Pick Of The Week - Gujrati Jhola

Bought this HUGE gujrati jhola from khan market this week. Had been eyeing these for the LONGEST time.
And the one I got is SO unique. I am so kicked :)

It has a payal on one side, so it jingles a little bit.

And also had old 25 paise coins attached to it.

The other side is a little more plain (!) and has these thread pom poms!

How awesome is the detailing? Quite mind blowing.

The strap isn`t that great, as its finishing isn`t that good. The guy selling it tried to convince my mother (who had picked this up for me) that the strap is 'old' and has been 'restored'. Seriously?

Anyway so i`ll probably change the strap

It is HUGE, but all my junk will fit in it which is good. ipad camera notebook etc

I bought it from Khan Market for Rs 2400. I hear that Janpath has these as well and might be cheaper too.
The guy told me Rs 3000 first and then came down

H.P Singh in Nehru Place has these for Rs 4000 with no bargaining! What a rip off.


So 3 places where you can find these
1.Khan Market
2. Janpath (havn`t personally seen)
3.H.P Singh, Nehru Place

Oh and have you seen the Powder Room Contest yet?

The Powder Room Contest

I have a really fun contest for you all! Win a signed copy of Powder Room by former editor of Marie Claire - Shefalee Vasudev

POWDER ROOMThe Untold Story of Indian Fashion

IN STORES JULY 25th! 


Pre -order on Flipkart 

Ever been intrigued by the Indian Fashion Industry – its stereotypes of drugged models, gay designers and fascinating but unaffordable clothes?

Join Shefalee Vasudev, former editor of Marie Claire and one of the most acclaimed fashion journalists, for a deep-sea dive into the gagging depths of the fashion world. In Powder Room, Shefalee offers an insider’s view of people who make the industry what it is in India–from a lower-middle-class girl who sells global luxury for a living to a designer who fights the inner demons of child sexual abuse yet manages to survive and thrive in the business of fashion, or a Ludhiana housewife on a perpetual fashion high.

Besides candid interviews of known names in Indian fashion, Shefalee provides a commentary on new social behaviour, urban culture, generational differences, and the compulsions behind conspicuous consumption in a country splitting at the seams with inequalities of opportunity and wealth. From Nagaland to Patna, Mumbai, Delhi, and Punjab, Powder Room mirrors how and why India ‘does’ fashion.


CHAPTERS
1. Dry Clean Only
Raakesh Agarvwal was sexually abused in his childhood by a close family member. His journey from a fragmented childhood to becoming one of the more commercially successful designers of unabashed bling assimilates the many paradoxes of India’s fashion industry. 

2. Price on Request
Jennifer is a sales person at DLF Emporio Mall. The matrix of luxury brands in India, the competitiveness they provoke and her training as a merchandiser of luxury completely transform the life of this middle class girl. 

3. The Ludhiana Wives
The Punjabi culture of ‘show-sha’ or conspicuous consumption now plays itself out through luxury labels. Ludhiana is a giant kitty party where social worth is equal to the logo brands the rich wear every day. 

4. Walk, Don’t Talk
Nagma is a B-grade model. She wants to be India’s next Mehr Jessia and is willing to do “anything”. Nothing gives. And, why male models are not the superstars of India’s modelling business.


5. Boy, Interrupted
Emerging designer Imcha Imchen almost killed himself a few years ago. His bi-polar disorder runs as a metaphor to deconstruct the duality of attitudes in fashion between "mainland" and Nagaland.
6. The Raja and the Yuvraj 
Rohit Bal and Sabyasachi. Why they matter. 

7. Ladies Tailor
Everyone has a tailor in their lives. What the tailors have though is “masterjis” leading to the fascinating underbelly of India’s darzi culture. 

8. In the Red
Rahul Salvi is the youngest weaver of the rare Patan Patola sari, in Gujarat. Why the cocooned Salvi family doesn’t want anything to do with the designer lobby, fashion weeks and government “support”. 

9. Peanuts as Salary, Free Trips to Paris
Does India’s fashion media really wield journalist clout?

10. In the Wings
What’s fashion politics and how it plays out




To Win a Signed copy of this book, all you have to do is answer this question

Why do YOU think the book is called Powder Room?

You can answer in 50-60 words maximum. There is no right or wrong answer to this,just whatever YOU think it is. The two best answers will be picked by me (and maybe Shefalee Vasudev). Contest open in India till 4th Of August.

Answer either in the comments section or on the my facebook page

Disclaimer : The author is a family member.

Pet Peeve(s) Of The Week / Shit People Say To Me

Hello People. Yes I am still around. Just low on inspiration. There is only SO much you can talk about fashion no? I mean, there are other things going on. Anyway, lets leave that discussion for later.

I am quite a finicky person. I have things that irritate me. As I would think other people have as well. So every week, I want to talk about things that have just Pissed Me Off. You can agree/disagree/get offended or anything in the comments below and lets have a discussion!

1. Shit People Say To Me 

The amount of weird things people say to me, would 

need an entire book. You all will know when that one comes out!

