My earliest memories of fashion and style weren’t glossy magazines. Yep, they were big in my teens + college years and I once got severely reprimanded for owning a Cosmopolitan. But that’s a story for another day. My earliest memories of fashion were made up of South-Indian heroines. Nope, not the fancy Vyjayantimala and Hema Malini variety that glossies love to gloss about. I’m talking about a girl from Andhra who watched the quintessential South films with stars like Bhanupriya, Suhasini, Radha or Vijaya Shanti, even Gautami. If you don’t know who these guys are, look ’em up.

 

Vijay Shanti in Challenge: Sorry could not find better pictures!

Always with long braided hair, wearing glossy red lipstick and a big bindi paired with these gorgeous hoop earrings and transparent saris and teacher high-neck blouses. They were real beauties and they are the fashionistas who ruled my life in school. Fashion was contrived at that time, I’ll admit. It came with a funny rulebook too (woman with good morals = high-neck blouse/ woman with bad morals = sleeveless blouse and such!).

Especially Vijay Shanti, in this movie called “Challenge”, she would wear such great hair jewelry, it was so amazing and so creative as I look back now, she even drapes her saris so differently in every song.  You can see an example song here, ( Ignore the standard Telugu dancing) really – they were super creative those days with outfits.

Even Suhasini plays this school madam in this movie Aaradhana, pretty cool stuff in starched saris and fully-covered up blouses carrying an umbrella near the beach.

Anyways, I realized how much this new label reminded me of that era so I had to feature it. Brand Latha has really taken over Instagram last few months – it was even featured in Vogue Russia and Japan and the styling is so so on point. The dark eyes, the light-pastel hues and the sweetest fabrics, it’s just so retro and so wearable.

The model reeks of South-Indian swag – she could be a younger Suhasini ( a Popular South Actress!). Forget the hair and makeup for a bit, the fabrics are like swishy South saris and the langa-voni (Long South-Indian silk skirt with a drape) combo came with a contemporary twist – it’s the langa-jacket now *Sigh, too happy to live in these times, I tell you!

The simplicity is palpable. The fabrics are light as air. And the styling work done by Meghna Bhalla took me back to those sweaty Rajamundry summers where 16-year olds worked in their home gardens in silk langa-jackets and sipped coconut water while gossipping about the horn-rim spectacled boy next door.

Meghna used the outfits to create a newer idea of a Southern girl – someone bolder and more poised. I especially love the frowny face vis-a-vis a glazed “I’m-totally-spacing-out-but-am-woke” look models sport these days.

Well, am loving this and so will you – and I think my South-Indian fashion story will continue and this label will flourish and come out with newer silhouettes soon. I, cannot wait to see how this story unfolds. But for now, gloss over the pictures, will you?

This label hails from the house of Latha Puttanna.

CREDITS:

Consulting Creative Director – Meghna Bhalla
Photographer – Kapil Ganesh
Talent – Teesta Dalvi @ Anima Creative Management
HMU Artist – Mitesh Rajani
Production – Yellow Umbrella Productions
Jewellery courtesy – Naaniki / @diariesofnomad

P.S This post really reminded me of my love for South-Indian filmy fashion. And I’m gonna continue to write more about it. Movie pictures via Cinema Chaat. 

 

 

 

 

Reason 1:

I am a working woman with a 4-year old kiddo. I have no time. If I’m not working, I’m with kid. If I’m with kid, I’m desperately getting back to work to deal with unfinished business. Little windows of time go in managing a home – damn, Surf is over again and the clothes are piling up. How people before and around and after me manage to do all three beautifully is perplexing for me.

Reason 2:

Laziness. Lots of it. After gathering motivation for aforesaid activities, doing “productive” or “purposeful” things is out of question. I’m no Rocky and “Eye of the Tiger” isn’t that effective after dealing with a 4-year-old all day. Forget eye of the tiger, I need some shut-eye. So, my new motto aptly called “Whatever!!!!” takes over. Yes, that word comes out loudly and rather forcefully. With chips, a wine glass and a frown. With exclamation points.

That my dear friends is how I found this little spot in my life called “Negligence”. Things suffered. They are:

My home:

It isn’t Pinterest-worthy anymore. It’s a mess. Clothes piled up and toys strewn around. Those pretty homes I see on Insta? Best left on Insta. But also, I thought, I’ll let go coz things are great in other depts. Home can suffer.

My skin:

It looks dangerously like I’m morphing slowly but surely into a crocodile. Post 30 life isn’t helping. Skin is dry like Gurgaon in summer ( I just moved there so you might see G-town refs left, right & centre).

My body:

It’s got a life of it’s own and Hypothyroid is the outfit it wears nowadays. Yep, that explains the weight gain. And all the other things that come with it – Fatigue, Moody behaviour, definite dry skin, weight gain etc etc. I can deal with everything on this list except fatigue. It’s a nightmare.

My style:

I don’t know for sure what my style was before I had a baby. It was electric maharani because I wore colourful outfits and went berserk. But now, my style is mainly “Wearing clean clothes – ironed ones, even better, spotless, I attained nirvana”.

My hobbies:

What? Do people have those anymore?

Food:

I ate anything. It has to be food. My kid and husband fall in the same logic. Husband is tall and hardly needs exercise – he looks great. Metabolism dammit. Kid is eating healthy and good – with a side of fuss which is normal I guess. But we don’t know what’s good food for us?

