The Bro Brigade

How you can ditch that one kurta from college that has seen too many Indian functions at this point and still navigate the wedding season like a pro

- Niraj Kakade

Indian weddings are like dollhouses.

Move even one tiny piece and the whole thing collapses, at least visually. Now imagine your friend painstakingly planning a pastel-hued, old-money vibe and you show up in the same kurta you have been wearing since college. That “I do what I want” energy has its charm but sometimes fitting in stylishly is its own kind of cool. The question then remains, well, what do you even wear?

We spoke to Indian designers, a celebrity stylist, and a wedding wear brand to decode what works, what fails, and how men can navigate weddings without looking like they belong at a costume party.

The psychology of wedding dressing

The first challenge is not colour or fabric but mindset. Men often stick to the same kurta or sherwani year after year. Part of it is comfort, part is habit, and part is social anxiety. Weddings are highly performative spaces, and fashion missteps can feel like social missteps. Celebrity stylist Akshay Tyagi explains, “A lot of men try to be too loud or, equally, too safe. Neither works. The key is to be considered rather than conspicuous.”

Standing out in a wedding is as much a social exercise as a style exercise. Men want to be noticed without stealing attention from the groom or bridesmaids. They want to look celebratory without looking ridiculous. The middle ground is subtlety with personality, using cuts, textures, and accessories to signal style intelligence.

Fit Over Flash

Nothing undermines style faster than poor fit. Indian designer, Nikhil Thampi, puts it bluntly, “Even expensive fabric and embroidery lose their impact if shoulders are oversized or trousers pool at the ankles. Weddings are celebratory, but polish comes from tailoring, not just embellishment.”