Decoding – WorkWear – Work to Party In a Jiffy

Don’t we all secretly cringe at party invites on work days..oh that’s only me? Lazy ol’ me? Ok cool!

But yes when we have to attend an event, a party or a function on a week day the first thing (of the several other sometimes more pressing things to think about) is “what will I wear?” – touch the shrill wailing note for that one.

We have to wear something that is work appropriate for the morning and party appropriate for the evening and more often than not, we can’t carry a truckload of clothes or get a complete make over done in our office washrooms. What we could do instead is be smart about it and not attend work that day (because skipping a fun evening is out of the question..hello!). However, when bunking is not an option we have to get creative around our office outfit to make it party friendly. While there are so many quick fixes to aid this morning to evening transition and it isn’t possible to consolidate them all into one post I decided that at least the basic ideas could be shrunk into one.

First of, how do we define work wear? Serious – sober – pastel – simple and a host of other rather plain adjectives I suppose.
How now do we define party wear?
Fun – edgy – exciting – colorful – glittery and so on. So how does changing one aspect of our outfit and adding one accessory change serious to fun? Sober to edgy? Let’s see won’t we πŸ˜€

Look 1 : Get a skirt!
Day : My day look is a sky blue simple blouse with a pair of black trousers.

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I decided to keep the look clean and simple with my black bandage heels and a blue pair of studs. I also am carrying my actual handbag to give you the feel guys. 😂

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Outfit details : Blouse – Vero Moda, Trousers – Marks and Spencer, Heels – Bata, Handbag – Mumbai Thrift shopped

Evening : For the evening I think I should retain the blouse and change out of those boring trousers and heels. So here’s the transition.

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Is that edgy or what?!? So I decided to pair my formal blouse with a fun skirt and change the black heels to a gold glittering platforms and we are good to go 💃👍

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Oh and you might want to add some fun blingy earrings, a shimmer clutch and blood red lipstick to just to seal the look.

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Outfit details : Skirt – Oasap (online), clutch – Polkadotandyou (Instagram), Platforms – Westside, Lipstick – Colorbar (Sensuous Red of the Take me as I am collection), Earrings – Gift

Look 2 : Beach side party
Day : This one’s by my sister 😘. So the day look is a gray fitted sweater with a pencil skirt

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While my sister is nowhere close to working she for some reason hordes up on her formal wear so I’m not complaining right now. 😜

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Outfit : Sweater – Gift, Pencil skirt – Van Heusen Woman, Watch – Casio, Formal Heels – Durable Chrome Factory, Handbag – Rocky S Collection

Evening : The evening look is extremely casual. While its up to you to decide the appropriate look for each occasion, I would probably wear such a look for nowhere other than a beach or a house party where comfort is key!

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She essentially just left her hair down and got into a pair of shorts and flip-flops and gave the formal handbag a ditch for a simple peach clutch and the look was done. Easy-peasy eh? As a family I think we have a thing for red – red skirt red shorts red blazer red anything red everything 😍

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Outfit Details : Shorts : Mango, Clutch : Capresse, FlipFlops : Lotto (online from ssiplonline.com)

Look 3 : One for the Indian
We Indians have a lot of functions. So imagine you get such an invite or say you are heading to a classical dance programme post work and you can’t possibly sit all day at work looking grand and dancer like yourself. So here’s how you work it down

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So making a conscious effort to keep it simple, I have paired this silk kurta with a golden salwar.

Outfit Details : Kurta and salwar – FabIndia, Watch – Tommy Hilfiger, Handbag and Earrings – Thrifted Mumbai, Heels – Bata

Evening : For the evening I decided the simplest way to amp up traditional wear would be to go real heavy on the dupatta and accessories.

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Oh and I added this lovely golden handbag I recently bought. I haven’t so much as left this bag out of my sight for a second since I bought it and while so far I’ve been thinking of western outfits to wear it with, it was only with this outfit that I realized how well it completes and compliments a traditional look as well!

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Outfit details : Netted & Golden Embroidery work Dupatta from another anarkali from Varsidhi (Boutique in Chennai), Black stones set  of earrings and pendent- Narayana Pearls Chennai, Platform Heels – Westside, Golden Messenger Bag – Bags by Anqi (Instagram) – oh do buy a bag from this amazingly talented girl already 😍

Look 4 : Jumpsuit Transition
This look is brought to you all the way from Mumbai from my sweet cousin 😘 So this is how she dressed up and down a jumpsuit to make it office and party ready. This is possible when you invest in a plain jumpsuit in any dark color.

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She decided to play around with the fact that a jumpsuit could be seen as a trouser and shirt when layered well. So she paired an all black jumpsuit with a dark blue blazer and tied her hair back for serious official look.

