Trends I have to try! Like SERIOUSLY HAVE TO!

I had so many content related photo shoot kinda posts ready and yet I chose to put up a trends to try post today! Nah I’m just kidding! I had a horribly busy week and weekend so I had no time for a post and hence ba-dum-tssss a “trends to try” post!! ๐Ÿ˜

So diving right into the topic, this is a list of new and not so new trends which I have been wanting to try for so long now, but I just haven’t been able to lay my hands on the perfect piece of each trend so the wait continues! ๐Ÿ˜” I’m also realising that I probably should have released this post before my birthday so my friends could have used it like a checklist to buy me my gifts (Lel level max!) 

1. Co-ordinates (or co-ords as they are coolly called!) 

   

   
Remember when we were in school in kindergarten and we were dressed in these matching skirt and blouse pieces? Well they are back in trend now, so bring em matching matchings out! Or head over to http://www.stalkbuylove.com where you can find yourself some cool coords! (Psst..the plain orange upon orange one is mine! Stay off that piece ๐Ÿ˜‚)

2. Tassel / Fringe bag 

   

   
Have you like found a trend really gross when it first hit the ramp and then you slowly and gradually graduated to really loving them? (Like the Birkenstocks!?!)  That’s what happened to me with these Bags! They scream laid back street style like nothing else and what’s funny is that, that’s one style I can never pull off … Like nevaaa! ๐Ÿ˜‘

3. Pineapple print everything 

   

    
 
What’s with the pineapple print craze anyway? That’s a question you won’t find me asking because I’m going crazyyyy sillyyyy over this print! And I think this will be the first among this list of trends I might actually end up trying! They are so fresh summery and comfy! Whats the complain? ๐Ÿ˜†

4. Jumpsuits ๐Ÿ˜’๐Ÿ˜ข

   

   
Being short, not really thin and kinda broad and … (Ya you get the drift don’t you?) is a real bummer when the trend you want to try is a jumpsuit! This was one trend I was kinda ashamed to write about because ummm…jumpsuits…ummm…fashion blogger kinda obvious I would have to have at least one jumpsuit right? WRONG! ๐Ÿ˜ก๐Ÿ˜ก because I seem to never find one that fits me horizontally AND vertically ๐Ÿ˜‚

5. The flowy synthetic maxi skirt 

   

    
  

Wow..that might be my favorite trend to try ..the maxi! While I do have wrap arounds and maxis in cotton I don’t have one in this supremely figure accentuating and beatifically falling sheer or synthetic material and I really want one! (Yup I’ll give you my shipping address! Please? ๐Ÿ˜ญ) 

So that’s a round up of the trends I want to and have to try peeps! Tell me what your trends to try are and we can both obsess about them too ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜ sounds like a plan? Haha ! Have a nice weekend readers! Let’s hope we get through this week in one piece ๐Ÿ˜‚

P.S.: Source for every picture was Pinterest by the way! 

LookBook Series : Tan Bag Look #2 High-Teas and Haughtyย 

Welcome back guys! It’s that time of the week again and while it’s like any other awful Monday for people like me, I know it must be a god-awful Monday for my readers from the West after their super long weekend and all! And for that, I’m truly happy! Huhuhu ๐Ÿ˜ˆ๐Ÿ˜ˆ

So for today’s post, while I have tried to keep my tan bag the centre of attraction, I can’t deny the fact that there is one other piece which kinda grabs the spotlight and that my friends is this gorgeous dress!  

shiny shiny beacuse Im sweaty sweaty!
 

This is a dress I bought from Eshakti ages ago. Now picture this! This beauty has been sleeping in the wardrobe of a fashion blogger for close to 7 months now – unworn, untouched – could there be a worse plight for a dress? Nah.

  
I thought the embroidery of the dress would beautifully bring out the lace detailing on the bag but what it ended up doing in afraid is stealing the spotlight for itself. Cheeky cheeky CHEEKYYY! 

