Print Preview – Sway the Indian Way 2.0!

May 20, 2015May 20, 2015 Shilpa17 Comments

A quick post this one! Ever since I launched a facebook page for my blog I haven’t been giving the usual life updates that I used to. Granted, I don’t lead a page3 life (not even page 16 if you ask me 😂) but it used to be fun, talking about completely random stuff. But going big means channeling and focusing on strengths which effectively put an end to these ancillary topics. *Sob. Sob.* However, here’s a “life update” I’m gonna have to give you! I’m learning STITCHING.!! Ahhhh!!! Yes its the most fun thing to do! I enrolled myself in a stitching class recently and boy am I having a ball – a cotton ball – a stitched cotton ball – hahaha! So far I’ve done a pillow cover (elementary my dear Watson!), a kids jubba, an A-Line dress (more on that later 😍) and now an umbrella skirt. Yay!

So when my teacher asked me to buy material for my next class which was going to be an umbrella skirt I didn’t quite know what print I wanted. I went shopping and a bit of picking and prodding ended with me getting a beautiful material. Add a class of sewing hemming and a lot of struggle and Ta-daaaa 😇😍🙌👇👗

I won’t say this skirt was easy for me to stitch. Especially the waist where I had to insert an elastic into a slit and sew up after that but I had fun all the same with my tailor-teacher. 😍📍✂📏😇

This skirt is basically a patchwork of odds and bits of plain and kalamkari prints which were probably in excess. It must have involved so much labor because use square you see there has been individually sewn to the next square. I got this running material for Rs.200 per meter x 3 meters. So for Rs.600 ($10) I have a lovely summery printed maxi ready!! 😍

Outfit Details : Plain T-shirt: Globus, Skirt: Material Color’s Choice Chennai, Stitched by yours truly, Necklace: Gift, Platform heels : Khadims Chennai.

I found a lot of Indian fabrics and prints in this skirt. Its a prettiest and the most satisfying thing I have done and/or worn in a long time. Hope you guys liked this post. Thank you so much readers for coming back and showing so much love every single time. 💝

Print Preview – 💃 Sway the Indian-Way 💃

May 17, 2015May 18, 2015 Shilpa17 Comments

Hi you guys! I am back (about time!) with yet another post about Prints!! Back when I did my first post – I dint think this theme through and chose florals as an individual post and went ahead with it. But then the very obvious struck me! Taking prints as a theme just brings in almost an entire genre of fashion into its purview and here I am trying to talk about prints in like four to five posts. Which is impossible. Which is not doing justice to the theme. Which is why I decided on this elaborate plan of choosing groups of prints per post and what better way to start than closest to home. So presenting to you – (cue music 😂) my take on INDIAN PRINTS! 😀

The fashion scene in India is pretty competitive (Indians – ‘nuf said) and growing. While designers love experimenting with colors and cuts there is something common across the country’s fashion industry- Embroidery!! Embroidery is so South Asian and specific to us that I bet its not even a considered as an option for the designers of the West. While prints have been prevelant from before embroidery came into the picture, the sheer workmanship and creativity one can display (and hence charge a bomb for,) through embroidery makes it a luxury and preferred favourite of the runway. So while embroidered-wear can sit snootily in the throne I am today going to embrace its less glamourous cousin Indian Prints because hey prints are here to stay!! 😀 They have been around for ages, they are at times handmade, they fit our purse strings and they are fun to work with and sport. For this post I have chosen four basic prints every Indian girl knows or should know!

Kalamkari

While I have yapped enough and more about Kalamkari on this blog to you before, heres what you need to know of what Kalamkari is all about !!

“Kalamkari is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India and in Iran. The word is derived from the Persian words ghalam (Pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen (Ghalamkar). The “kalam” or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, is entirely hand worked. Only natural dyes are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps.”

While in modern times, on the kalamkari dresses we wear, the parts about natural dyes and the “pain staking process” part might not be true, it is said that artisans still use their pens to touch up the lines and pictures created mechanically! So you say its handmade or nothing? Haha good for you bro, I am happy with a “fully machine made but thoda handmade bhi” tag too!

