Print Preview Finale!! – TOW the Quirkies!

June 6, 2015 Shilpa5 Comments

Title inspiration : Friends! 😝😍

Aaanyways! Hi you guys! As a final part of this print preview series, I bring to you quirky prints as the theme. So what qualifies as a quirky print? Any pattern which is actually decipherable and isn’t meant to be on a dress – like a face! or pineapples! or tea cups! or hair dryers (what? It’s a possibility Ok?)

All dressed for an office party! The only kinda party I attend! 😂

Since any and every unual print qualifies as quirky I’m going to restrict myself to just a few. So what you see above is a really cool tribal print bubble top. I bought this one online off an Instagram account for 300 bucks can you believe that? 😍😊
When a lot is going on in one piece of your outfit it’s often a wise idea to restrict the chaos and have every other piece quite plain. That’s why I paired that top with a red blazer and blue jeans!

Other fun(ny) prints include the famous pineapple printed crop tops and shorts which has taken over the F21 and HM market! I love them but not enough to buy them yet! 😂
Here are some really different prints I came across on Pinterest!

Typewriters have never looked this good. Agreed?

A big moustache creeps me out only in real apparently!

Also, here’s my take on these fun prints!

This is the famous iron box printed kurti my sister owns. Since she’s too busy to pose for me (😕 uh-huh) I decided to put a look book of sorts with that piece. So I paired it up with my sister’s knee length denim shorts and a pashmina shawl (my proud possession. Lol) This print never fails to turn some heads and others find it to be an easy conversation starter when she wears it. Its quirky and pretty cheap and we had no reason to not love it 😊

Outfit Details : Iron box printed Kurti – Aakriti by Pantaloons | Knee length denim shorts – Bare Denim | Pashmina Shawl – Thrifted off the beautiful streets of Delhi.

That’s all for today’s post my beautiful readers. Do you have any such fun prints which make heads turn too? Tell me! I’m all ears 😀🙉

Also, watch this space for some amazing outfit posts and website recommendations in the days to come! Have an amaze-balls weekend! 💝 Ciao!

Print Preview – Western Symmetry

June 1, 2015June 1, 2015 Shilpa9 Comments

Its Monday my dear readers and publishing this post will probably be the best thing I’ll be doing today. 😟😀 Today’s post is about a few western prints. When I think western prints I think geometry I think precision and I think formals. I don’t know why, but all that comes to my mind are these prim and proper pencil skirts and A-line dresses but let’s try and break that stereotype henceforth shall we 🙂

Houndstooth Print

The houndstooth print became pretty famous last year with it taking over the runway and many blogs too. I love (with a capital L) monochromes so I had no problems embracing the houndstooth print.
The houndstooth is literally in the shape of a houndstooth. No really. 😛

This print started being used in predominantly every outfit possible. Skirts, blazers, scarfs, entire dresses, etc. Since its basically a black and white (mostly) print it lends itself beautifully to bright colors like red, yellow, violet, pink and so on…and on.. 😉

This is how I styled this print!

While you get skirts and dresses with really big houndstooth prints I chose really tiny prints because..well…I’m not exactly petite and nothing gives that fact away like big prints. 😂

Outfit Details : Houndstooth shirt : Fast Fashion | Chino Trousers : Marks and Spencers | Nude Pumps : Westside | Purse : Lifestyle from Lifestyle | Shades : Rayban

Chevron Print

Chevron is basically an Multi National Company and their logo is basically two downward arrow heads. For some reason this print grew really popular about a couple of years ago and what’s more, they decided to call it Chevron, the name of the company that originally designed it. Ha.

So chevron is one all-rounder print let me tell you! It lends itself as much to outfits as it does to home decor!! Don’t believe me? Google it! Also here’s what I did with the chevron print for home decor. (Warning! This was when I used paint and canvas for the first time in my life. So shoddy painting ahead!)

Outfit wise, the chevron print again is used on any and every outfit. They are a special favorite of the shift / shirt dresses because the vertical downward arrows and lines give some amount of shape which is clearly lacking in those dress styles. I have no dress which has this cool print yet. I’ll get one soon!! 😤
After publishing this post, Nandhini, my running inspiration and reader of my blog told me she had an outfit in this Chevron print and so sweetly and readily agreed when I asked her if I could put it up on my blog! So here you go! Nandini owning the chevron in this mint and white peplum chevron top for you!