This dress in my opinion screams sophistication and hence that title for this post ๐Ÿ‘ป   
    
    

   
    

  

  

  

  

  

 

Fit and flare dresses are really the rage now. And the best part about them is that they do justice to the not so petite ones (like ahem ahem me) by cinching at the waist and the really petite ones by flailing below the waist beautifully! Hope this blog motivated you to think about buying that fit and flare that has been lawling about in your online shopping cart for way too long! ๐Ÿ˜†

I learned about Eshakti through blog posts of other American bloggers and I decided to visit that site strictly for “window shopping” ๐Ÿ˜‚ but their amazing collection and their beautiful idea of customising every aspect of the dress just got to me. I was lucky because I had someone coming down to India from the States at this same time and so I asked them to bring it ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜ so it’s basically an Indian brand even having a branch office of sorts in chennai (my city) shipping their products from Gurgaon (another city in my country) to the U.S. (Not my country) from where I got it to chennai through a friend. WHY YOU NO OPEN IN INDIA Eshakti?? ๐Ÿ˜”

Outfit details : Dress – eshakti.com, Bag – Bags by Anqi (Instagram), Watch – Tommy Hilfiger, Shoes – Westside 

That would be all from me folks! Do you have your perfect fit and flare dress and the perfect tan bag to go with it? Tell me what you think! Have a great week ahead! Stay happy stay sassy!  โœจโค๏ธโœจ

P.S while I thank everyone who readily agree to click pictures of me right after I awkwardly request them to, it’s my sister who has been constantly clicking my looks when I’ve got no one else to do it and strangely I’ve never gotten around to thanking her!! Thank you so much Anukutty (embarrassed? ๐Ÿ˜ˆ) half my posts wouldn’t have gone up if it weren’t for you!  ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿณ

LookBook Series : Tan Bag Look #1 Casual Grunge

Hi y’all! It’s Monday all over again *fake yayyys and faker hi-5s to you* and before you get into the daily grind here’s a post to cheer you up!

TAN! There is something about this color…I share a connect of sorts with it! Whenever I go shopping I am drawn magically to anything Tan/brown and that’s why, when I was vigorously stalking Instagram one day night midnight and came across this Tan Bag, I knew I wanted it. Buy it, I did, and hence what better way to flaunt it than starting right here!

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I kept this look really light and casual!! Pinterest is crazy about the denim and tan-bag look and I loved that idea!! So in comes the over-used over-sized denim shirt! ๐Ÿ˜‹

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I was looking at the security who realised we were clicking pictures and was yelling at us for it! ๐Ÿ˜€

I decided to pair my light blue denim shirt with dark blue denim jeans (what a creative genius! ๐Ÿ˜‚) and decided to wear gold and brown accessories like my Peter pan collar necklace under my regular collar, my gold watch, and these brown gold sandals I flicked just for that day from the sister!
๐Ÿ‘œComing to bag!!๐Ÿ‘œ Ba-Dum-Tssss ๐ŸŽผ! I loved loved simply loved the lace detailing in the bag on the sides. It’s very structured but made of very soft leather and hence I was able to stuff all the random things I carry in my handbag to work (how do men walk into work carrying absolutely nothing? How!??) It has an adjustable and removable sling and golden buckles! A close up if you wish!

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Tan and lace - two things I love, in one bag!

Outfit details – Denim shirt : Thrifted, Jeans : Levi’s, Tan Bag : Bags by Anqi (Instagram – @bagsbyanqi), Sandals : Bata, Watch : Tommy Hilfiger, Peter pan collar chain : Globus, Sunglasses : Claire’s

That would be all from me folks! Hoping to add a couple of more looks styled around the versatile Tan Bag. Tell me if you enjoy the concept and tell me the colors and outfits you would pair it with. Have a great week. ๐Ÿ’Ÿ๐Ÿ’ž๐Ÿ’Ÿ

The Six Yard Story!

