October for all Indians means only one thing! The most vibrant Quarter of the year is here! Every year I remember as a kid, the whole atmosphere at home and at school used to undergo a shift when October sets in and I realize the same excitement has transcended well into adulthood as well!
Over the course of this year I have consciously cut down accumulating clothes. Now many will think this isn’t a smart move for a “fashion blogger” because new clothes means new posts but for me the need to shift into sustainability was far greater than my love for blogging, OOTDs and making a statement. Besides, its surprising how happy you get, and the number of different outfits you think of, when you remove that constant need to update your wardrobe.
Hailing from a city called Palakkad which lies almost on the line dividing Tamil Nadu and Kerala has its own strange perks! We get to celebrate Keralite festivals without looking like a South Indian going on Karva Chauth fasts (er…yes I have some such friends! :P)
Hi you guys! It feels great to be sticking to a routine and coming back to the blog every Monday ð wonder how long that’s gonna last for… Anyway let’s fuggedaboudit for a moment now and talk about the next summer styling idea and it is *drumroll* the traditional Salwar/Chudidhar and Kameez!
The salwar kameez is a traditional Indian three piece suit which has a kameez which is a top that you can equate to a knee length dress and a salwar/patiala pant/Chudidhar which is the pant and a dupatta which is shawl we cover our torso with!
The Patiala or simply a salwar pant has a lot of gathering and looks great with a short top or a tshirt even! The Chudidhar bottom is comes more like a tightish pant (that’s what I’m wearing in this look!)
This outfit was infact bought on my birthday! A gift from me to me ð last year! It wasn’t a set when I bought it (just putting that in so you would be like oooh how do you mix n match so well!! Lol!)
This salwar has Churi sleeves which means the sleeves like the pant has gatherings at the end too! Its pure cotton and feels great to wear!
Salwars in general are a great option to wear in summer and whenever it’s possible to ditch the dupatta, do it because honestly, minimalism in any which way possible in a 40âĒC weather is extremely essential!
I’m just realizing all the three summer looks I have put together this time are yellow and green hues..er so much for variety!
Outfit Details: The whole set – top, pant and dupatta – Fab India, Slippers – Koblerr, Earrings – Kushals
When we did the whole photoshoot for the four outfits I must say this outfit was my least favourite because I was feeling all conscious in it…I know it’s just a salwar! What’s to feel conscious right? So anyway, I was dreading seeing the pictures of this one but I must say this Sneha Chandrashekar knows what she’s doing! Follow her on Instagram where she goes by the handle @purplecurlss! âĪïļ
That ladies (and the very few gentlemen who read my blog!) brings us to the end of Part 3 of the 4 part summer series! So tell me are you enjoying the looks? Did you try to create a summer look yourself? Comment below cause I would love to know. Have a fabulous week! Bye!
Hi all you lovely readers ð! The only thing I am looking forward to after a long weekend is a short painless week which I hope runs away quickly!!
Moving on, Navrathri is right around the corner and I thought a good way to get back to my Fashion game would be to give y’all some inspiration for looks you can recreate this Navrathri! So stay tuned!
I bet everyone of us has this odd lehenga/ghagra/dhavani we are kinda ashamed of now because it looks like we just stepped in and out of a rainbow carrying the entire frikkin VIBGYOR out with us! One such Dhavani I own my is this one! (Don’t laugh ð)
While I individually love the blouse and the skirt I hate, with all vehemence I can muster, the Dhavani or the green brocade portion of the attire. So I decided to tone down the whole look by just using the skirt giving this look a much needed twist!
That’s right! I wore this bright (I’ll blind you with this skirt type of bright) skirt with a very plain ethnic Kurti or short top!
It was like an explosion in my head when one day I saw this Kurti and this skirt lying next to each other in my closet and I thought why not?!?
It’s grand and underplayed at the same time and it is the perfect look for a function or a party/reception
The mild embroidery along the length of the top gives it a very traditional touch making the pairing so easy!
I completed the look with a pair of violet heels I bought over a year ago a sneak of which is shown here!
This is a look you can easily recreate for the festive season this year by pairing a bright piece with a sober one in the same colour scheme! I’ll try and add a few more outfits you can recreate this Navarathri to look fab and festive while going light on your pocket too!
Outfit Details : Skirt – Material from RmKV, Chennai and designed and stitched by my Tailor, Top – Shilpi CP Ramasamy Salai, Heels -Flipkart, on my lips – Lakme Absolut hi-Definition Matte in the shade Pink Caress
Photography by Pranav Agarwal ð
Also, the Winners of the Giveaway are :
First : Namitha Radhakrishnan
Second : Srishty Grover
Thrid : Niharika Singhal
Have a lovely week ahead! âĪïļ Here’s a cute puppy to get you through the rough week
Upping their saree game – 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. ð (See what I did there) Buhaha!
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, when Sareez – The online store approached me to do a post featuring them, I was more than willing! Upping my saree game and strutting around and getting clicked in a fabulous saree? Count me in!! ð 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!
I loved Sareez.com 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 been 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!
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! ð ) and chose my tommy hilfiger watch and my glitter clutch!
Also, (dont laugh at me now!) in an attempt to improve my blogging IÂ shot a video for this saree!! Sharing the link here!
These beautiful video and the amazing photos were captured by Ranjini Ramesh. Thank you so much Ranjini! This post wouldnt have been half as beautiful or colorful if it wasnt for you. :* Follow her on Insta here Here and her youtube channel here! If you want such beautiful videos done, dont hesitate to ping her at ranjini.ramesh14@gmail.com!
