Trends.

v/s

Gone are the days when fashions used to change by the decade. Fashions are now changing on an yearly or sometimes daily basis. Take for example the return of the high- waisted, flared jeans, the fashion symbols of the 70's. 'Experts' claim that this cut of jeans make you look taller and thinner. Personally, I feel the flare makes you look comical and the thing about the high waist giving you more height? That only works if you tuck your top in. But these jeans are mostly prescribed for curvy women in order to balance out their wider hips and most curvy women, more likely than not have some tummy bulge. Surely, these curve beauties would hate to accentuate their tummies with a tucked in top. So now, curvy women like me would have to choose between looking dated by continuing to wear skinny jeans (which were the ruling trend until high- waisted, flared jeans entered the scene) or looking ridiculous by embracing the new fashion.

Skinny jeans have been around for only about a year or so and for people who love to buy half a dozen of whatever is in fashion, money spent on buying skinny jeans, appropriate tops and accessories, would just be money down the drain not to mention the amount they will have to spend on buying the flared jeans, tops for them and their accessories. Fashion is no doubt an integral part of our lives and the industry feeds many mouths but in these tough economic times, is it really fair to make people change their entire wardrobe? Unless, it is a way to energize the economy? Hmm.. Food for thought..

Haul: Jan 14th 2011

I'd bought a few simple tees/ blouses for everyday lab wear (although now I'm not sure if I'm gonna get to wear them in a lab anytime soon). Working in a Biochemistry lab is messy and sweaty work. While working with flames and chemicals, it is a good idea to wear simple, cotton clothes that are safe as well as comfortable. 

The first one.. In Pink because I've been in love with pink ever since I watched Legally Blonde. Just a simple tee with some detailing at the neck, making it asymmetrical. Rs. 199

This tee, which looks bright blue is actually a bluish green color but my cellphone cam has decided it likes this color better. ;) This one has a square neck and some pleat detailing below the neck. Rs. 249

This one is salmon, not orange as it appears (that cellphone cam again..) with a simple, square neck. Rs. 159

And finally, my favorite among the lot.. This one in royal purple with lovely, crochet detailing at the neck (not very clear in the pic) and tapered at the bottom. Rs. 269

Haul: Jan 4th 2011

Jayalakshmi Silks, Udyavar has done it again.. While when I go to any other shop in Udupi, I take a long time to pick out my clothes because I'm wondering which among the clothes they show me is the least ugly one, at Jayalakshmi I take longer because I'm wondering why I can't buy more clothes than my self imposed budget will allow.. Today was one such day and I bought four lovely tops.. I would've bought more but wasn't sure about the kind of clothes students at my new university wear.. So, I see more shopping in the US in my future.. Yay!! but now to show you the stuff I bought today..

This little number is in Royal Purple, a color that I don't often buy.. I don't know why.. I must in the future because it looks good on me.. This is not something that I can wear everyday but I looked so chic when I put it on that I had to buy it.. And, I adore that little, white rose on the chest :) Rs.315

This one didn't look all that special on the hanger.. in fact, it looked a little gaudy.. But when I tried it on, I looked so sleek and professional that.. yeah, I bought it :) Rs.490

This one is again something that I can't wear everyday I think but I loved the whole Chinese look of this kurthi.. The high collar, the button knots, the wide sleeves and the pattern on the collar and cuffs.. Rs.595

And finally, my favorite.. This top is just so elegant and comfortable when on.. And the beautiful, muted pattern on the bodice and lining the edge appealed to me a lot.. Rs. 590

Jayalakshmi has hiked its prices a little bit.. A year ago, these tops would have cost around 200 bucks or 300 at the most but as long as they continue to stock unique pieces like these, my business goes to them..

Bagged it..

I'm in love with my new, big bag.. I've wanted one of these for the longest time but since I'd been at home for the past one year, I hadn't really needed a bag.. But now, I've got places to go and people to meet once again and with my brand, spanking new bag on my shoulder, I'm ready to go :)

Bata finally catches up..

