Winter is coming. And given that I am not a big fan of this season, I try and make hay while the sun shines :D Whenever I think of a new style to try on, my "Baniya" brain automatically starts answering the following questions.

1. Is it multipurpose, e.g., Friends+Partner like it OR Colleagues+Partner like it OR Mom+Friends like it? Uff!
2. Is it customize-able?
3. Is it weather appropriate?
4. Is it too impulsive?
5. Is it comfortable?
6. Is it effortlessly stylish?
And of course,
7. All in all, is it "Value for Money"?

While some of the styles definitely don't fare well on all especially #7, most styles do. The recent one in the latter category is a combination of these rust/ brown linen pants I got tailor made and the off white high neck crotchet top I impulsively bought from a Forever 21 online (free shipping) sale!!




I am just loving the elegance this particular color (Brown? Rust?) has. Its autumn-ish as well :D I wear it both in and outside office. Add in a short blazer of the same or a lighter color and its ready for the coming winters.

Pants: Tailor made
Top: Forever 21
And you know what?!! White/ off-white is not the only color you can wear these rust/ brown pants with! 

Top: Mango
Neckpiece: Accessorize


So, it was my birthday. And it was a weekday. And I took an off :D For years, on my birthday, either I was answering a quiz or an exam or was preparing for one. Now that I am working and I have some liberty with how I plan my life (rolling eyes are we?), I decided to unabashedly take an off. And what did I do when I didn't go to work on a weekday? I ate and I shopped.

I went to Shahpur Jat (my favorite favorite place these days) and with great perseverance (mine and I's), I found and shopped from House of Blondie. And true to its unusual name, this place has quite a lot of unusual and really cute pieces, e.g., a peach shirt with a peter pan collar and cup cakes embroidered over it :D For me, I bought black and white dungarees though I really wanted to buy the cup cakes shirt too (apparently birthday have budgets too :/)







































They are so much fun! And so comfortable. Do try out the age old style of dungarees! 
I miss childhood. I have never taken it for granted. Unlike many people who have so many stories to tell about how they wished to be a grown up when they were small, I don't have a single one to my credit. I have always loved the attention, the licence to screw up things, to just plant myself anywhere and not move for the entire weekend and to wear cute clothes!

But I am fully grown up (height and age wise both :/) and I often hear things like, "Its high time you start acting like an adult", "You are not in your hostel to wear a kurta with your pajamas" , "You should at least know how and when to defrost a refrigerator", "You still can't visit a doctor alone?", "You still need an alarm to wake up at 12 noon on a Saturday?". What do I do? I just ignore them at will and steal my moments of childhood. However I can. To whatever extent I can. Like this one below.


I love this skirt. Its so old school. Flared. The good-morning-ma'am vibe. And its so comfortable. And if worn right, can be quite classy too. I even wear it to office with a formal white shirt. People tell me that I look like a school girl and I am not sure if they mean it as a compliment or otherwise, but I definitely like the sound of me being a school girl. For I would give anything to go back to those days of being carefree, having stupid crushes, sharing lunches, bunking periods without repercussions, going home to mom at 2 pm, playing with friends everyday, watching cartoons and well... just being a child.




Skirt: Zara
White shirt: UCB
Boho shirt: Dorothy Perkins
Envelope: Donebynone.com

Kangana Ranaut on many occasions has worn the flared skirt too!

Source: Google images
Image source: Google images

Cheers to the inner child in us!


I love colors. But I love my whites and beige too. They are just so effortless, they shout out class. At least to me. When in summers, all I want to wear is white with white, white with beige, beige with beige. You throw in a little maroon or a golden or a silver and you have jazzed up your outfit. I recently, impulsively (again on a Friday) purchased a beige dress and look how I wore it on three different occasions in three different styles.

1. Dress with a beige blazer

Have a formal lunch to go to? Partner planned a surprise birthday lunch at a fancy restaurant? Where black is the go to color for such dinners, beige is the color for such lunches. Throw on a blazer on top of it and there you have it. The blazer during summers doesn't raise eyebrows because of its soft color. It only turns heads. Been there done that ;)

Dress: Zara
Envelope: Donebynone
Blazer: Forever21

2. Dress with a belt

Belt: Allen Solly

I have always been a fan of wide belts. Be it over pants, jeans, shorts or dresses. A tan wide belt is a must have in your wardrobe. It goes with about everything. Make sure to invest in a good one as it will be needed often and for a long time.