Upping their saree gameย – a feat every Indian girl wants to nail-is pretty simple to achieve. Tie your saree as frequently as possible and not be sorry about it. ๐Ÿ˜› (See what I did there) Buhaha!

the six yard story

 

I for one love my sarees and love to explore the different ways I can tie it and the different ways I get to stitch my blouse! Thats precisely why, whenย Sareez – The online storeย approached me to do a postย featuring them, I was more than willing! Upping my sareeย game and strutting around and getting clicked in a fabulous saree? Count me in!! ๐Ÿ˜€ For this post I chose from the WIDE collection of sareez.com a half-and-half or whats called a partly saree, where the pallu or the part of the saree I drape over my shoulder is of one color and the pleats or the fan like shape the saree takes below the waist is of a totally different color, giving it two-piece feel!

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I lovedย Sareez.comย for more than just a few reasons. Their range is just ginormous (is that a word?) and their filters are amazing – price filters, occasion filters, saree color filters and even saree material filters! Woohoo! Their quality is a next plus – right from their packing (if you are sending it as a gift to someone, you should probably remove the first “few” layers of packaging.. lol.. its so well packed! :P) and the quality of their product. I have beenย very skeptical about buying sarees online, but what you see is truly what you get here. Also, for a small fee they even stitch your blouse and give you the skirt required for the saree. Yayy!

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This is a designer synthetic saree with golden and broze embroidery and detailing. It has a beatiful three-fourths sleeve black blouse and its a perfect party wear kinda saree. I decided to go simple on the accessories and chose this beautiful pearl earrings (twas a gift! gift! gift! ๐Ÿ˜€ ) and chose my tommy hilfiger watch and my glitter clutch!

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Also, (dont laugh at me now!) in an attempt to improve my blogging Iย shot a video for this saree!! Sharing the link here!

These beautiful video and the amazing photos were captured by Ranjini Ramesh.ย Thank you so much Ranjini! This post wouldnt have been half as beautiful or colorful ifย it wasnt for you. :* Follow her on Insta hereย Hereย and her youtube channelย here!ย If you want such beautiful videos done, dont hesitate to ping her at ranjini.ramesh14@gmail.com!

Outfit Details : Saree – c/oย sareez, earrings – gift (I think it was thrifted in Mumbai! Correct me if Iam wrong gifter :P), Watch – Tommy Hilfiger, Clutch – PolkaDot and You (Instagram)

Thatt would be it from me folks! Have a fabulous monday (er..ok) and an amazing week too! Oh and its my Birthday! WISH ME!

 

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Just for Laughs! :’D

Shades of Summer! ~ Ft. Just my luck by A&M

The change of climate is such a looked forward to event in the west…closets, schedules, timings and emotions all change with changes in the seasons. My country in general and my city in specific however (here we go!) has just one two climates – summer without rains and summer with rains. Yes. YES. So basically we are wet for 8 months of the year because of sweat and wet for the remaining 4 months of the year because of…wait for it…sweat + water (rains!) We have no anticipation or nervousness while pulling back our curtains every morning or while checking the daily weather forecast. We are the land of the risen sun. We do sunny. forever. period.

All that being said, we have some major advantages. We can use every piece of clothing through the year without thinking about things like transitions or changing wardrobes like three-four times a year. We get to plan for that road trip we have been meaning to take in December or May or August without giving a thought to any factor other than our mood (really!) We enjoy parks and flowers and lawns and hills and sands and beaches through the year. We do sunny forever and you’ll find us really happy about that!

As an ode to this Indian Summer, here’s a really summery and bright and vibrant outfit I put together. Its the perfect sunny-sunny and the sunny-but-rainy outfit you can probably lay hands on!!

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This is a beautiful dress which is a mix of chanderi silk and a Kantha work fabric designed completely by the fabulous Just My Luck by A&M ! Had you told me lime yellow with lime green butta work on it would go so well with blue block prints I would have scoffed at you. But loook!!๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿ‘‡

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While trying out the look I was trying out a couple of different accessories to sort of figure out which went best with the dress, but ended up loving each piece completely so decided to include every picture of the shoot in the post (except one where I looked positively hideous because I was sneezing and simultaneously asking my sister to stop clicking. Yes.)