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Outfit Details : Blazer – Gift, Jumpsuit – Only, Necklace – Swarovski, Bag – Thrifted Mumbai

Evening : This was the easier part because just removing the blazer and adding some fun statement accessories would do the trick so here’s how she did it 👇

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She literally let her hair loose and had fun.

Outfit Details : Necklace – Flea Market from Cannes, Footwear – Inc.5

She in fact had a previous photo she had taken with the jumpsuit at a party and she felt this would be the right time to flaunt it💃

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That brings us to the end of this extremely long post (on hindsight I should’ve probably split it into two posts but eh, whatever 😜. The more the merrier right?). This is probably my best post so far because of the work which went into its making. Hope you enjoy is as much as I did making it. Thank you Jaydeep for making me look like the model I most definitely am not. 😜

Also, for this Wednesday’s post, I would love it if you showed me how you change your morning look to your evening look. Do send in your entries to frillthrillsindia@gmail.com to feature on our blog πŸ™‚ have an amazing week ahead or like me just count the days till next Saturday. 🍹 😍💝

Decoding – Work Wear – Monday Fun day – MonoTurqoChrome

Let’s safely assume that by now you’ve all been waiting to find out how my Monday attire turned out! So here’s a quickie on how we incorporated the fun day concept!

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Wear new : My office bestie, blogging confidante, official photographer, and eternal motivator Preeti is all set to move onto bigger and better things in life (😘💝💔:() so as a parting gift she gave amazing turquoise beads. So there came my “wear new” in the form of a most thoughtful gift. 😍 I also very creatively paired this turquoise big beads with a thin gold triple layer chain. (Creatively can be read as flicked Pinterest idea. Ok thank you.)

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Wear Easy and Wear Light : I choose this plain white formal shirt and trousers because a) they go beautifully well with turquoise and b) I yelled my throat out to you guys to wear white did I not? How can I break my own rule? 😛

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Wear a smile : ⬇👇

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More like maniacal grin. Yes I’ll take that 😁💃

Outfit details : Shirt and Trousers – Marks and Spencers, Sandals – Westside (amazing collection of under Rs.1000 my footwear) Turquoise Beads – (gift) Forever 21, Gold Triple layer chain – FashionHub (online store)

Send in your entries for the Monday- Funday post quickly guys! Eager to see them 😍 Send it to frillthrillsindia@gmail.com or hashtag #frillthrills and I’ll hunt your outfit down! 😛

Decoding – Work Wear – Making Monday Fun-day!

Monday morning blues – a universal term even Martians can relate to don’t you think readers? That said, I have in this post, tried to decode what fashion-wise we can do, to coax ourselves to get out of bed and head to start the week off on a positive note! Let’s begin!

1) Wear new. That was an easy one I suppose, but to me that has the biggest impact. Being the fashion and discount hunters that we are, we always have something new stowed in our wardrobe. Whatcha waiting for readers? Studies show 87% of women release their new clothes on Monday (Nah! Just made that up. Studies show 97% of the statistics quoted are made up. 😂;)) So chop off those price tags and strut your new stuff on Mondays! Do we need better Monday motivation?

Some of my Monday releases in the past have included things as simple as new earrings ⬇

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Or a pair of new shoes

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Let them even small things like new shades!

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So we get the drift don’t we? Make the simplest things count! Makeup, scarf, hairstyle, kurta, handbag, even a hankie if you must, if you have a yet to release piece, the best day to do it would be MON-YAY!

2) Wear Easy and wear light. While most of you might not be into incorporating colors of the day into your outfit, (my mom used to religiously follow this for long. So I’m aware of this color coding) try sticking to Whites or any light pastel tones. Whether this numerologically and astrologically impacts you is a different subject all together, but what its sure to do is make you look smart yet simple, bright yet calm, crisp yet subtle on Mondays which makes you so much more likeable than when you are probably in an angry red shaded shirt or a bright green shaded Salwar Kameez (pssst..a no-work-done Friday needs a not-so-pissed-off boss on Monday remember?;))

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White brings out the color of my….Ok..teeth! 😝

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Note to self and the world. An all pastel dress code is NEVER a bad idea. ⬆

And that brings us to our last and most important point:

3) Wear confidence and wear a smile. Honestly, that’s the best accessory in the world girls. So wear anything, wear nothing (oh that’s a bit scandalous) but don’t forget to turn on the charm. Let’s face it. Would you like to walk into work and see your colleagues grumpy faced? So flash ’em pearlies and walk tall and charming into work. Remember, that’s half the work done ladies!

