When it comes to choosing a clutch to go with that fabulous saree, suit or your pretty dress, choices abound. But very often I have seen Indian women carrying clutches that are so traditional that it is hard to pair them with any specific western outfit. Like jewelry, I believe that a clutch (or a bag) should also be multi functional and should go well with both Indian as well as western outfits.



I came across these pretty clutches a while ago. And on the first look most of them, if not all, look like they would go fabulously well with a pretty gown or dress or any polished (formal, stylish) western outfit. But the fact is that most of them would work fabulously well with an Indian dress too. To get an idea of what I am talking about take a look at the pictures below where I have tried to mix and match the dresses and clutch together. A fabulous clutch is a perfect accessory that can add to or take away so much elegance and charm from the whole look.


Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to help you find this perfect accessory for your look.

- Do hunt for bags/clutches etc that are versatile.
- Do try to add a pop of color to your outfit with the clutch.
- Don’t go for too matching matching look.
- Don’t go for a very unusual (eye catching) clutch on you wedding day. You don’t want to divert the attention away from yourself and from your wedding outfit. (for the same reason I haven’t paired any clutch with lehenga).



- Don’t (usually, unless absolutely necessary) pair a fancy suit or a saree with a big handbag (like mine below). Indian dresses look so much more elegant with clutches.
- Do have at least 2-3 different shapes in your collection. e.g. a box shape, a potli types, rectangular or a coin purse.
- And, as I always say, do stay pretty and stride away in style.

Following yesterday's post, these are the pretty ladies whose bags I want to tag.

1) Sulagna at Pink & Black

2) Sonali at Bollywood Style Diaries

3) Isabel at Walk of Fashion

4) Anamika at Wise She

5) Tanveer at Addicted to Blush

6) Libys at Animated Confessions

7) Charlotte at Cequiminspire

So, girls what are you waiting for..time to spill some beans!!!

Tamana, a very pretty lady and my dear friend, tagged me here to spill out my bag to all of you. Do check out her fabulous blog here.

I am usually a very simple person when it comes to bags. I usually carry just the basic essentials and sometimes I also leave some stuff back in the car if I feel I am being buried under the weight of my bag. So here goes my list.
(Also please excuse for the bad bad pictures. I am good only at posing :)



1) Animal print wallet – to carry ID, cards, cash, keys etc.
2) Phone
3) Mac Blush and Powder Brush ( this is the only form of make up I ever use unless I am attending a wedding or something)
4) Lens case with solution filled in (even after 5 years, they can go wacky at times)
5) No.5
6) Hair Comb & Clutcher
7) Dad’s watch
8) Burt Bees Lip Balm
9) Ganesh Ji
10) Shades (usually I carry both my rayban’s and vogue. I like changing up my shades a lot.)
11) Mint
12) Mac Kajal ( this is essential always. My eyes look very bad without some black effect)
12) Olay Facial Wipes
13) Nail Polish Remover Pads
14) Sometimes I carry a book too, if its not very big, such as The Money Game (by Adam Smith) that I am reading these days.

Wow..that adds up to a lot. Did I say I am a simple person when it comes to bags..

I will be tagging some of you for this post (so be ready!!!). But in the next post. Had to put up this today as it was long due. And, have to rush out now. Ciao.

Ever since the time I have known a saree or a lehenga, I have always seen a short blouse with it. I mean a blouse technically is supposed be short, ending somewhere on your waist. But the designers are signing a different song these days. Runways in the latest fashion weeks have been marked with long blouses over lehenga and on sarees (see the pictures below)



I personally always felt that a long blouse would create so many layers that it may be unflattering on the body. But, seems the designers have found a cure for this too. Blouses fitted on waist, open from front and with deep necklines define the silhouette in the same way as short blouses do. Moreover these blouses can be paired with a salwaar (trousers) or churidaar too and voila, you have an additional outfit in your closet.

As far as pictures tell, the trend surely looks good and totally wearable. But, as we all know they (read models, designers make up artists etc) can make even a potato sack look good.