Outfit Details : Saree – c/o 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!
I attended two weddings in a span of four days and only once I got done with them both did I notice a trend. A trend I’ve infact been yapping about in my blog. A trend I’ve been tracking as part of my four post series. Yah! Neon! Both my outfits had neon of varying proportions in them. Ok the yapping stops here! Photos now!
Look #1: White Anarkali with Neon Embroidery
So an anarkali is basically a long gown, fitted till the waisted and flowing from there till a few inches above the ground. While my anarkali suit is pure white it has beautiful neon pink and green embroidery in the torso. Anarkalis are suitable for weddings of colleagues and not so close friends 😜 and for not so grand occasions!
Moving on…because I’m so excited to present this second look;)
Look #2: bright striking glaring Beautiful NEON Saree!
A Saree is a very traditional attire which almost every Indian woman loves to buy/stock/hoard
I wore this Saree for a friend’s reception. I believe a Saree should justify the occasion for which it is worn. 😜 Sarees should be worn for events involving family and close friends.
This saree was a kinda impulse buy. I paid a bomb for it when I saw it online and I should say I wasn’t very happy with the way it looked when I received the Saree. The moment I stitched my blouse to resemble a boat neck top and it came out so well, I was a happy girl!
I was still apprehensive about being the living traffic light, what with such bright colors spewed all over me, but I decided what the heck, if a fashion blogger won’t sport this, who will? And I went for it!
That brings me to the end of Part two of my neon series. Also I’ve given Indian bloggers the idea of incorporating neon into their festive collection wardrobe! Hope you try it out ð
P.S. on a totally different note, it was my close friends birthday and I did this for her
I stole a piece of wood from some carpenters I knew and a handful of nails too and I sat and banged them into the wood 😜 and used red wool to form the heart and painted the words with acrylic. Needless to say, as is the case with anything handmade, she absolutely loved it! ð
I have had quite a good last week and I thought I should share all that fun with you guys. Nothing much yet fashion or clothes wise because I’m trying to lie low as I’ve been spending way too much the past few months. So its the other things like these:
Hairstyles:
I have seriously started becoming pretty good at this stuff to be honest. From not even being able to do a simple braid I’ve started getting all inventive-y. Check out muh mane yo! 😎😂
This is the cool hairstyle to try especially when your hair is still slightly damp and you have to rush for work. Side partition, take a bunch on either side, twist-twist-twist, secure in the centre with hairpins. Voila! Done!
This is the side french braid and I got the inspiration to try out this braid from pinterest. Its the simple case of doing a normal french braid but instead of starting in the Centre, start at one end and work your way through to the other end.
Check out the DIY here!
Poster Birthday Gifts
Two friends celebrated their birthdays the past week and I gifted them these cool posters I made out of canvas and got them framed. They are great gifts because they are personalized, handmade, and easy to make.
Kurti and Harem Pant (trend I tried!)
In India, a short shirt with some traditional embroidery or motif work done on it is called a kurti and I have been wearing this one for a while now with boring old blue jeans. It was only recently that I realized the red delicate embroidery on its neckline and sleeves lends itself so beautifully to be teamed with red harem pants. So I tried it and it was a real hit at work 😍
I also found the right pair of footwear with the same combination of colors so all-in-all I was thrilled with the look ð
That’s all from me folks. Enjoy your week ahead. Plan well and get lots of stuff done this week ð
I’m still neck deep in work and yet I’m unable to resist the urge for a quick post.
So, India celebrates its 68th year of independence on 15th August this year which is tomorrow. This day being a national holiday, all the celebration at work happened today. We were asked to dress up in any attire which best represented our country. And yours truly with her extremely limited out of the box thinking decided to become the Indian flag!!! Haha!!! Photos are in order ofcourse!
I don’t know what I’m so elated about. Just the thought of turning up in my nation’s tricolor I suppose ð
Happy Independence Day to all my Indian bloggers ð Do something fun this long weekend!
I present to you all the Indian tradional attire – The Saree. Six yards of fabric, one fabulous look ð
The typical Indian girl starts wearing a saree in her late teens and as she ages the saree becomes a wardrobe staple. Traditional or not, I’m of the opinion that the saree is the perfect cloth for a woman of any body shape or size simply because it so beautifully lends itself to any type of styling and it can be tied and worn in a completely sensuous way such as these actresses :
Or in simple modest ways like me ð
Material: A saree can be made of pretty much any material with their prices varying with it. Right from silk to jute to fruit fibers (I once gifted my mom a banana fiber saree, it looked gorgeous btw ð ) the variety is abundant. That being said, we often stick to silk for occasions due to its grandeur.
That would be me in a silk saree for a wedding
Parts of a saree: A saree is worn with a blouse which covers the torso. It is wrapped around the waist and tucked into an body hugging skirt. While the lower half of the saree is called the pleats, the portion which comes above the blouse is known as the pallu or the pallav. Funnily, the pallu is, in most cases pleated and pinned up too.
That would be me with my sister and granddad at my cousin’s wedding ð
While I ve described how a saree would look when tied in a prim and proper sort of way, I’ve at times experimented quite a bit, be it by stitching fun blouses or by going all out and decking myself up in a very 70s heroine sort of way.
I’ll leave you with a few images of some of my other looks in sarees. ð
By now you might have gotten a drift of my mad love for this attire. Before you get bored let me stop.! ð
What did you think about this attire? Liked it? Do tell me ð
shilpaviswesh.com 