Chennaites looking for Kalamkari, the place you gotta be is Shilpi! (Nungambakkam or CP Ramasamy Road)

I have had a love affair with this Print and material right here on this blog several times before! See for yourself! 😀

Meanwhile, here’s how my favorite cousin styles kalamkari palazzo pants while vacationing in Thailand

Gosh! This chic knows to holiday in style!

Block Prints
Another traditional form of prints are block prints. This is another form of Kalamkari but its quicker and easier to make because they are block printed!

Anyone can try block printing because it works on a simple concept! You’ll know what I mean when you see this!!

Yes! We all, each one of us, could have become artisans had we had the vision mission and purpose when we were taught the highly messy, satisfying art of vegetable printing. Lel.

So blocks which basically look like this are available on etsy and amazon! Wet paint on them and plop them really hard on a fabric of your choice and you get your block print!

Block printing is widely used in India. It works really well on cotton and hence we Indians embrace it with two hands and two feet because a thing called winter is nonexistent here.

This Kurta – my all time favorite, is a really old block printed piece I have!

Also here’s how my school mate and friend Anusha loves her block prints

Anusha is giving western outfits and retail brands a run for their money by rocking New York in this block printed beautiful salwar kameez.

Nailing looks since 1990 can be a tagline for this cute fashionista friend of mine 💝😊 thanks Anusha for the contribution

Bhandhani

Bandhani is a type of tie and dye practiced mainly in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, India. The term bandhani is derived from the Sanskrit word banda (“to tie”). Bhandhini is tough process whereby a piece of cloth is tied up and covered in small loops at various places and then dyed. On drying these tied up portions are opened up and since they weren’t exposed to the dye they remain in the original shade.

Bhandhini is again a work of art special to Gujarat and Rajasthan (honestly how skilled and creative are these people?)

My friend Nandhini readily agreed to help me out with showing my readers how she styled her beautiful bhandhini saree. I love the way she has accessoried so perfectly for this saree!

How Nandhini? How do you manage to find the perfect accessories every single time 😍!

Bhandhini apart from being styled as sarees is really popular as dhupattas and skirts

Ikat

I must say I knew nothing about ikat until very recently. I call it the aztec of Asia. I saw this video about how ikat is done and it is such hard work!! Check out the video here :

Giving you the link because a) seeing it is so much better than reading about it and b) even describing the process seems like hard work for me 😐

I recently bought an AMAZING ikat short skirt and I’m surely posting about it soon. But for now lemme show you how some of the lovely girls I know styled and nailed this pattern!

Niveditha does Ikat in style with this boho type blouse. She has pulled it off with such grace and elan and she gets brownie points for such a fabulous backdrop 😍

My style crazy shopping crazy bestie preeti does Ikat in this party wear shirt and she sure has moved out of comfort zone and is rocking the look!!

While these are not all the prints that there are in India I have tried covering the main ones. Hope you enjoyed this long and long due post. Have a happy rest of the weekend peeps. Love y’all 😘

Print Preview-🌷🌸🌺Welcoming spring!🌻🌼🌹

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015 Shilpa10 Comments

A change in weather calls for a change in theme and a change in theme based on the weather calls for us to talk about the FLORAL PRINT! Associated with spring spirits from time immemorial the floral print is close to every woman’s heart and that’s why I chose this to be the first print we discuss in the new theme!

Having always been a representation of the free spirited woman there is something incredibly attractive, yet easy, grand and yet not at all made up about this print!

While western designers have used and over used this print for many years now, it is quite new in the Indian runway scene! A reason why this Anushree Reddy Lehenga was literally a runway-hit 😉

Using florals in blouses (crop tops used by Indian women while wearing a Saree!) have been around for a little longer!

Designers around the world have realized that women lap up anything floral. Why else would flowers be used in any and every surface used by women? 😊

(Floral headphones seriously? 😂)

So how did I incorporate this trend? Honestly, it wasn’t the toughest task guys.

