Fall Fashion is Here!

The season of Lamb Slaughter is here women. No, I did not wish to be so grave and Gothic. Winters are nice, provided you are well prepared for it. This is my second Winter in Delhi and I am dreading every bit of it; especially since I hail from that part of the subcontinent where the concept of winter does not exist. So, almost two years in Delhi and I have managed to master the art of must haves' in Winter, and what you should neva eva wear. So here it goes...

What to Flaunt??

- Make sure that you have at least two to three different pairs of closed shoes. Very Very important in Winters ( I have to say, closed shoes are a gift, a blessing in Winters). Throw those boring Sneakers away and try getting the converse *All Star* or *Chucks*. These are great! Comfy and Stylish, just the right mix for this season. You guys can get a little cheaper version (I mean price) in Levis as well.

- The Muffler or the scarf as we know it. This is your outfit savior in Winters. Make sure you have plain checks, solid colors and a party one in your closet for this winter. Go for Burberry Checks or plain stripes (don't be shy to experiment with colors). Pick out a Hot pink or a classic black and go Chic this season (Cosmo's Guide for winters :P) Make it 'Fun and Fearless' with bold colors or Burberry checks this season. :D

- The perfect wool: Well, Sweaters are the essence of winters. Try V-necked Sweaters with Formal Skirts this season. You can go for a tight fit to compliment your trousers or skirts, or you can go the loose and comfy way! but make sure you are wearing the right pants with the loose fit woolens. If you have a long loose fit sweater, try a nice belt and team it up with colorful a inner. Wear fitted trousers/denims to complete the look. When it comes to colors, if you are not too confident, stick to basic earthy colors. Experiment with Scarves and inners but not the sweaters. You can pick up really nice sweaters from UCB or hunt through South-Ex and Sarojini for hours (;P) to pick up the right stuff!

- The Hold-it-all- Bag! The name says it all. We girls need to carry a lot of stuff in winters. We need to be prepared for emergency outdoorsy trips and even sudden planned parties. Lets face it! We need a bag big enough to hold our Moisturizer, lip balm, gloves and scarves. So, try a bigger bag this season. Tuck in your favorite clutch bag to hibernation and bring out the BIG bag! Make sure you buy one that has the right size straps. Extra long ones, can make you look like a school girl again. Try Whites, Beige and Black to keep it simple.


Now, The things I dread, I forbid... Girls, these will mount up to be (Someday).. the world's biggest winter fashion disasters! SO listen close :

- The 'Dadima' Finger socks. Well, the name spells terror! If you are not a 50 year old, with three cats and a caged bird, Well! these socks are not for you. The Finger Socks look ugly.. so please don't wear them. Avoid Wearing Chappals in winters so that you don't have to sear these dreaded disasters.

- The Trench-coat. Well, you are not Sherlock Holmes (so don't try to be one). No Leather Trench coats Please, I Beg, and I Beg!!!

- Denim Jackets with Indian outfits. This one's a killer. I have seen many women, still stuck in the era of Mix and Match, who wear Denim Jackets over Salwar Suits. Well, it looks plain cheap! Please use a nice stole/Shawl in place of your Dupatta (wear warm inners, if you feel THAT cold).

Now that you are all prepared to face the cold north winds... let's remember, the key to look Chic in winters is to add colors to your outfits. Don't be all Black and White this season, try on a patch of color and it will work wonders for you! (Oh, and BTW, i love the colorful ankle length socks (apparently also called anklets nowadays) @ Nike.

Happy Shopping!!! :D

MakeShift Fashion Arrangement!!

The deal is that, we comprise of the middle class of fashion, aspiring to reach the highest class of high fashion. To come to terms with that, we need closure, the feeling of coming to a resolution. Now I know, that Khushboo makes resolutions every month to stop herself from Over-shopping (and So Do I!!). It is in such times that we need Make-Shift Arrangements.

Yesterday, I was visiting a Cousin's place. Now that I have come home after 4 to 5 months, they all expect me to look fab! (the truth is that I am grossly overweight by now). Anyway, so I was searching for something that will hide the extra Kilos that I have put on in my Birthday Month. After changing and re-changing into 5 different outfits, I advised me self to call it a dead end. Soon after this, I started hunting my closet ( the closet full of old clothes that I had left behind before I started off for Delhi). Well Well! I found myself a pair of Flared Jeans. To my satisfaction, I cut them up a little above the knees (the faded look was doing good for me!!) The good thing was that, being an old pair which was a little broad and 'non-skinny' to be exact, it came out to be a very cool and casual looking pair of semi-shorts. I double-stitched the end of course, no loose threads hanging). And put on a Dark Blue loose fit top. My strappy new flip flops and shades helped out the look. And so did the new clutch bag I got from the last 'Mango' sale.

Fashion In A Budget

I was traveling home yesterday and I bought Vogue + Cosmopolitan to survive the awfully long journey, I sat next to a phat punjabi aunty [you get the drift!] who ate and ate and ate the whole way and did not give me enough space to sit. Okay, enough cribbing. Now, someone tell the people at Vogue that they need to do something for women like us - who don't earn tons, who haven't inherited rich dad's monies, who have rents and nosey landlords to deal with and who, most certainly, cannot afford what stores are opening like crazy in Delhi's Emporio Mall [Tod's, Vuitton, Dior, Armani, Gucci, Versace, Tiffany, blah, blah, blah].

So, this post is mostly about how you can look ultra chic in less than 1000/-. 

- The hottest in shoes right now are the patent shine ones and ballerinas are still considered to be comfortable fashion. I bought a really nice pair of fake patent shine ballerinas for 250 bucks [yeah! am living on a budget this month] and its quite a bargain. Hunt for them in GK, Sarojini, Janpath.