Thanks Nandini for contributing to my blog (again!) You’re a savior 💝🙏😍

Polka Dots
Polka dots is a classic. Its so 80s I feel like an old time heroine whenever I wear it. Nope that’s not same as feeling old. Nope. 😂 Polka dots are everyone’s favorite and everyone has at least one Polka dotted outfit as a matter of principle! 🙏
I have styled my polka with stripes once on the blog before.

I also own a beautiful polka dress which I am just realizing I’ve never shown you guys before.! 😱

Yes. Short hair.! 😍 so long ago!
Also, here’s how my fashionista friend Madhu satisfied her polka craving.

I love the frills on her sleeve and her choice of shoes too! Thank you Madhu for contributing to my blog. I couldn’t have asked for a better outfit or photo! Yayy 💝💝

Outfit details (mine) : Polka shirt – Thrift shopped in Mumbai | Striped T-shirt – Waves Chennai | Polka Dotted Dress – Max

Outfit details (Madhu) : Polka Cardigan – Splash | Black Jeans – Calvin Klein

Symmetrical patterns

While all things east are handmade and labor intensive, they can’t and they don’t follow much symmetry. This symmetry is more than achieved in western machine made outfits and don’t we love them. 😇
I recently bought this diamond print silk jacket from Vesa Online and here’s how I styled it again for this post.

This jacket defines style in so many ways for me. Its classy, its colorful, it’s rich in material, its Indian in texture but western in print. Ufff! I love it!

Also,going completely off topic, guess what readers? I STITCHED THAT DRESS.!! 💃🍹🍻🎶🎊🎉🎇
Yes that’s right! If you’ve been following my blog I made no bones about my stitching experiments and this dress is one of its results. Its a bit loose (I might have cringed and cribbed about how loose it is if someone else had stitched it, but now I use “bit loose” 😂) but its a labor of love and I can’t but love it two hands and two legs. This is how I styled it without the coat!

I cinched it up at my waist with my tan belt to give it some shape.

Outfit Details : Dress – Stitched by me | Jacket – Vesa online | Platform Heels – Westside | Tan Belt – Lifestyle

That’s all from me readers. Thank you so much for coming back and reading and loving my blog every single time. Have an amazing week ahead!

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. 💝

5 Not at all Annoying Questions people ask Fashion Bloggers!

April 22, 2015 Shilpa19 Comments

What is it like when you reveal to the world you are an amateur fashion blogger? Its funny how people ask you the same set of not at all irritating questions and make not at all punch-worthy comments 😝 yes that was pun heavily intended there. :mrgreen:;) If you’ve been there done that to a fashion blogger, henceforth just, don’t. Please. 😂

1. Do you spend your entire salary on clothes?

Yes most definitely and then I steal money for food, rent, and gas. 😇 Truth be told, I try to eat my clothes, try to live in my clothes and try to shove my clothes down the gas pipe of my car and that’s how I survive. 👍😑

2. “She’s pretty self(ie) obsessed”

Follows you on Instagram Facebook and WordPress and calls you self obsessed for every post. 😐 maybe you’re obsessed about me and my obsession. How about that huh? 😝

3. You’re a fashion blogger. How can you come dressed like THAT?!? – employ a “I’m trying to be smart and funny” tone to that one.

You are a human being. How could you come into this world processed to ask these dumb questions like THAT!?! – employ “truly amazed by the beauty of life” tone to that one. 😝

4. Ho.! So that’s going on your blog next.

Gosh you smartie… 😨😱Had Einstein heard you he would have adopted you. Wonder how that smart brain of yours looks so small. As small as a pea maybe? 😤😜

5. When do you intend monetizing your blog

Ummm…I don’t know, when do you intend monetizing the sleep inducing subjects you decide to talk about. When? When? Whe….zzzz! 😴

Decoding – WorkWear – What’s your Go To Quirk?

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015 Shilpa20 Comments

Haven’t we all had weeks where its just Wednesday and we be like “What? Shouldn’t it have been Friday already?” You say every week of yours is like that? Hehe shhh! 🙊But when we have such slow weeks what do we do? How do we survive through the rest of the week? While I don’t know about guys, girls I do know have a go-to style of dressing to help them get over the week. This week’s post is all about this Go-To Quirk which we all have and so many pretty friends of mine willingly agreed to share their Quirk for the Tough Week.