3. Dress with a statement necklace


Neck piece: Westside
Statement neck pieces and earrings can be your saviors. A plain dress or a plain top and you just have to wear them with a big neck piece or earrings (or both but be careful) and there is nothing plain about your outfit anymore. Have a collection of Indian and western black silver and dull golden collection of neck pieces (I have one in each color and stlye) and earrings and you are sorted for most of your too-late-or-lazy-to-put-something-fancy-together days.

Enough about the beige dress eh?! On another note, I am in love with braids these days. Do try them out. 


 Summers. Hot. Going out. Light clothes. In color and wight. White. Linen. Blue. Cotton. Shades.






Shirt: Forever 21
Pants: Only
Shoes: Heelz

Bag: Free with a top I bought from "Lila" in Shahpur Jat, Delhi
Rings: Chandini Chowk
PS: I love summers. Any day. Every day.
I read somewhere lately that majority of the human population on the earth is average. Which from whatever maths  I can remember from my engineering days should be true if we apply principles of Gaussian distribution. So with majority of population on the earth being average, majority of the days in our lives are also average. These days could involve us just shuttling between work and home or going out for dinners, weddings or shopping for day-to-day things. Rare are the days when we wear a lavish gown or a saree which aims to look like it came from Sabyasachi's studio. While we take extra care of these "rare" days, we often take the majority average days where we just need to step out for "nothing fancy" for granted. I for one like to dress up everytime I step out. And by dress up I don't mean something flashy, but something which tells me that I am putting some thought into how I look today. I read somewhere, "People are going to look. Lets make it worth their while". And I say, why not?

So what is the first step to getting ideas to put together a look which shows the effort you have put in your "an average day" look as well? I would love to say, "Checking out enigmatic's blog", but truth be told, its the celebrities in movies, public appearances and magazines we look at for inspiration. Some of you might not agree with me because more often that not, what the tinsel town wears is very aspirational and impractical. But I think there are some who are inspirational in a practical sort of way.  Kangana Ranaut is one such actress who from the very beginning has always been able to team up very practical clothes into very stylish yet perfect for an average day outing outfits.

There are some I especially like.


A shopping and dinner date:
Simple printed kurta with a long skirt and bag

A shopping date with friends or Friday office wear:
White shirt with knee length flared skirt and brogues

An outing with parents or relatives or just any outing on a summer day:
Extra long airy kurtaa with palazzos and punjabi jutti

A sudden invitation to attend a formal dinner or a lazy morning for office:
Silk embroidered kurta

A cousin's sangeet or a friend's marriage:
Silk flared long skirt with crop top

A romantic date:
Black raw silk dress with some pearls

A different blouse:
Boat necked with half sleeves

A formal function:
Formals in a color other than black, blue, grey

I have always looked forward to her movies even before she became Queen or Tanu. Because with movies come promotions and with promotions come more of Kangana Ranaut's amazing choice of practical styles. And she is one of those rare actresses who repeats her accessories, clothes (in different combinations), shoes etc.

I hope she comes up with more such styles.

Source of all photos: Google images

 (Each book name is linked to its page on goodreads.com for your reference) 

Author: Paula Hawkins
Genre: Mystery, Romance
This book is good. A page turner. No Gone girl but I think one Gone girl was enough ;) Not to be considered for light reading or when travelling alone! Especially in trains.

Author: Colleen Oakley
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Tragedy, Chic lit
This was my first book where I knew how would the book end and yet I read every single word in it. Every. Single. Word. Normally I skip some of the descriptive lines but this book didn't make me want to do that. There is just something about it. Very real. Extremely real. One of those books which so beautifully describes a love which is practical but at the same time makes you go weak in the knees.

CAUTION: Be prepared to cry. Do not read the last pages of the book while you are in office.

Author: Graeme Simsion
Genre: Fiction, Scientific comedy, Romance
Narrated by a socially challenged "encyclopedic" genetics professor, this book is unusually funny. One of those books which makes it easier to just accept yourself as you are! It gets a little boring in the last 30-40 pages but its worth the read.

Author: Kristin Harmel
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Tragedy
If you like books like PS: I love you, you will like this one too. Its not as endearing as the former but its a delightful and an emotional read. There are some surprises and mostly its just very human. 

More books to follow!

I love long skirts. The Indian kind. You know since when? Since I saw the "Nandini" character in "Kyuki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" wear it. Yes! I used to watch it. Well. Sometimes.