This dress to meย defines summer. An Indian Summer! It’s bright, its light and comfortable which makes it my go-to piece when its bright warm and sunny and its a one piece, well above the ankle, just wear it and you’re good to go sort of, elegant outfit just right for the sunny yetย rainy sort of day where jeans is just not an option. Aaand needless to say, I felt fabulous in it. I was very particular about getting the brightness of the lime green against the morning sun and my sister, my photographer, so sweetly and readily agreed to get up for this photoshoot ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜˜

Just my luck is a boutique store dealing with every Indian fabric, designing them with a modern, retro kind of twist and yet giving them a very desi vibe. They deal with fabrics ranging from ikat (as seen in this post) to chanderi silk and outfits ranging from booty shorts to maxi dresses. I got to interact with Aruna, and she is the perfect example of “do what you love and you’ll outdo yourself every single day!”

Outfit details : Kantha Dress – Just my Luck by A&M (catch them on Facebook by clicking here or Instagram by clicking here!), mini gladiator sandals and nude pumps – Westside, Long bubbles chain – Westside , Necklace used as headgear – thrift shopped off the streets of Mumbai.

Hope you enjoyed this post readers. I sure enjoyed putting it up. I’m off to bask in the summery morning of Monday (too positive?) You enjoy your Monday too and if you are from a tropical country, I would sign off by telling you to keep calm, because winter is never coming. Haaa!

Cape of Some Hope! Ft. Just My Luck!

Capes are one of those pieces I’d completely written off my wish listย  because they are always so thin and sheer and are basically attires which accentuate your curves when the silhouette alone shows off. That, or they make less fit and fab people like me look splotchier than usual because they accentuate the bumps as much as they do the curves. ๐Ÿ˜ and then there are winter coats and capes which not me, but my city helped me eliminate as a clothing option because hey hey hey, winter is nonexistent in Chennai remember? ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜

That’s when this double Ikat cape came along and completely changed my opinion about capes and I’ve known no comfort ever since. ๐Ÿ˜Š It’s just amazing! What’s also amazing is the brand Just My Luck by A and Mย and its enthusiastic and charming owner Aruna with whom I got a chance to collaborate to present this post ๐Ÿ˜Š

I’ve put together two looks with one cape. – a beach party look and an office party look, and let’s see how you like them!

Look 1 : Beach Party

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This look was all about playing it cool and casual like how we would at a beach party. This cape has some beautiful pink blue and green floral patchwork along the border and that inspired me to go blue-green to match the cape. This is also the first time I’m actually posed for pictures. So tell me what you think ๐Ÿ˜€
Before we move to the next look, here’s one last picture, which obviously didn’t make the cut, but I loved too much to not include. ๐Ÿ˜

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Outfit details : Cape / long coat – Just my Luck by A & M | Blue shirt and green shorts – Vero Moda | Sandals – Bata | Necklace used as head gear (howaboudthat? ๐Ÿ˜‰) – Thrift shopped off the roads of Besant Nagar, Chennai.

Look 2 : The office party

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This look is a dressier version of the cape. It can be interpreted as “how you would go to an office party” or as “how you would go to a party from office” ๐Ÿ˜Š I have, here, paired the cape with a formal high waist trousers, a high-low blouse which when tucked in passes as a formal shirt and some heels. I added the head gear for some attitude… Honestly how cool is adding such head gear? (So proud of the self. ๐Ÿ˜‡๐Ÿ˜‚)

Outfit Details : Same cape by Just my Luck | Shirt with mild hakoba work – Nuon from Westside | High waist trousers – Marks and Spencers | Earrings and Necklace on the head – Pantaloons | Bandage Heels – Bata once again!

I had so much fun working with Aruna on this post. Its so easy and motivating when people you get to collaborate with are so full of zest and creativity. Just my Luck by A & M uses contemporary and traditional Indian fabrics like ikat, kalamkari, silks and cottons in western outfits like capes, shorts, palazzo pants, jackets, and kaftans. The founders have a love affair with their prints and colors and that’s visible on every piece of clothing they put together. Check out their collection on Facebook by clicking here or on Instagram by clicking here !!

