimal and understated fashion. As for Preity Zinta, her simple ethnic fashion was in tune with her character in the movie.

But it's not to say that her fashion was not about promoting handlooms and going completely de-glam in the movies. If you think of it, her movie, The Last Lear with Amitabh Bachchan was a shining example of de-glam fashion. Her simple handwoven saris and shawls in the film came alive with muted hues and the red bindi helped her achieve the old-fashioned look. The elements like bangles and messy tresses further made her get into the character. With this movie, Preity Zinta established the fact that how much costume is important for the character.

While Preity Zinta's movies gave us a lot of glimpse of her fashion but it is not to say that her off-the-camera looks didn't. She is famous as a showstopper too and has walked the ramp for a number of leading designers too such as Falguni Shane Peacock and Sanjukta Dutta among others. On the ramp, Preity has graced the ramp in outfits as contrasting as dramatic gowns and mekhela chador.
But the same couldn't be said about her first few fashion shows, they were not as good as her later showstopper outfits.

Her off-duty fashion evolution is not really famous because of lack of paparzzi culture. But we must say, Preity Zinta's fashion mostly is awesome. When it comes to traditional fashion, she plays with more hues than embellishments such as white, green, and pink. As for the western glamourous outfits, she keeps it blingy and dramatic. But for the events, Preity Zinta usually dons pantsuits- the checkered, structured, and textured ones. Her Instagram account is really an insight into her fashion and that shows, Preity Zinta likes simplicity and comfort over exaggerations.