No. I don’t know why I was holding onto my braid. 😑 in every single photo. Gosh. So moving on, I got this floral crop top at a Westside Sale. As I’ve said before, when it comes to crop top lengths, the struggle is real! 😰
So what was meant to be a crop top for a long- torso-ed person (see how I steer away from adjectives like tall, fit, et all?!) was in fact an almost full length top for me. Owing to this confused hemline, once again my high waisted red umbrella skirt came to the rescue! Honestly haven’t I overused this piece? The rest of the look was in subtle gold because I liked how the gold looked with my red skirt.

Outfit details : Crop top and heels- Westside, Skirt – Oasap.com, Shades and clutch – Polkadotandyou (Instagram Sellers), Earrings – Thrifted in the beautiful lanes of Mumbai!

There have in fact been other instances when I have worn florals right here on this blog! Like this one below 👇

Floral tights – Imasocool or what?😎😂

I am so looking forward to putting up some amazing posts in the Prints theme in weeks to come. And in my constant bid to make this blog more about every woman and not just me, I have already asked my friends to submit pictures of any quirky fun prints they own. I would be more than thrilled if you all would also send in pictures with any print you particularly love to frillthrillsindia@gmail.com ! Enjoy your long weekend Indian readers. I know I am going to! 💝😘

All images which don’t have my beautiful face on it are from Pinterest! 😉

Decoding – WorkWear – Work to Party In a Jiffy

March 29, 2015 Shilpa15 Comments

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 😀

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

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. 😂

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.

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 💃👍

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

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

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. 😜

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!

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 😍

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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 👇

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💃

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 🙂 have an amazing week ahead or like me just count the days till next Saturday. 🍹 😍💝

Fighting Blues!

March 15, 2015 Shilpa22 Comments

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.

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.

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!

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!

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 : 109° 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! 😀 have a great week. *grumble*

Inspiration for some Perspiration!

March 10, 2015March 11, 2015 Shilpa19 Comments

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.

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.

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! 🙂

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.

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!

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!!😂)

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!

(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!

March 6, 2015 Shilpa26 Comments

Hi y’all! A recent thrift shopping haul ended with me buying my first ever crop top. Technically its more of a cropped laced 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.

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?

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!

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

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:

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

Random Rambling

November 16, 2014 Shilpa21 Comments

I thought I should say hey to y’all since its been a while! So sit back and get ready to read a post filled with utterly random tidbits from my life! 😂

I at last watched the movie Gone Girl this weekend and the single best fitting adjective to describe the movie : W.E.I.R.D!

I mean…I really loved the acting, the beautifully different twists in the story line and even some characters…but the whole film as such – weird, the ending – weird, the way she is so hell bent on her psychotic goals in the beginning and somewhere down the line she losing her sense of purpose – weird. I have probably not evolved enough to wrap my head around such a complicated storyline, but whatever maybe the case, I didn’t come out of that theater feeling very thrilled with what I saw. On a completely different note however, Rosamund Pike, you beauty! 😍

Moving on, I recently splurged on this really cool set of water soluble pencil colors from staedtler.

And I have been going crazy using them. A sample if you must! 😝

So you just have to amateurishly scribble with the color pencil and then dab a wet brush over it to get a beautifully smooth water color texture.! Easy Peasy! 😍👏

Also, I was rummaging through my closet the other day, I figured I had this highly under-rated T-shirt. You know how comic T-shirts have been in vogue forever right? So this is a comic T-shirt too. It however isn’t the usual superman nor batman! Its not angry birds or minions! Its a cartoon of the happy but confused, loud but cheerful people and the general labyrinth of chaos so peculiar to my country India in general and my city Chennai in particular. 😍

It is such an easy to wear T-shirt and it is my go to when I’m going somewhere quick and I don’t have much time to think! Also, just looking at that T-shirt lifts my spirits! Doesn’t it? Wait check out the close up and decide for yourself!

I bought it off a small stall at the City Center mall in my city. Such Colorful! Much Wow! Ya? 😂😝
Have a fabulous week y’all! 🙂

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