That would be all from me folks. Watch this space for one more amazing outfit post from Just my Luck. Have a great week. Pull out those stappy heels, feel uncomfortable as hell, but walk tall anyway and take Monday headlong. ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‰

Print Preview Finale!! – TOW the Quirkies!

Title inspiration : Friends! ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

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?)

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All dressed for an office party! The only kinda party I attend! ๐Ÿ˜‚

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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? ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜Š
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!

Outfit details : Tribal printed Top – sugarpopssp (Instagram account) | Red blazer – Only | Jeans – 109ยฐF | Glitter platform heels – Westside | Glitter clutch – Polka dot and you (Instagram account) | Watch – Tommy Hilfiger

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! ๐Ÿ˜‚
Here are some really different prints I came across on Pinterest!

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Typewriters have never looked this good. Agreed?

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A big moustache creeps me out only in real apparently!

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

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This is the famous iron box printed kurti my sister owns. Since she’s too busy to pose for me (๐Ÿ˜• 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 ๐Ÿ˜Š

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 ๐Ÿ˜€๐Ÿ™‰

Also, watch this space for some amazing outfit posts and website recommendations in the days to come! Have an amaze-balls weekend! ๐Ÿ’ Ciao!

Print Preview – Western Symmetry

Its Monday my dear readers and publishing this post will probably be the best thing I’ll be doing today. ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ๐Ÿ˜€ 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 ๐Ÿ™‚

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. ๐Ÿ˜›

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See? ๐Ÿ˜€

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.. ๐Ÿ˜‰

This is how I styled this print!

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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. ๐Ÿ˜‚

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.

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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!)

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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!! ๐Ÿ˜ค
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!
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Thanks Nandini for contributing to my blog (again!) You’re a savior ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ˜

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. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Polka dots are everyone’s favorite and everyone has at least one Polka dotted outfit as a matter of principle! ๐Ÿ™
I have styled my polka with stripes once on the blog before.

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I also own a beautiful polka dress which I am just realizing I’ve never shown you guys before.! ๐Ÿ˜ฑ

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Yes. Short hair.! ๐Ÿ˜ so long ago!
Also, here’s how my fashionista friend Madhu satisfied her polka craving.

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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 ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ’

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. ๐Ÿ˜‡
I recently bought this diamond print silk jacket from Vesa Online and here’s how I styled it again for this post.

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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.!! ๐Ÿ’ƒ๐Ÿน๐Ÿป๐ŸŽถ๐ŸŽŠ๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽ‡
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” ๐Ÿ˜‚) 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!

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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!

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 ๐Ÿ˜‚) 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 ๐Ÿ˜) 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 ๐Ÿ˜‡๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿ‘—

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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. ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ“โœ‚๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ˜‡

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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!! ๐Ÿ˜

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. ๐Ÿ’

Print Preview – ๐Ÿ’ƒ Sway the Indian-Way ๐Ÿ’ƒ

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 ๐Ÿ˜‚) my take on INDIAN PRINTS! ๐Ÿ˜€

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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!! ๐Ÿ˜€ 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 Indiaย and in Iran. The word is derived from the Persianย words ghalam (Pen) and kari (craftsmanship), meaning drawing with a pen (Ghalamkar).ย The “kalam” or pen is used for free hand drawing of the subject and filling in the colours, is entirely hand worked. Only natural dyesย are used in Kalamkari and it involves seventeen painstaking steps.”

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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!

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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! ๐Ÿ˜€

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

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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!!

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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!

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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.

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

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

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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 ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ˜Š thanks Anusha for the contribution

Bhandhani

Bandhaniย is a type ofย tie and dye practiced mainly in theย states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, India. The termย bandhaniย is derived from theย Sanskrit word bandaย (“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.

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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!

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How Nandhini? How do you manage to find the perfect accessories every single time ๐Ÿ˜!

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

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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 ๐Ÿ˜

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!

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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 ๐Ÿ˜

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!!

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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 ๐Ÿ˜˜