The question is do we see ourselves wearing this trend?

This is perhaps the most colorful piece of clothing I have. I bought this dress a year back but couldn't really find a good occasion to wear it. Finally, I showed it some love while vacationing in Hawaii this year and I guess it was just the perfect place to wear it. The beautiful colors in the water & on the ground accentuated the colors in this dress even more.



Another reason I love this dress is because it instantly lifts up my spirits. I am a very color loving person by nature and big bright colors always attract me. The reason I am holding my hat is that it was so windy that day that it kept flying away. Also, as you can see in the pictures my hair are a little messy again because of the wind.

I don't have too many tube dresses or tops in my closet. Usually I am not very comfortable wearing tube and that's why I added the necklace just to feel a little covered up.



What about you? Are you a color person? Do you prefer bright colors or neutrals? Please share in the comment box.

My dear friend Tanvi tagged me (here) to list 10 things that turn me off. Here I go:

1) People who are more interested in what’s going on in my life than they are in theirs. (Aunties who keep asking "beta when will you plan for family..i mean come on!!!)

2) Couples, who stay together under the same roof but still send lovey dovey messages to each other on FaceBook (jaanu iam missing you, honey, I love you so much..i mean on FB …seriously so annoying)

3) Advice – tons and tons of it, without any rhyme , reason and obviously without asking

4) Food products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup in particular and unhealthy foods in general

5) Dirty Kitchen

6) Sugar coated extra sweet, extra polite people - I always feel there is something fishy about them & somehow can’t digest their politeness.

7) Indian News Channels or should I say Bollywood gossip channels

8) Unproductive people, who keep sitting on their asses all day and do nothing, don’t even take care of themselves.

9) Going to the so called SALE and finding junk (spl in India)

10) Miser/ penny pincher types who keep track of each & every penny they spend.

I would love to know what all are the things/people that piss you/ turn you off. Please leave a reply in the Comment Box..lets do some girl's talk :)

Indian weddings are all about opulence & grandeur, where not only the surroundings but the bride is also consider an object of decoration. An Indian bride is often incomplete without a heavily embroidered lehenga or saree, jewelry at every conceivable place and tons of makeup. That’s why when I first saw Komal’s picture I was amazed by her unique style. Unlike the more commonplace Indian Brides, Komal’s choice of outfit was classy, stylish and most importantly wearable (again & again). In her own words – “ I wanted something that could be used multiple times even after the wedding. I did not want to spend so much on something that I would only wear once”


Her Suneet Verma corset lehenga with real sarvoski embroidery was exactly the one that Komal dreamed of. The embroidery was rich, elegant & sophisticated and it had the most unique color combinations – blue, lilac and mauve. I mean, how many times do we see a bride ditching all the big bold bright colors and settling for such soft romantic hues.. Komal was aptly assisted by her stylish sister Kiran, who envisioned exactly what she wanted & helped her in putting together the entire outfit.



A simple diamond choker with light earrings perfectly complimented the overall theme of the outfit. Instead of nose ring and maangtika, a simple stone bindi was used to highlight the face. The chooda was also of mauve color, as opposed to the traditional red or pink. The blue and pink orchids in her hair were synced with the colors in her garland. What a detailing!!!. One look at Komal and I could clearly see how much effort and thought she had put in her outfit. The miniscule details of the décor (also in pink, blue & mauve) were taken care by Komal’s parents, who carefully incorporated all that Komal wanted.



The wedding was held on 16th May 2005 in Jalandhar. Yes, this was five years back but Komal’s outfit is so timeless that I didn’t realize that it is not a recent wedding until she told me so. Wishing this great couple a fabulous married life forever.

If you have been reading this blog regularly you know by now how much I love jewelry that is versatile – that can be worn with anything and everything. More often than not we spend (often overspend) on jewelry during wedding shopping and it is only fair that we wear it as much as possible. I personally have lot of pieces bought during my wedding time that are so specifically Indian, that I can’t pair them with anything else.