Anyway, so I have wanted to wear long skirts for a really long time. But I never got to wearing them. You know why? Because I am tall. And majority of the girls in India aren't. In north India anyway. So I never got a skirt my length and I never had the courage to wear anything shorter. Then I grew up. And I realized I want to wear what I want to wear. A little length here and there doesn't matter if worn with confidence. It took me a long time to get there but I did. And see how happy I look!

Skirt: W
Crop top: Koovs.com
Jutti: Local market in Bathinda
Sling: Metro
Necklace: CP
Earrings: FabIndia
I have always been fond of dressing up. But I seldom had the courage to try something different. Something which would draw people's attention. Something most girls don't wear. Where some girls just have it in them since early age, some girls like me take their time. But its ok I think. I adore my journey from wearing totally risk free clothes to wearing something out of the ordinary. To struggling to find jeans or pants which reached my ankles to saying, "Chuck it! I will even have my tailor made pants barely reach my ankle!"

Its good to experiment with things one loves. I know just trying different outfits doesn't sound like a good candidate for a hobby, but it just makes me happy. And I think one should do things that makes one happy.

Skirt: W
Crop top: Koovs.com
Jutti: Local market in Bathinda
Sling: Metro
Necklace: CP
Earrings: FabIndia
To dressing up! To doing things that make us happy!


Once upon a time I used to be all about symmetries. Pasting the name sticker right in the middle of my school notebook covers, having a center partition, placing one tic tac clip on each side of the partition, one bangle on each arm whenever I had to attend a wedding, either no nail paint on both hands or nail paint on both hands. I even used to believe that best friends come in pairs. That if someone is my best friend, I have got to be theirs and vice versa. That what people know and what they told me is symmetrical as well.

Things have changed now. After having written lengths and lengths of symmetric and well formatted reports in college and making presentations with symmetric boxes and texts, I long for asymmetry. I doodle my name all over my notebooks, my hair partitions on its own free will ( which is never in the center), I hardly can keep track of where those zillion tic tac clips I buy go and sometimes I don't even have the same nail paint on all fingers of a single hand. I have also become a fan of information asymmetry. Like when they all made you believe how studying for a few years is going to turn life into a bed of roses. But that time they all knew that it was not true. But I didn't. Then. Now I do. And the realization is  not that bad. I don't want life to be a bed of roses. Not so soon anyway. These days I sometimes like it when things/ feelings are not reciprocated. It reminds me that life seldom turns out the way you had imagined it would. And the more frequent these asymmetries are, the more comfortable I become with the idea.

So. Asymmetries are good. See below. They can be in your favorite clothes too. A combination of long and short. However long and however short. 




Dress: www.theclosetlabel.com
Clutch: donebynone.com
Flats: myntra.com
Belt: Plucked from a 109 F dress

To the asymmetries in life!
I get bored really easily. And I am forever wanting for new things to happen. And then when they happen, I get bored of these new things as well and then I want things to go back to normal again. Like how you yearn to get out of your city, catch up with friends, go for a trip and then when you are doing all this, those strange hotel sheets and cold italian sandwiches remind you of your comfy bed, hot aloo prathas and elaichi, long and dal chini tea! But you know what! All new things don't mean away from home and all the nostalgia that follows. And quite unsurprisingly, one of these new things for me is trying out new combinations with my existing wardrobe! (Rolling eyes, are we?)

So, in one of my never ending series of episodes of different-ways-to-wear-your-wardrobe, I brought together a simple kurta, a belt from another dress, a pair of white leggings bought with another kurta and my legendary punjabi juttis.

Kurta: Fabindia
Belt: From a 109 F dress
Earrings: CP, Delhi

White leggings: Fabindia
Juttis: Local Bathinda market
For what is a very normal kurta outfit, I think the belt adds that something-extra-something-different charm to it. What do you think? Let me know!

 (Each book name is linked to its page on goodreads.com for your reference) 

Author: Indu Sundaresan
Genre: Drama, Mughal history
These books cover the era of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan with protagonists being the most powerful ladies in their courts. I have always found the Mughal period fascinating and these books were successful in satiating it. They are your perfect sit-in-a-corner-with-a-mug-of-tea (or coffee) type of books. They have your doses of history, tragedy, love, plotting and opulence. Mughal opulence.