Bata India has always been slow to catch up on the trends. For years, Bata had offered us only sensible (read ugly) shoes that were durable (the ugly things would last forever). So, it was a pleasant surprise to wander over to the Bata website and find that they were finally beginning to get the idea.. They are beginning to know what it is that the modern Indian woman wants.. The result? A few beauties among the beasts in Marie Claire. Here are some of my favorites..

These shoes will lighten your pocket considerably but then, beauty always comes with a price, doesn't it? :) 

Image from here.

Vengeance against hair..

Today, I had an experience that is probably as rare as a white elephant- A painless wax.. In all my seven years (I tried to avoid the torture as long as I could) of going to beauty parlors and getting waxing done, I've never had one of those. Anything and everything that may go wrong during a waxing session has gone wrong during all of mine.. Scalding hot wax, wax that was not melted properly (resulting in scalding gobs of wax being applied to my body), inefficient staff or staff who were in a hurry and so brutally ripped my hair off with absolute disregard for my pain and discomfort.. You name it, I've suffered it..

Waxing however is not the only painful procedure we women undergo in order to get rid of excess hair.. Threading and plucking are painful too. Why do we do it? What drives us to inflict this pain upon ourselves? Is it the quest for approval of the opposite sex? I know that my beloved doesn't mind if I let myself go a little. He does prefer the version of me with well shaped eyebrows, clean underarms, waxed legs etc but doesn't throw a fit when things are less than perfect.. I know there are guys who are absolutely disgusted with even a little excess hair on their girl but since my beloved is not one of them why do I take the pain?

Because it makes me feel good after. With clean legs and underarms, I feel ready to wear any outfit I want and having unshaped eyebrows when I put on makeup for formal events.. Just makes me look like a sundae with no cherry on top.. Unfinished..

Image from here.

S'more..

The release of the second ad for bags by Fastrack coincided with the release of more bags, which have been grouped under the not-very-imaginatively-named collection, 'New Bags'. For some weird reason, all of the bags in this collection, including handbags have been labelled 'Unisex', a mistake that I hope Fastrack will rectify soon. I am not feeling any of the messenger bags, duffel bags or backpacks in this collection. The range of handbags however is very exciting. Here are a few of my favorites..

How hot is this little number in Red? It is just as tempting in Olive..

This handbag in Purple is sure to add some zing to any outfit. Office goers take note.

The asymmetrical emerges in bags too.. How unique is this Blue shoulder bag?

The White handbag which will fool them into thinking you are a 'grownup' ;)

Check out the entire collection here.

Revenge?

Here's the latest ad for bags by Fastrack..

I'm guessing that this is Genelia's way of taking revenge on the cheating boyfriend. Why else would she hit on this random guy who's neither cute nor hot? Beats me..

Look..

My favorite look of all time is what I like to call the sexy-yet-innocent-babe look. The first time I tried this look with a saree was during a college fest. I was one of the only two people from the Science stream on the organizing committee for that fest; all the rest were from the Commerce stream. Among the Commerce crowd was a guy who was one of those smart aleck, uber cool, 'popular' guys. He was nice to me but spoke only as much as was required during the days before the fest but on the day of the fest, when I reached the college in a saree and with this look in place, he appeared to be smitten.. Kept following me around and couldn't keep his eyes off me.. I wasn't interested in a relationship at that time and it didn't lead to anything but that was the day I realized the power of good make up :) Here are a few products from Revlon that can be used to achieve this look-

For sexy, smoldering, smoky eyes..

Revlon Luxurious Color Eyeliner

Let the Luxurious color eyeliner in Black Velvet glide on your lids and the built in smudger work its magic to give you gorgeous eyes.

For that hint of a blush..

Revlon Colorstay Mineral Blush






Let the Revlon Colorstay mineral blush in Petal kiss your cheeks to give you that oh-so-subtle blush.





For delicious lips..