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Have a great weekend and here’s hoping you incorporate some if not all these suggestions this Monday πŸ™‚ if you did, don’t forget to tell me. 👍

P.S.: A long paragraph to ensue but please do read it. I have to tell you guys this. Big blogging changes are coming up guys. So I decided to listen to my friend’s advice about sticking to a theme per month. So this month is the Work wear month. Every theme gets three to four posts from me. A post per week. Through those three to four weeks I will remind (read: beg/request/bully) you guys to share with me your outfits which relate to that theme in any way and the last post of a particular theme will be a compilation of all my guests’ outfits. 😍 I’m in love with this idea and can’t wait for it to start.

So to begin with, send in your Monday wear (preferably with a small description about the outfit) to frillthrillsindia@gmail.com and get ready to walk down the frillthrills red carpet!! Sometimes I flatter myself a tad bit too much.😝 Hah! Take care. 💝

Fighting Blues!

Are cringing and complaining the first reactions you have on waking up on a bright Sunday morning too? Is that like..normal? The thought that the weekend is 50% over just beats out the “the glass is half full” kinda optimism out of me. So to help you (and me for that matter) push those sad Monday blues out, I’m showing you how fun blue can get with this “all blue” outfit.

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After months and months of searching tirelessly, I at last found the right pair of light blue jeans readers. And I honestly couldn’t have been happier.

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I paired my perfect blue jeans with this midnight blue with white star printed shirt and with my blue Aldo loafers.
Sometimes I find that going high on various shades of a single color works after all when we tread with caution and don’t go over board. Do try the technique with soft shades like blue, peach, cream, green etc and SHOW ME!

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In this case for example, a kind of balance was restored, or so I would like to think, by bringing in many aspects of white into the look. Any pastel shade would actually do the trick, black and white being the perfect colors that they are, would do the trick even better!

That brings us to that one accessory which I’ve never shown on this blog though it has been with me for ages now, my Rocky-S bag!

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Woohoo dont you like love that bag ? What with the golden zippers and metal rings it gives the whole bag such a “I’m the boss” look.

Ever since I went public about this blog, I have had some amazing suggestions about how to make my blog work better and reach out to more people effectively. I’m so glad I have such a receptive creative and helpful bunch of friends. Shout out to one friend in particular who just killed it (nailed it more like) with his amazing ideas about how Frillthrills could grow into a household name. Jaydeep I’m totally capitalizing on the free advise you gave me and the ones I am going to get soon. Thank you. 💝 after all its not every day you meet your extra ordinarily smart friend who has a flair for ideas about literally everything under the sun. Remember that story about being able to sell refrigerators to Eskimos? That’s my friend for you. 😎

Outfit details :

Light blue jeans : 109Β° F (Lifestyle), Starry shirt : Fast fashion Besant Nagar (have you checked out that store already?) Bag : Rocky S (Shopper’s stop), Shoes : Aldo, Watch : Fossil

Have you guys gone high on one color like I did? What contrasting or complimenting color did you guys use to subtle down the look then? Tell me! Show me! πŸ˜€ have a great week. *grumble*

Inspiration for some Perspiration!

While I have dabbled in some sort of physical activity from when I was about 6 years old (yes my mom claims she caught glimpses of the dancer stowed away in the depths of my cranium right when I was SIX YEARS OLD. Can’t you beat that can you?) I have never focused so much on how what you wear plays a significant role in your performance as I am realizing now. Ever since I have taken to running I’ve started taking a conscious effort to dress appropriately. Now let me tell you, this post is not going to make you fashion-wise any wiser because today baby its all about COMFORT!
So, as I was saying, dressing appropriately for running means wearing something which feels like your second skin, which you are super comfortable in. Five basic rules of thumb (is that the correct plural form? Never mind!) include the following:

1. Choose that outfit which involves least hindrance. While we might like nothing better than to wear a sports bra and sprint on the street we know that that’s not happening in India anytime soon. So your alternative would be to be smart and choose a climacool sweat absorbing pair of shorts or tights and T-shirt which isn’t too loose or tight.

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2. Put a leash on that mane. Don’t forget you are preparing to sweat it out. Keep your hairstyle as fuss free as possible. A simple high – out of your face – ponytail is the best hairstyle for workouts.

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3.Fluorescents for safety. Become a living siren. Go all out fluorescent if you plan on working out on the roads especially before dawn or after dusk. Safety and grabbing eyeballs at the same time? Yes please! πŸ™‚

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3. Restrict the gadget freak in you to the bare minimum. Personally, even my watch is a burden for me when I run. While deciding how much is too much is totally up to you, do realize that these gadgets take away the beauty of the workout itself. After all, that might be the only time of the day you can stay completely clear of calls and the social media. Make the most of that time concentrating on your body and mind and not on gadgets.

