Happy feet

If I had it my way, I would have named this blog as shoegal.blogspot. From the time I started earning my own two pennies, I started my investments in shoes. The way I saw it, my feet size had finished "growing” and unlike my body, they will remain a Bata size 4 or a 361/2 (depending on where I buy my shoes from) till the day I die. And among all my recent purchases, my black stillies occupy the pride of place. At this point, a little history behind this purchase might be appropriate. Last Christmas, I had gone to Australia on a holiday. On the flight itself, I made up my mind on two things - a) I will buy a pair of red carpet worthy heels b) the said heels must be bought within a day or two otherwise I might end up spending money all my money on worthless things. I had been informed earlier that all major shopping should be done on 26th December, Boxing Day aka Australia’s biggest sale day aka shopping nirvana.

On the said date, I reached Meyer's , one of Australia's most popular malls. It resembled Mumbai's Victoria terminal. Women of all shapes, sizes and colour were teeming over the place. Me and my sisters split up. Whatever shoe stuck our fancy, we grabbed it, and this was no mean feat considering that we are all 5 footers while our fellow shoppers towered over us by several inches. I tried out all the pairs, but got no "message". I had assumed that at least one of the 17 pairs that I had selected would fit the bill. Disappointed hardly covers my feelings at that time. My sister, a more patient kind, told me to look around a bit more. I took her advice; after all she had got me my fabulous red Guess bag, so obviously she knew what she was talking about. And then, I found it - a pair of black Steve Madden (Steven by Steve Madden to be more precise) - a stunner and oh it was luxe! interesting bijoux, soft leather soles with suede covering, skinny satin straps, and deadly 5 inch heels. A killer pair, nuff said.

Guess did it for me!

About two years back, I was on a major hunt for the perfect red bag. I didn’t want just about any bag in red colour, what I wanted was a bag with personality, something that would make me happy even on my worst days. After two months, the hunt for the “perfect red bag” was getting on my nerves. I was shown tacky vinyl bags, extremely uncomfortable to take in the Delhi heat; massively oversized bags in which I could hide myself if the need arose; tassled bags (cheap copies of Gucci’s Hobo bag) or “party bags” with enough bling that you needed sunglasses. Ultimately, frustrated, I gave up my search. But, my elder sister didn’t. When she came to visit me, she gifted me the most fabulous bag – it was red, it was perfect, it was Guess!

From the moment I slung the Guess bag over my shoulders, I knew this was the right bag for me. And why not, it saw me through job interviews and date nights. It saved my mobile and cash from getting soaking wet during Delhi’s recent deluge. It has received appreciative glances and polite where-did-you-buy-it from curious passerbys. In the two years since I started using the bag, I haven’t faced a single zipper failure, or a loose stud/buckle mishap.

Sure the bag was expensive. Would I have bought it on my own? I don’t know. But the one thing I do know is that my Guess bag isn’t just a holder of my possessions. It wasn’t conceived by Marciano for random consumption. It was designed, crafted and labeled with love for one special lady. And when you chance upon such a perfect fit, you don’t question the “what ifs’ you just take it as your right.

My Guess Bag

Close-up of the front buckle. The leather is a self embossed snakeprint.

Side pouch with dull gold stud details

The week that was!

Monday to Friday can be a hectic time for all of us who work in a corporate set-up for a living. And mine was especially bad. First, I missed a deadline. Second, my reporting manager left for greener pastures. Third, I was going to the pot, literally (the effects of two very tasty samosas consumed with glee on my way back home). Fourth, all my crops had died while I was enjoying the not so pleasant after effects of the said samosas. By the end of the week, the stage was set – the only thing that can lift me from this morass of a woefull week was a shopping spree.

But in an angst ridden 21st century, nothing is simple: two of my fellow shoppers on whom I can count for expert advice related to colour, size and what would suit me were unavailable and, I was short of cash (newspapers say that recession is over, my CEO says we still have to ride rough times…GOD I wish they make up their minds on which way the wind is blowing).

Not to be undone, I resorted to underhand tactics and secured the services of an extremely reluctant fellow shopper - a metalhead whose preferred choice of attire is a black tee of his favourite band “Iron Maiden”. Fashion advice was not forthcoming from any quarter, responses ranged from lukewarm “nice” to “what is this? Which way do you wear it?” Notwithstanding these obstacles, I still managed to get what I wanted.

Here’s my loot:

1. Peach pin tuck shirt with buttons (great for layering)
2. Black jersey dress with layered tie-and-dye at the bottom
3. Graphic tees (Simpson + electro monkey tees)
4. Blue polka dotted Lerros jacket with hood
5. Pink skirt with red mini hearts print ( love the print)

Waking Up to Style!

As a starting point for my post, I am not picking on the accepted dissection of the LFW (Lakme fashion Week) or the WIFW (Wills India Fashion Week) which ostentatiously dictate the style trends of a newly emerging Indian fashion consciousness. Instead I am picking a more easily recognised parable, the most common denominator which influences the subcontinent in all things related to fashion and lifestyle - Bollywood.

As Wake Up Sid has been my most recent Bollywood fare, let me get started on that one. This movie had an interesting combination for me as far as fashion sensibilities go. On one hand you had Konkana Sen (a thinking actress with an average figure, I haven't come across KS in an outfit onscreen or offscreen which screams Haut Couture. Clearly, this is an actress not aiming for a size zero fig or being one of the top ten Bollywood fashionista). On the other hand, this movie was from the Dharma Production stable, arguably one of the most stylish production houses in the Indian movie scene with urban lifestlye as its forte. A marriage between these two dichotomous souls would be interesting.

As a movie meant for the urban masses, the styling for its two central character bring out facets of their individual styles. An immature spoilt brat living it up on his father's money and a 27 year old Bong who lands in Mumbai to eek her living and smell the first wiff of financial independence, the movie does have its fashion moments.

Ranbir Kapoor

Checkpoints

• Photography - snaps of his feet wearing socks
• Creativity - collage in his room, his quilt
• Brand conscious - Sony laptop
• Tee shirts- cartoon and animation centric (reflection of his own boyishness)

Konkana Sen

Checkpoints

• Living space - fairy lighted white bird cage, books placed all round the room
  
• Independence - yellow wall with white birds strung across a wire
• Individual style - multicoloured camel printed kurta, tan coloured hobo bag (a jhola would have made her too NGO intellectual)
• Structure - fitted evening dresses in silk, halter kurtis

The work space of Mumbai Beat also deserves a special mention - with its coloured furniture, graffiti walls and bright cushions, it did reflect the required "coolness" quotient of a magazine that is trying to capture the soul of Mumbai through its fresh writings and rich visual imagery.

The one thing that did disappoint me in this movie was the inadequate amount of hairstyle experiments. Being a KJo film, sufficient amount of thought must have gone into the "mane styling", but sadly, it wasn't enough. Especially if you juxtapose it to the freshness that Audhuna Akhtar gave to Dil Chahta hai with her radical hair styles for all the lead actors. Ah well greedy me!