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm




Let the Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain in Passion stain your lips with that hint of a color and the balm make your lips soft and kiss-a-luscious ;)

.. And you're ready to play :)

I still ♥ F*****ck but..

This new ad for the Fastrack bags began airing on tv today. Now, I love Fastrack and this seems to be a 'cool', new way to use your Fastrack bag but seriously?

CASUAL SEX AND CHEATING ON YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS SO NOT COOL.

Nailed it..

What does someone with a fractured right thumb and plenty of time on her hands do in the sleepy, monsoon afternoons? She paints her nails with two different colors.. Sea foam green and Sky blue to be exact.. :D

I love to paint my nails with really unusual colors and during the monsoons, I love to paint them with bright and cheerful colors that pop.

Here are some of my favorites from Lakme's True Wear nail colors-

N231 from the Pinks.

N236 from the Mauves.

527 from Gold in the Metallics Bridal Sutra Winter 2008 collection.

040 from Nudes in the Metallics Bridal Sutra Winter 2008 collection.

and 041 from Blue in the Cremes Glamor Winter 2009 collection.

Although Lakme has a decent collection of nail colors, I think it would be nice if they would introduce more fun and fresh colors like maybe more pinks, greens and oranges in more fun and vibrant shades.. The kind of shades the college going crowd would love.. Just a thought..

You can find the entire collection here.

I ♥ F*****ck

for their amazing collection of bags. There are two collections actually, Core and Sport with truly hip bags for Guys, Girls and both (Unisex- reminds me of Joey's line in Friends.. U-N-I-sex.. Can't say no to that.. Tee hee). The following introductory commercial starring Genelia has been airing for about a week now.

Here are some of my favorites-

The perfect girly tote, in my favorite color- Red.

Another tote with removable laptop sleeves. Perfect for work, that is if you work in a place that's not too stuffy and formal. I loved the design of this tote but didn't like any of the color combinations. This one was the most decent looking among the lot to me as Orange is another favorite color of mine.

 The messenger bag or the ubiquitous (in India) 'college' bag. Wish I had this cool one while attending college. Love the subtle color combination.

Wouldn't have minded having this cute drawstring backpack while attending college either.

This one's actually meant for guys but what can I say? I'm a bit of a tomboy at heart ;)

Check out the entire collection here.

Tangerines in the rain..

I bought these pretty tangerine flats for the monsoons today from Bata's Bata and I collection. But like every purchase of footwear in my life, this one too was followed by a trip to the pharmacy to buy Band aids.. Why am I the most shoe bite prone person in the whole world? :(

New pinch!!!

Check out the new jeans and tee I bought today.. I admit the picture quality is crap since I clicked this with the cam on my phone but I'm so excited with this buy because it was a total steal.. The jeans cost me just 520 bucks and the tee? only a 150 bucks ladies, that's right.. And where in the world did I manage to find this great price, you ask me? At the worst kept best secret in town.. The Jayalakshmi cloth store in Udyavar.

This (Konkani owned and operated) cloth store has been in business for more than 25 years.. I first visited them only about three years ago though.. Then, they were located in a single storied structure right beside the Udyavar bus stand.. No matter what time of the day or year you visited, you would always find crowds of shoppers there.. Stand near the till and you could see whopping bills of thousands going through at a time. The only thing lacking in that store was adequate number of trial rooms.

But I guess it got too crowded in there. So now, the store has moved 50 meters to the right and opposite side of the road. The swanky new showroom is probably the biggest show room in all of the Udupi and Manipal area. It is still single storied but with two huge U- shaped counters on each floor that sell every thing from undergarments to wedding sarees and yes, they've got more trial rooms now. There are now two billing counters and a separate cash payment counter. Another novelty is that they now have two tailors who do on the spot alterations. The only thing that hasn't changed though are the crowds. There is the same bustle and excitement anytime of the day or year. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that latest fashions + affordable prices= roaring business but Jayalakshmi was the only one to figure that out. Kudos..