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4. Brand consciousness is a good thing. The only place where being brand conscious actually makes a difference is sportswear. Be it shoes, tights, t-shirts or shorts, out of personal experience I’ve realized the hard way that good brands last way longer than thrifty buys and it is definitely worth every penny investing in good quality sports wear. Think about it. You are not setting fashion statements in your gym or on the roads. So buy minimally, but whatever you buy, go branded!

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4. Footwear faux pas. Read up extensively on the signs to look out for, for footwear wear and tear and be observant and mindful of the same. I cannot and need not stress the importance of good footwear. This point goes beyond just looking good. Shoes used is like the make or break of your fitness routine so be wise. (It might just deprive you of two months of shopping for the regular boring t-shirts and tunics. And honestly those t-shirts and tunics aren’t sprouting legs and running away anywhere anytime soon so footwear people footwear!!😂) 

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5. Just to make it to five points. Finally, know that working out is the happiest thing you’ll probably be doing that day. So go crazy, be yourself and have some well deserved fun the fit way!

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(Love the burpees T-shirt…dafuq burpees go away. We all hate you! Lel!)

All pictures from pinterest

Hope you enjoyed the post. While I have told nothing you probably havent already heard a dozen times before, I hope they motivate you to stay suave trendy and safe while working out. Hope the week is panning out well so far! Have a great rest of the week. So long!🙋

P.S. I decided I could come out of the closet (lol) and tell the world about my blog. So I have opened a Facebook page and linked my Instagram account too! So much for taking the blog to the next level!

Shilpa Does CropTop!

Hi y’all! A recent thrift shopping haul ended with me buying my first ever crop top. Technically its more of a cropped lacedΒ  overcoat than top, but whatever!
It is a beautiful peachy pink laced box fit cropped overcoat and needless to say, I loved it the minute I saw it.

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I bought the top with much confidence and gusto about being able to pull it off because I’m known to throwing body shape related caution to the winds and dive headlong into clothes and all that (didn’t you actually imagine me diving headlong into an imaginary tub full of clothes? I did. 😜). However, I come home and realize this over coat is not cropped enough! Have you faced such a situation readers? Where your cropped top is just too long?

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I would like to think and explain with flair and grandeur that I thought and pondered about the issue in hand for long before an idea struck me. But meh..that however ain’t true guys, it struck me almost immediately that the simplest way out was to stick to a same color tone for my T-shirt and jeans so that the torso appears longer and hence the crop top shorter! Voila!

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With my black T-shirt and skinnies, I wore the peach statement necklace which has appeared once previously in this post!

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I completed the look with a pair of earrings in a shade close to that of the necklace. I have, in more than one occasion been able to get away with accessories not exactly in the same shade because somehow the colors reflect on each other and look more or less like the same shade and that’s good enough and the world can live with that!
I…er…also…may or may not have used my gold eyeliner to fill in the triangle formed by the corner of my winged eye makeup and the inside edge of my eyes to look all glittery and shimmery. May or may not have guys….just giving y’all the benefit of that doubt. 😂

As per popular request, I have also decided to specifically mention where each part of the outfit was picked from which is a format almost every non-lazy and non-Shilpa blogger follows, so here goes:

Cropped overcoat : Fast fashion (a small but well stocked shop in Besent Nagar) | Black T-shirt and statement necklace : Globus | Jeans : Waves | Watch : Tommy Hilfiger | Wedges : Westside | Earrings : Thrifted (of a vendor in a the local trains of Mumbai 😜)

That would be all from me folks. Have a great weekend! I sure am having one !💃

Major sequin crush

Its unfair you guys. Its unfair how some of you have found your perfectly sequined piece to add glamour to your wardrobe when I have searched the lengths of my world in vain.

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Wherever and whenever I see an outfit involving sequins I imagine wearing them and immediately I get the image of a dance performance in the middle of which I have come to show off my dance appropriate sequin piece to my minds eye.

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That thought disturbs and disgruntles me enough to meekly place that outfit back in its shelf and walk to other familiar shelves silently!!

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I have never bought sequins, albeit thinking and dreaming about them half a million times a day, every day. And I choose to end that by Rhonda Byrne’s mechanism of positively wishing for it so that my universe schemes towards making that perfect sequined wardrobe addition I’ve been waiting for pop in front of me!

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Using a pop of sequin and still managing to make the whole outfit look like you haven’t tried too hard is pretty achievable is what I gathered when I dug into the Pinterest ocean for sequin outfit inspiration!

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photo courtesy : Pinterest

Hope my sequin crazy bug bit you just as hard after seeing all these beautiful outfits and accessories involving the sequin! Happy hunting for your perfect glitter statement piece. Wish me luck while I look for mine!