These pieces from Nieman Marcus are a perfect solution to wear your jewelry to the max. With pearls, diamonds and exotic stones, these can be worn with traditional suits and sarees as well as with formal wear or a fabulous cocktail dress. So, stride away in style with these eclectic charms.

Images: http://www.southasianbridemagazine.com/

It was my birthday last week - a perfect occasion to dress up. This is what I wore for dinner date & some shopping with my husband. I like this dress as I can wear it in so many ways - with a jacket, with a belt or just simply with some fabulous heels & clutch.



The belt I added was just to glam up the look & not for fitting etc. Hence I am wearing it a bit loose. The gold & blue look so fab together that I think the belt would be a good idea to glam up the whole look. The heels are the ones that I wore on my wedding day underneath my lehenga. I searched every nook& corner of Delhi to find sandals that would not just be a waste after the wedding day. I wanted to be able to use them multiple times & these are just the ones I was looking for.


And, of course I am haaaapppppieesssstttt after shopping. So, here are the some that we clicked in the mall with my i phone camera.


Have a great weekend. Hope you like them!!!

Life is really good these days. I am being showered with awards and I am super duper happy about it.


Neelam at Being Zara&Zidan was generous enough to award me with "The Sunshine Award". Two beautiful children, fabulous pictures, interesting thoughts and one happy family makes her blog so very interesting. Thank you so much for the award. Do check out her blog here. Below is one picture of her daughter which I just adore. Isn't she lovely.


Image Source - www.beingzaraandzidan.blogspot.com


The next one is from The Mommy at Twenty Little Toes. She is so sweet to award me "The Outstanding Blogger Award". Not only she clicks the most beautiful photographs, she also often shares her trick to give them special effects (see below) & hr twins Nael & Ryad never fail to amuse me. Do check out her amazing blog here.


Image Source - mommyspages.blogspot.com

I just want to say thank you so so much for honoring me with the awards. Here are few people I would like to pass them onto.

The Sunshine Award:

1) Tamanna at French Leave

2) Tanvi at The Fabulous Life of Not so rich & Infamous

3) Splurgerina at Splurgerina

4) The Mommy at Twenty Little Toes

The Outstanding Blogger Award:

1) Style She Wrote

2) Noble Beeyotch at Call me Stylista

3) Sonali at Bollywood Style Diaries

An interesting post coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned :)) & Spread the love

Tanvi at The Fabulous Life of Not-So-Rich and Infamous is one of the bloggers who is so generous with her beautiful comments (always) on my blog & just make me feel wonderful. Not only she has an impeccable dressing sense, she also has a penchant for fitness & that is a source of inspiration for so many people (including myself). Her blog is full of optimism, hope & beauty in the most simple things of life.

She presented me with my very first blogging award(yipppeee!!!) in which I have to list 10 things that I love to do. Do check out her fabulous blog here.

And, here are some things that I love to do :

- Shopping, Shopping & more shopping – clothes, shoes, bags, accessories & even window-shopping. This is definitely the top thing that I am crazy about.

- Getting clicked – I love getting shot. I remember as a child I used to spend hours in dressing up, putting on make up, lipstick (yah!!!) & then I used to tell my Mom or Dad to click a picture. I do it now also. Except that I am much quicker now. And, now my husband takes all my pictures. (And I so love him very much for bearing with me. I can be a little annoying with this habit but he does a wonderful job).

- Movies – For me watching a great movie with my husband is the perfect way to end a day. I am big movie freak. And, lucky for me this is the thing that we both have in common (unlike the previous one)

- Reading – A hobby that is getting stronger by the day. I love to read Ayn Rand, non fiction, books on stock market, editorials etc etc.

- Playing the Money Game – Investing, following stock markets, looking for new investment ideas – yup, that’s me.

- Blogging – This doesn’t need any further elaboration.

- Visiting New Places – I have actually made a list of all the places I would like to see..now I just have to be on track.