Quirk One : Preeti makes pretty statements

I for one know for a fact that when Preeti my friend and colleague brings out her amazing range of statement necklaces it means she’s heating her week up because not much has been happening. It’s true isn’t it?

Inference : Amp up your simple boring dress! Accessorize like there is no tomorrow!

Quirk 2 : Ranjini Does Layers

When I asked Ranjini what her go to quirk was she readily shared this picture of her in several layers. While this was in a colder country, I’m guessing her quirk (like one of my many quirks) is layering, either in thermals like the pic above or in cool cottons when she heads back to the ever tropical ever hot Chennai 🙂 thank you Ranjini 😘 try as I might, I just wasn’t able to crop out the stray napkin sorry. Hahaha

Inference : Love your layers. Always remember, two’s better than one!

Quirk 3 : Pastel style by Srishty

I must confess, when Srishty of Life Of srish shared this picture of her in pastel formals she might not have been aware that I’ll use it for this particular post. Thank you so much Srishty and I can confidently say Going Pastel is her quirk because we had a discussion a few posts ago about how no one embraces their pastels and srishty quite strongly agreed and openly declared her love for pastels too!

Inference : Pastels may not add much color but they add so much confidence and focus. Embrace them pastels because work wear is incomplete without them!

Quirk 4 : Shilpa does eye blinding color

While I plan on doing a detailed post about Pakistani Cut Kurtis like the one I’m wearing above, this picture is only proof that my dull days get literally brightened up with eye popping, gaze blinding colors.

Inference : Quite a contrast and a contradiction to the previous Quirk but my quirk is to add lot of color to my outfit to bring back interest and add some life into my outfit!

That brings me to the end of this post. Thank you so much all you lovely girls who so readily contributed for my post! I owe you guys one. 😘

Thank you all for reading these posts patiently but right now close this work wear post because its weekend and honestly who cares about what you wear – work or otherwise? Go out and have some fun 💝

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. 🍹 😍💝

Decoding – Work Wear – Monday Fun day – MonoTurqoChrome

March 24, 2015March 24, 2015 Shilpa8 Comments

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!

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.)

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? 😛

Wear a smile : ⬇👇

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! 😛

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 !💃

Major sequin crush

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015 Shilpa9 Comments

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

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!

I got my Neon this – Part III

February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 Shilpa30 Comments

Well hello all you lovely people! In a rather brave bid to resume my rather braver attempt to document how to style neon in a four post series, I bring to you post number three!!! Incorporating neon into workwear if you please ladies. 😎 (You can also check out parts One and Two here and here)

While its easy to incorporate neon accessories into work wear; which I gather from Pinterest, is a commonly done thing, I wanted to figure out a way to bring neon into the actual outfit. Some pinspiration before I show you the real deal maybe?

So on sifting through the fashion encyclopedia that is Pinterest, here’s what I realized. Repeat after me “neon is not over the top.” 💅 “Neon is our friend.”👠 “What do we love? NEON! When do we wear it? NOW!”💝😂

With all that zest and enthusiasm I did just what needed to be done *rubbing palms and giving evil grin emoji* I neon-ed my office bright and clear! 🙌

I chanced upon this totally cool really small shop in Chennai which sells export rejects at one tenth the price. It was there that I fell in love with this silk neon blouse.

While the brightness of the neon doesn’t reach you through these pictures, some jokes my stupid gang of work friends cracked about its neony-ness might just help you get the drift!

1. NASA heard back from its Mars mission. They spotted Shilpa. #ShilpaRoast #Orangestellar (yes ShilpaRoast was a running hashtag in our WhatsApp group the whole day!😐😝)

2. A blind man walked up to Shilpa today and asked “Mam don’t you think that top is too bright?” #BlindingBright #FaDuq #ShilpaRoast

3. The whole office assembled at the safe zone area because the fire alarm went off. The all clear signal was at last issued at six in the evening. #Shilpaleftfortheday #ShilpaRoast

So you get a rough idea of how things went don’t you? 😂😂
Anyway, coming back,

I maintained the bling and the rest of my look to a restricted minimum. With a pearl pendent on a gold chain and matching pearl earrings and my gold Tommy Hilfiger watch.

I completed the look with my dark orange pumps and my M&S fitted trousers.

That brings me to the end of my post. So what do you think bloggers? Is neon worthy enough of getting a place in your work wear closet? If you ask me, I would say, “you gottto get your (k)nee-on this!!! Goodbye! Have a lovely weekend. 💝

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