Girl with the blue scarf

India-inspired resort wear It is so amazing — All the hype, the buzz, the energy that the days preceding the fashion week carry with it. With just a few weekdays left to hit the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2010 to start form March 5 - 9, there is this tingling anticipatory feeling down the spine about 'God! I wonder what's in store'. And that's the reason why I turn into a sleuth-scribe of sorts. I enthusiastically go through look books (booklets which have designs of the collection with details of cuts, fabrics and mentions of initiatives such as going organic, inspirations etc with it) and special mailers which come to us about the collections that will be showcased. I sit down and make mental notes just the way a kid would want to colour the Sun in a shade different from yellow, may be in blue... Honestly, to me, the theme of Resort Wear is all about easy clothing and it's so Mumbai in its spirit of a free, evolved, raring-to-go-woman of this dream city. In...

Chronicling an era with fashion writing Aren't we glad that India has steadily moved out of the recession of 2009. We no longer harbour a fear of going bankrupt or losing our jobs. In fact, since the jolt here wasn't as bad as it was in the West, its buzz time once again. Shops opening their doors with a 'Sale' on its hoarding, designers calling out for a slashed down priced collection and real estate agents drilling down their 'made-up' discount offers. India is truly back in business. An interesting reason why recession'09 didn't hit us so hard lies in our generations-long 'saving habit'. Since over 60 per cent of our income is put aside in savings, finally that's what came to the rescue when people lost their jobs. Westeners tend to save little and spend most of their income (it's a way to enjoy life, you know!) thus when their source of income went haywire, there were no personal savings to bank on. In India, people absorbed 'less...

THE WORLD'S A SMALL PLACE IN NZ A recent trip of 14 hours+2 hours to New Zealand from Mumbai made me understand how small this world is. Sounds weird? Let me explain this 'trendy' statement. Now, what would truly delight a fashion and travel writer who's been sent to an out-of-the-country assignment? Perhaps, some mindblowing, fear embracing adventure sports. True.. to some extent. So, on Day 1, when I got to do Skydiving at NZone in Queenstown, New Zealand, I was ecstatic. I think this was truly a feat to boast about, for I dived in tandem from 15,000 ft, a first for anyone in the Tiwari clan. On the way back from the skydive post at the Queenstown airport, I met up with a group of filmy people who were shooting for a film there. And then came a pair of warm hands which closed my eyes from behind and a loving voice followed, 'Nimishaaaa', you here!' This has got to be an Indian Punjabi heartfelt voice, I thought to myself. Turning around, I was so whelmed o...

Enchanted by Suneet! Recently on a sunny, chilly January day at Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi in Mumbai, there was distinctively pleasant and creative frenzy at its best. Delhi-based designer Suneet Verma was finalising his Lakme Fashion Week grand finale look with the models. And it was my priviledge to have met him here in the city in person for the first time. It was however, two years ago when Suneet's magic had started to work on my mind. At a show called 'Enchanted Forest', every dramatic detail was looked into with impeccable precision replete with a pond on the ramp with water bubbling, birds chirping and clouds lowering towards the silvery bright full moon. While I gazed with awe, supermodel Madhu Sapre made her appearance on the ramp like a princess and others followed strutting long flowy gowns. The show was fabulous. The story about it is long but the great respect for Suneet was born right there and then. And so at the meet recently, Suneet with a dimpled shy sm...

Are you ready for Fashion Blogger's verdict? The year 2009 was all about creative competition, price cuts and free blogs. Although ‘unexpected’, Mumbai fabulously lived up to these challenges Where would you have heard terms such as ‘Season-neutral’, ‘Fast Fashion’ and ‘Strategic Shift’ ? Nowhere else but in Mumbai's fashion circles. And trust BT, it made complete sense for it imbibed what the changing times demanded — voice of the new-age fashionista. Recession-stricken year of 2008 sprang up cost challenges to be dealt with in the year 2009. Every big fashion designer right from Ritu Kumar to Narendra Kumar Ahmed, Vikram Phadnis to Sabyasachi Mukherjee, was forced to cut down on their label prices. However, the positive side to the story was that this recession also brought about higher creativity within the confines of lower costs, simpler yet elegant lines, and most importantly, affordability to the buyer. Naturally, fashionistas were happy buying more and more ready-to-wea...

Discounts and our psyche! What is it about sales and discounts which sweeps us off our feet and makes us end up buying the good. Well, I ask you this because every where I glance around, I spot shops where there are combinations of 'Buy 1, get 2 Free'; 'Take Jimmy Choos for much lesser', 'Buy a fab dress for half its cost' and more flashing its way into our heads. Quite obviously, the twinkle in our eye is inarguably brighter. We get drawn towards the shop and once the good is in our hands, there's a definite sense of achievement. Small or big, is a big question. But how is it that even adults with great thinking capacity get conned into impulsive buying. These string of thoughts started when a handsome hunk and my sweetheart ended up travelling a long distance to check out a property which was offered at 20 per cent discount. Yes! he had been looking for a neat deal in real estate for sometime and nothing much seemed to have clicked. But one fine morning,...

Does your fashion sense reaffirm your attitude? The way you and I dress up, does it say anything about who we are, what we feel and think and also our positioning in society. If you are already getting sceptical about your answer then here's cue enough... To work, why do we dress up in a formal or semi-formal manner (unless if you are a creative person and so anything you'd wear would be considered fine by your boss)? At a party, why are we so fine with a little bit of cleavage and our toned legs showing and guys would walk around in unkempt looks, sporting tight jeans and a tee to emphasise their broad chest? Perhaps, clothes do make a difference. To us, clothes can be good mood elevators and to others, who see us for the first time, perceptions get defined by the way we dress up. GETTING BLOUSY: One of the most interesting observations that fashion experts have maintained to have noticed is that clothing sense greatly earmarks the attitude of a particular era. So, after world...