One thing that REALLY gets to me is - my Toe Rings. 

I have been wearing silver toe rings since I was in class 8 I think. Our school had an extremely strict no jewellery policy. The earrings girls wore could not dangle, if they did they would be confiscated. Those were simpler times, when my friends and I were obsessed with silver, and the price of silver wasn`t touching the sky.Since we couldn't wear nice earrings, we decided to get silver toe rings, since they were only visible when we took our shoes off, and that was seldom, And teachers never saw those.

For some reason mine have been on since then. I have obviously changed then etc but I have been wearing them since then. They represent absolutely NOTHING other than my love for how they look. That.is.IT

Poor old me, having been brought up in a completely non-religious, nontraditional house and family, knew absolutely NOTHING about what simple toe rings could represent.

So there I was, in my teens, still in school, changing after a swim in one of Delhi`s very posh clubs. And the female attendant asks me "Are you married?" That was the first WTF moment for me. I was 15! Yes I was tall for my age, BUT COME ON. When I asked her why on earth she would say that, she said its cos I was wearing toe rings.Not just on ONE foot, but on BOTH!  My God. I have seen those toe rings married women wear, but I am sorry mine were waayyy better looking than those. Those are just so ugly with little thingies coming out of them.

That moment then prepared me for endless questions as to why I wear them, I shouldn`t wear them, urging me to shout a big fuck off to anyone and everyone who would say it.

Recently the most bizarre and amusing thing happened. I was in a skin clinic, getting a treatment done, and the practitioner asked me the same damn question. "Are you married?" After rolling my eyes, in my head I said no, I just wear them cos I like it, etc etc. Then she says "Oh, okay cos you don't look married"

Now here is my question - what the crap does a married woman LOOK like?

Okay many people, specially Indians have their regular marks, sindhur, mangalsutr, chooda for newly weds,(all of which are so ugly and I despise so much) but take those away, then what does a married woman look like?

Is it judged by her body language? The way she behaves? Seriously. The people and mindsets of this country leave me completely flabbergasted.

2. Bringing Children To Watch COCKTAIL?

I recently saw cocktail. It was fun. The first half at least. The second half was bull shit. No, not cos of the movie. Because there were two little girls RUNNING around the ENTIRE hall screaming their fucking little lungs out. WHO the HELL brings their children to such a sexually charged movie? What do you think, they`ll enjoy it? Love the way Deepika Padukone snorts her coke? Or admire her legs? What the hell dude!?

Movie going experiences in India are so extremely shitty cos parents cannot even THINK of not bringing their brats to the theater and because stupid theaters will ALLOW children to come into the hall, when the movie is clearly inappropriate for them. I always complain about this and people around me say, so what are they supposed to do, leave their kids at home?

YES OF COURSE leave your damn toddlers at home rather than exposing them to a movie which talks about sharing partners. Or if you can`t leave them at home how about not watch the damn movie and wait for the dvd. Which would you prefer? Miss the hottest release of the week or the moral ruination of you child? 

Yeah you`re right, that IS a tough choice!



Not to mention the shit other people have to endure thanks to your inane decision of bringing a kid to the hall

I was going for the 5th or 6th Harry Potter movie once, and this infant was brought in. What the hell will this child understand of the movie when he hasn`t even been alive long enough to know what the hell it is all about.

3."Cocktail Was Bad"

All the people complaining that they had such high expectation of cocktail and it didnt live upto it. Oh come on, It is JUST a movie, not a surgery. Have fun while you can and get over it. And these are the same people who would`ve thoroughly enjoyed the two sex and the city movies, just for the clothes, and the locations and wouldn`t even have realized that the stories in both the movies was quite shitty.

Carrie goes through a problem with Bigg but it`s all okay in the end
Samantha has sexual problems
Charlotte has family problems
Miranda is cheated upon and in the second one I don't know what minute story line she had

( if I have spoiled the movie for you, too bad they`ve been out for over 4 years now)

But the same logic isn`t applied in cocktail, which also has some amazing clothes and great locations, and also it has it`s funny moments.

4. Paying For Swatches
And lastly the thing that pissed me off this week was paying for swatches. As a fashion student I have to keep buying different swatches and samples of various types of cloth. And if you know Delhi markets well and have any interest in clothing manufacturing you would know that the biggest (and most expensive) cloth shops are in Nehru Place. Shops like H.P Singh and Textures are quite popular.

But they charge STUDENTS Rs40 - Rs 300 for 25cms of cloth. Just for sampling. We`re not even working in factories, we`re students! Of an acclaimed government college. What the hell kind of profit will you make form us?  I had sworn I will NOT give in to this kind of exploitation and will not go to these shops. But I sadly cracked under workload pressure and did what goes against all my principles. Spent and wasted money on cloth that will never be used again! 

My swatches that cost me over a Grand

What pissed YOU off this week?

Do you think was wrong in any of these situations?

Tell me what you think!

Golmaal Giveaway WINNNEERRR!!

and the WINNER is.. Akanksha Chawla who wants the Audrey Dress

Congratulations Akansksha, I`ll be mailing you soon :)