Sleep:

I am shamelessly addicted to Instagram. And reading quora. And other time-wasting things people set up so you click on the net. I hate click-bait, but I’m curious. So, basically sleeping at 1 am and waking up for my kids school at 6 am = chaos.

And so, according to me these 7 were just not important. You see, I am a practical gal. I know there’s nothing called work-life balance. There is something called “Prioritising”. That means, you pick 3-4 things that most make you happy and make sure they are in a good place. So, my list goes: Baby – Husband – Job – Small Business. You could add Travel into this – I’m getting there but it’s still a fledgling. Rest, falls into the “whatever” box.

I was content until last month. We moved to Gurgaon and I suddenly had to start afresh on things. And that’s when it got confusing. Who am I? A mom, wife, a decent employee and an okay-ish Entrepreneur ( for my sweet label Buttermilk). But who am I?

I STILL DON’T KNOW.

But I knew I had to tackle the unimportant stuff to know the truth. My little windows need to accommodate things. So I shook up my space and let in some fresh air and started small. I’m still at the starting line.

And in this journey, I discovered ideas and labels that made my life easier. So far, my apple cart is not lopsided so am guessing it’s ok.

Home

Home needs a makeover. I did love some of the nicest stuff I bought at Urban Ladder and this little furniture market in Sector 56 where I bought crockery for as cheap as Rs 35. A good beginning. I also discovered that Amazon.in delivers some great coffee stirrers and this cute kitchen essential. Chumbak gave me new crockery like this cute green plate platter.

Skin

I started reading up on my skin type and stopped buying cosmetics because I liked the packaging or the idea of it perpetrated by Fashion bloggers and ads. I realised that I need some Hydration in my life. A bit of Retinol. Maybe some Vitamin C goodness. All great (post coming up soon). For starters: I started with this amazing Spanish facial mask called Rosoil  (Rosehip oil #forthewin) and went ahead with a good skincare routine that included my current favourite Clinique Moisture Surge.

Body

Just got all my tests done. Started working out. Realised that Yoga + Body Pump with a healthy dose of strength training is what I figured I liked.

Style

I am still figuring out what fits me and makes me smile. But bags were my constant love these 4 years – my trusty Marc Jacobs bag. My hard-earned Ferragamo tote. An interesting cutie I bought on a sale at Koovs that makes for a great holiday bag. It was touted as THE vacay bag for women.

Hobbies

NAHI! Does watching GoT fall in this category? WIP.

Food

Now here’s where I made a leap. I don’t have a cook because both my husband and kid eat in their office and school respectively. So that leaves me to deal with ONE MEAL. And I finally made a menu and bought some great things (All homegrown labels, I love that bit) – The Cambray Tiger Basa Fillet, Bacon Bits from La Carne. A kickass Epigamia breakfast – Jalapeno with barley puffs. And some nice Bananachip-infused chocolates from Daarzel.

I made some great smoothies – Spinach, banana, chia, kiwi, almond milk was one helluva thing. I’m trying to eat mindfully because there’s temptation all around.  I made a menu and I’m trying to stick to it.

Hot Restaurant Alert: Shophouse Kylin and it’s chilli basil chicken bowl. H-E-A-V-E-N.

Sleep

Getting into a routine of shutting eye by 10:30 pm. Tough, but switching off lights and looking up into the ceiling helps. I’m still wonky on that. Damn you, Insta Stories!

And that’s really where I am now. Today. Nowhere close to perfection. But closer to sanity. I hope to keep my blog updated from now.

Big dreams.

It’s Thursday. Probably the most boring day of the week. And what’s worse? It’s the day after Trumps win – that terrible aftertaste that the world is experiencing, like a bad hangover, like a feather from a pillow stuck in your throat. And I decided to move onto things that make me happy. And one such, is this pretty pretty shoot by a friend of mine, Kanika Karvinkop, ace stylist and all round sweet girl. It’s for the Nylon Singapore magazine, November issue and it’s so haunting and oozing with awesome.

So I asked Kanika to give me the goop. The shoot had something beautiful – it was shot inside a heritage bungalow and that belonged to Mumbai designer James Ferriera. Now if you know Ferriera, you would know that his home is a reflection of his personality – Goan, Vintage, Relaxed and Nostalgic. Mi Casa – those two words fit right in like poetry. And with that as inspiration, this shoot showcases style that’s modern, edgy and sophisticated against a laid-back vibe. The trend was clearly pantsuits.

Of course, I asked Kanika all about it and this is what she had to say: 

“Right in the centre of the all the hustle and bustle of one of the busiest cities in the world, Mumbai, stands a a beautiful heritage bungalow that dates back almost 200 years and seems to be a complete misfit in the 21st century. Just the same, we’ve added a modern touch with what’s heritage and show you how the Pant Suits have broken out of the formal office cubicles are now more relaxed, fresh, cool, and effortlessly chic. To put it one line, we wanted to show something modern in a vintage setting.

James Ferriera ancestral was obvious choice, since its a 200 year old house and has a great history behind it. From the interiors to the decor everything has a very vintage touch to it and worked perfectly for us. The styling leaned towards a insouciant, effortless, minimal look, giving it that borrowed from the boys feel but still keeping it feminine at the same time” she adds.

Here are the pictures that I loved!Though I wish I could see more of that pretty bungalow 🙂