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Genre: Fiction, Drama, Tragedy, Political history
Lowland is a tragic read. Only a few books are worth welling up for and Lowland is certainly one of them. I love the way Jhumpa Lahiri has intertwined subjects of tradition, love, responsibility, passion, revolution, vulnerability and tragedy into a single book. It's a book you just keep reading and sobbing along.

Author: Gyllian Flynn
Genre: Fiction, Drama, Psychological thriller
When life gets boring, read this novel. It will blow your mind off. The movie is good, but nothing beats the novel. So read it. Please.
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Music
Author: Jeffrey Archer
Genre: Fiction, Family drama, Suspense
These are five books. The fifth one is yet to release but I have read the first four and have loved the first three. Fourth is good but not as good as the earlier ones. These books follow the typical Jeffrey Archer recipe. There is wealth, there is deceit, people fall in love and off trains and high story buildings and racing cars. The women are strong. These books make for the in-between books reading. Whenever I can't fix my mind on which is the next book I am going to read, I fill the gaps with Clifton Chronicles. And I can't complain.

Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Comedy
I was in my late teens when I read these books and I loved them. Loved them so much that I read all six of them again within a year of completing them. Not because I didn't have anything else to read, but because I wanted to read about Jesse again. It's been almost five years since I read these books and I still remember Jesse. 
Enough about Jesse :P About the books, they are narrated by a girl, Suze (had to check up her name on Wikipedia, Jesse's  I didn't) who helps people who have died but have not been able to exit the world because they have some unfinished business to attend to. All the characters are adorable, quirky and Jesse is HOT AND SWEET! The books are good for some light reading.
Author: Arthur Golden
Genre: Japanese, Historical culture, Romance
This book transports into a different world altogether. A world which is scary but protective at the same time. A world which is seductive but simple too. I didn't know much about the concept of Geisha before and this book just sucked me into that world. Though not a fair comparison but in today's world of internet, its refreshing to know how conversations over "Sake" and through dance were enough to engage someone for hours. Though I found the book linger and too dramatic at times, but it was overall a delightful read.
Author: Audrey Niffenegger
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Sci-fi, Chick lit
It's a love story. A love story with an unusual caveat. But something everyone who has experienced love can relate to. I love the way the book is written. Both characters just speaking their mind out. Their insecurities, vulnerabilities, guilt - everything just pored out in front of the reader. It's an effortless read. It's real. It's not one of those I-live-for-you-I-will-die-for-you stories. Characters know what they are getting themselves into, make a conscious choice to get into what they get into, fight over it when it's overwhelming, mark their territory with their partner, apologize if they stretch beyond limits and get over it like a normal couple would. I just love it. I specially love Clair's thoughts in the chapter named, "The secret".
Author: Amish
Genre: Hindu mythology, Fiction
I think everyone knows about these books enough. I liked the first one, loved the second one and hated the third one. But I think one has to read all three to do justice to the one or two you love. All in all these are good books and worth a read.
Author: Johanna Lindsey
Genre: Historical fiction, Romance, Chick lit
This book is part of a whole series of books which I found it after picking it up. But it didn't really matter. Each book has its own set of pivotal characters. I think its not worth it to read all but some of the books in the series. This one was my first and I loved it. Set in the old England when ships were the means for inter-continent travel, all female characters in the book are wild and fearless and all male characters are incredible gorgeous, wild, I-am-weak-in-the-knees type. This book shakes you our of your dull routine and takes you into a distant land in a distant time and amazes you with it's forthrightness and wilderness. Read it for a fun and "naughty" time!

 Next post with 10 more books!
I hate winters. I just do. I know one can wear overcoats, trench coats, stockings, boots and so many other clothes all at once but I still hate them. For winters are not summers. For winters are not always sunny. Now add long work hours, apartment shifting, marriages etc. to the winter season and your blog goes for a toss!

Now that the summers are here (yay!!), its high waist pants after the hiatus. Actually, I would say its high waist pants all the time. I for one can wear them day after day after day. There are just so many ways you can wear them. With crop tops, tops tucked in, loose shirts, fitted shirts, long or short blazer (I prefer long), flats, moccasins, heels, brogues. Plus they make your legs look longer :D

I recently wore my royal blue high waist pants to a lunch with my friends.