This is my personal opinion of the place and does not represent an expert opinion. I have not been paid to review this place by any individual or organization.

I wish.. Part 5

I visited the Reebok exclusive store here in Manipal today to grab me this cute, girly 'Sing it loud' tee from the Indian Idol collection. Unfortunately they didn't have it in stock just yet but the guy at the counter promised they will be in stock first week in August onwards. So, any Manipalites visiting this blog.. Now you know when you can get your Indian Idol tees..

I loved the tee for the girly color and the fun graphic.. Every wannabe singer would love to have this tee but I was a little disappointed that there isn't a more rock chic(k) kind of option for girls in the collection. The only other tee for girls is one with a white background and a saxophone graphic in pink on it ('Play the best' tee). Girls like me who like to flaunt their tomboyishness sometimes would've appreciated something in black with maybe some rock inspired graphics on it..

Guys have a (relatively) wider selection but in terms of graphics only.. There is the 'Music' tee for the sensitive guy, the 'Rock Star' tee which looks like it would appeal to rappers, the 'Rock' tee for fans of Rock and the 'RBK singer' tee for every-kind-of-music-lover guy.. The basic colors for guys in the collection are limited however.. Blue and white with just one tee having a hint of red on it.. 

All considered it is a pretty good collection though.. There are some cool graphics and themes going on there and the price is pretty great too.. With a 30% discount thrown on top of that, the collection is too good to miss..

Check out the complete collection here.

This is my personal opinion of the product and does not represent an expert opinion. I have not been paid to review this product by any individual or organization.

I wish.. Part 3.. Sweet no more?

I never was dudes and dudettes.. Probably the reason why I crave these cool sunglasses by Fastrack..

There's a sale on these right now.. 20% off on all sunglasses and watches. (Unless you live under a rock, you must've known about this.. Can't miss those huge billboards that scream F*****ck 20% off) Every time I see one of those billboards, this dialogue ensues..

Heart: Ooh.. Look, Fastrack. I want those shades I checked out the other day...

Brain: No heart, we are not employed yet.. Surely we can find something more useful to buy..

H: But they are so cool and chic..

B: Look away H.. NOW!!

H: But they are so cool.. :(

B: Besides, it's the rainy season. Whatever do you want sunglasses for?

H: *whispers* sale lasts only till the 18th of July..

B: .........

It looks to me like H is gonna win.. What do you say? ;)

Check out more fun Fastrack stuff at http://www.fastrack.in/fs.html

I have not been paid to endorse this product or brand by any individual or organization.

I don't buy pretty shoes.. anymore

I used to have this huge obsession with shoes, not surprising, considering the fact that I am a normal girl who likes to look her best at every occasion. But sadly, I haven't been indulging my obsession for quite a few years now. Before I give you the reasons why, let me show you the shoes I own right now.

Beige flats

White, traditional Indian flats

Gold, open- toe ballet flats

Brown wedges

Black kitten heels

Suede sole, black, lace- up heels

Black wedges- my current favorites

Hmm.. 7 pairs of shoes and another pair of street shoes for someone who professes to be not obsessed with shoes :D But surely you must've observed that these shoes of mine are in pretty bad condition.. dusty, dirty and ragged :( INDIAN ROADS DID THAT TO THEM.. Those uneven, potholed roads and unpaved footpaths have committed heinous crimes against my darlings, the evidence of which you see before you.. 

And this is not all.. There have been many, many more that have gone before these shoes.. prettier, flashier, more colorful ones.. every one of which sacrificed its life on Indian roads so that I may look good. I have cringed with every tear, every break and every scratch in every one of them and mourned the loss of each pretty little shoe until.. I could finally take it no more.. I stopped buying pretty shoes so that I wouldn't have to witness their torturous death.. I began to buy the most ugliest and sturdiest of street shoes so that I wouldn't have to mourn their deaths.. And that, is why I don't buy pretty shoes anymore..