- Skinny jeans: I love them. Get your flared jeans altered - simple!

- City shorts: Very fashionable, very in - the mini skirt of jeans. Dish out the old pair of jeans you've sworn never to wear, cut them short and you have your own pair of city shorts! 

- White shirt: Look for sales at good brands. I have a really nice white shirt from UCB which was 700/- after the 50% discount [shameless admittance!] but then, I think you can pick some really nice pieces in the early days of a sale from anywhere.

- Bags: My personal favorites are huge oversized ones because they hold all my mess, patent shine can be seen on bags too. There's a kiosk at Priya's where all the bags are priced at 500/- and I have seen some really nice pieces. Go pick one up. The best options for bags: oversized patent shine and clutches. 

- A black dress: Hunt Sarojini! It might take a lot of hunting and you'll probably be yanking all your hair out, but chances are that you'll survive. Like I did and I have a black turtle neck balloon dress which I got for 150/-, a white summer dress for 200/- and an off shoulder beige dress for 250/- and no one can tell they're from Sarojini! 

I'll add more if something comes up :D

Boots That Cause Gum!

I saw someone at work [WORK!!!] wearing gumboots. You know, the ones mommy and daddy wore in their times or people in perennial rain suffering cities wear [I assume]. Anyway, the point is why would someone in their right senses wear gumboots? Okay, it might give you a little gothic look, if you complete it with black nail paint, dreadlocks et al but this is India and it does not make any kind of style statement - although, it definitely makes a 'CRIPES! LOOK AT WHAT THEY'RE WEARING' statement. 

Anyhoo, coming back to the point of gumboots - I can paint them green, keep them outside my door and plant cutesy pink flowers in them and frankly, that's the best use that I can think of.

Trailing the TACK!

First of all, thanks Khushboo for the Divine Direction. Yes! people the Tack has to be thrown out. We are tired of staring at people with flared jeans and platform heels. But the good news is that 'It's time for you to take the hint'. Adding to the list of NEVER to WEAR... Here it goes

- 'The Butterfly Bright Hair Clutch': Now if you are a Delhite and if you frequent Janpat or GK II Market to pick up accessories, you will see a lot of these! This is a unique colorful hair clutch that looks like a butterfly ( but is not even close to being as pretty as the real butterfly is).. So Please I beg you! Do not jut it in your hair and make a revolting mess out of it. It looks really bad and is not even close to cute! If you have unmanageable hair, stick to colored clips or classic hair band!

- Jeans with Embroidered sides... Now this one is a killer! Having a good brand is not enough, if you are wearing a pair of Jeans with floral twines down your legs, you're not really looking your best. Take a simple pick, experiment with colors and cuts; not with designs, beads and stones. Keep it simple, faded and pure denim!!

- Since Khushboo already brought up the bag topic, I couldn't help but add! This Fashion Fiasco is what I call the 'Jhalar Bag'. If you see this bag near you... RUN! Typically identifiable features of this bag: It would be either denim or shiny leather, with some leafy design on it, and there will be a cowboy cut out sort of 'Jhalar' hanging from its end. It could be a shiny leather or a weird denim 'Jhalar' with threads around it. My earnest request, please don't ruin your outfit by sporting this hideous thing!

Thing to remember here is that.. even if you are not a ardent trend follower, keep it simple and classic, something that can never go wrong! A positive out of all the negatives above... A classic dark blue denim (no flowery designs), a simple black hair band (sans butterfly) and a matte leather clutch bag (No jhalar) can complete the look! Throw in a pair of cool shades (to suit your face cut) and you are set for the day!

Have fun Ladies! :)

Burn The Tack

Okay ladies! Before we start talking about fashion in its true sense, let us first start by telling you what you should NEVER wear, NEVER – not even if someone pays you to. The page three party hopping socialites may have to look their part and you don’t, which is not equal to saying that you can dress like a clown and prance around the town like that! Things to NEVER wear:

1. This is the top of the list: the colour ORANGE. No one has ever looked good in orange and no one will ever look good in that hideous colour. Period.

2. Flared jeans: No matter how much you like them, they’re completely out of the fashion circles. Don’t wear one; if you don’t want to spend on skinny jeans, get your flared ones altered.

3. Platform heels: Get over them. The last we remember, people wore them in the year 2001. Frankly, why do they even sell them anymore?

4. Blue and green nail colours: the last I heard matte is in, shimmer is in but well, tack is out.

5. Tacky hand bags: Okay, so the reason you carry a hand bag is because it should accommodate all your things. If you’re carrying a wallet of a bag, how useful is it? The point is not where you get your bag from; the point is what you dangle on your shoulders. More to follow on the bag story. 

6. Armlets: What are we talking about here? You’re not a danseuse from yesteryears or an icchadhaari naagin. 

For now, these are the things that we consider in the highest tack category. There might be additions but there will never be a deletion.

In Which We Introduce Ourselves

Even though introductions are passe, we think it might do you good to know a little about us. We're fashionistas in our own might and in whatever sense our measly salaries do for us. We're going to talk fashion, trashion (which is fashion gone wrong), bitch some about people who don't get their Guccis and Pradas right and since we are the ones writing all this, it could be anything and everything in the huge universe called F.A.S.H.I.O.N.

Upasana loves doing amazing things with hair and I just give people the New Delhi once over and bitch about the whole thing. Together, we keep giving fictional makeovers to real people and are very proud of the results (fictional again!).

Oh! Fashionistas we are but as shopaholics we rock. You can be in sync with the latest trends without spending too much! And you're in Delhi, like we are, you have amazing choices wherever you look - the only problem is whether you're picking the right thing.

Now, good sense tells us that we need to save monies and be fashionable - which is tough, so what do we do? Let's work it out then, shall we?