Neckpiece: Church street, Bangalore
Top: Only
High waist pants: Tailor made
Shoes: Carlton London
Envelope: Jabong.com

Incidentally, Keira Knightley who I have always found very stylish for some reason seems to be a big fan of high waist pants too! Her hip high waist pants in Begin Again (a good watch especially for someone who loves music and is trying to figure out what to do in life), grey pants with brogues and red high waist shorts are definitely effortlessly comfortable and stylish.
Keira Knightley

 I also love what Blake Lively wears in one of the Paris episodes of Gossip girl.
Blake Lively in Gossip Girl
Hello people!

I am happy. Touchwood. I tried something new today. And it was totally spur of the moment. Like totally. I think this is the advantage of not planning your weekends and just walking here and there. Out of one shop and into the next.

So as you would have figured out from the title, I made this photo frame today. I had a beautiful picture of my mom dad and had been thinking of buying a good frame for it to put in my room and as I was searching for one today, I thought of making one myself and ended up in a stationary shop. There as I was looking for a card board for the base, I remembered that we have our new refrigerator packing box (for we just furnished our new apartment. Clean which is.) which we were thinking of throwing out! You can imagine my excitement at this ingenious idea ( I know. I know. It's not that big a deal. But this is my blog. My space.). So anyway, after I realized I have something for the base, I quickly bought some stuff to decorate the frame with, got home and just started working on it!

WARNING: Do not get too excited about stuff which includes Fevicol and tape and sketch pens. Make sure you change into something not so precious as your white linen shirt before you start working with the above :P

So this is what the frame looks like.


For any of you who is interested to make a similar frame, I used the following things:

1. A portion of the refrigerator packing box
2. Hand made paper
3. Cotton
4. Pair of scissors
5. Fevicol
6. Scotch tape
7. marker
8. Photograph
9. Decorative threads

To make the frame, I did the following:

1. Cut a piece of the packing box according to the photograph I wanted to put in the frame
2. Made a boundary of the photograph in the center of the card board piece
3. Pasted lots of cotton around the boundary  in order to make the sides around the photograph protrude out
4. Covered the cotton with hand made paper
5. Pasted the photo in its place
6. Made some designs with decorative threads

I sent my parents a picture of their picture in my frame and I am sure they smiled :)

So. I am happy. Touchwood. Also, this is a new thing I did this weekend. As I had promised myself I would every weekend!

Happy DIY.

Until next weekend.
I have always been a small town girl. And I have loved it. Everyone knows everyone there. You don't know what traffic is. Every other place is a tourist place. You grow with the town. And you always belong there. Always.

Now, I am in Gurgaon. And its no small town. And I am finding it hard to call this city my own. But one has to try. So, I have promised myself that every week, I am going to try something new in Gurgaon and Delhi. This new could be a restaurant, a boutique, a tourist spot, a blog post. Anything. But new. 

So today was the first day of living up to my promise. And I did two things. And I am doing the third.

First, I went to Mykonos. It's this cozy little Greek restaurant in Shahpur Jat. Amazing Greek food (not that I have had Greek food before), amazing interiors (white and blue) and an amazingly amazing owner, Anastasia. I was a little disappointed with the area it is located in but once I went upstairs and met the lovely owner, I knew I'll have a good time. It is cozy, has the classic white and blue shades of Greece and the food is differently tasty. Prepared with delicious Greek herbs (which the owner gets from Greece every three months) and olive oil (Extra virgin. As the owner insisted), you just want to keep eating. We tried Pita Burchette, Tzatziki, Spaghetti Napolitan, Chicken Tangania and Bakhlava and loved them all. Greek music in the background just adds to the soulful ambiance (There is a Greek song which has the same melody as the song "Mehbooba Mehbooba" from "Sholay"!).

Mykonos, Shahpur Jat, Delhi
Second, I tried a new attire. And I used the very basic essentials every girls' wardrobe should have:

Blazers

Wear them with high-waist pants or jeans, over a t-shirt or a shirt, printed or plain. Wear   them to transform your simple attire to a stylish one.

White linen shirt

A MUST HAVE. Beige shorts, blue jeans, high-waist pants, with a printed scarf or a stylish bag. A baggy white linen shirt is your savior.

Jeans

The name is enough. My experience tells me to have a fitted pair and a slightly loose one. A light blue shade and a dark one.

Brogues

They are comfortable and are major attention grabbers. Go with jeans, pants, skirts and stockings! Why should boys have all the fun ;)

Blazer: Forever 21
White Linen shirt: UCB
Jeans: Only
Brogues: Clarks
Third, I am writing a new blog post.

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