- I love spending time with my husband, just lazing around the house with him, doing nothing (yup, at times I do that) & I love talking to my MOM on the phone everyday (my day is not complete without that).


I would like to pass this award to following bloggers who make my life so very beautiful :

1) Anamika at Wise She
2) Ruth at Underneath his Wrappings
3) Kiran at Dreamfit
4) The Goddess of boho at Purple Peeptoes
5) Neelam Azmi at Being Zara&Zidan

Spread the Love!!!

Moving away from traditional wedding theme to a more fun and unusual setting; a peacock-wedding theme can be your perfect answer to grandeur and opulence. Feast your eyes on these beautiful pictures below and read on for some quick DIY for this theme.



- Start by choosing the prominent peacock colors from deep blues, vivid greens and glamorous gold.

- You can use peacock feathers as a table centerpiece or to accentuate the details on the napkins by placing it in a peacock feather tied with a golden napkin ring.

- As seen below the wedding invitations could be done in peacock color and decorated with feathers.



- For the outfit, stick with bold peacock colors like the ones mentioned above. Don’t settle for subtle colors, as the wedding setting would be so vibrant. Also, it is not necessary that you must choose wedding dress in peacock colors. If you want to go with different color outfit then the best way to give a theme feel would be to use peacock accessories like a clutch or use peacock feathers in your hair.

Although peacock wedding would be most suitable in fall/ winter (because of use of bold colors) but it is such a craze that these days’ couples plan it regardless of the season.

This post is for my reader N. who asked for latest trends in Indian Suits. I was almost done with the post - had collected these pictures & wrote in detail about the trends that are in vogue etc etc. But, each time I came back to these pictures, an image of a certain type of woman flashed my head. Their clothes, their expressions in the photo, the settings, their hairstyle & accessories - all spoke to me in some way or the other.


So, here I have tried to pen down what kind of "woman" I see in these pictures. These are just my thoughts (maybe a culmination of my beliefs & experiences through these years). Your thoughts and your portray can be same or completely different and I would love to hear that from you.

Now the big question - What kind of "woman" do you most associate with yourself ? It may be just one of these, a mix of two, three or more or may be completely different. Tell me what do you think? I feel myself to be somewhere between 4 & 6, though I would also like to have some streaks of 1 in my personality.


Coming back to the designs, I really liked the 3rd one in which a jacket has been added over the suit and a light net dupatta has been used to balance everything. The traditional Sabyasachi (2) wherein only border has been used for designing is perfect for all occasions. The white kurta in 4th is a must for summers and the last one is a smart alternative to traditional suits. 1 is the most delicious shade of orange, perfect for weddings & other family affairs.

Have a lovely lovely weekend ladies (as for me I have this humongous task of labeling all my posts over the weekend..something that I have been putting off since ages but hopefully will be able to do as my better half will be busy with work :(

I wore this dress a couple of days back for an evening coffee. I always used to wear it with a black belt but this time I thought of pairing it with my brown belt and it worked pretty well (I think). Wearing it with my super comfy blue heels.



Usually we (my husband takes all of the pictures) take 5-6 shots and from them I get 1-2 right. But, on this day I was lucky enough to get 4 of them right. So, here are some we took in the garden.


Dress - G.K, Belt - American Eagle, Jacket - Forever21, Shoes- Urbanoriginal

If you thought that I was perhaps a bit too critical in my post here, then have look at the first picture. I might be able to digest the lehenga but those shoes!!! I mean, who goes to anybody's wedding (yeah, she is attending a wedding)wearing rubber platforms. And, for the record, the famous celebrity is Ekta Kapoor - the owner of the biggest production house on Indian Television (means that she is in the company of well dressed people all the time!!!)



I have put up the second pic for two reasons. One, is the mermaid cut style which is looking totally unfaltering even on the models. Mermaid style is a very tricky style to get right and can make you look bottom heavy. I also didn't like the color combination, the embroidery, the top and the frills at the bottom of the lehenga. With so many other beautiful options to choose from, the bride (or for that matter anyone) should never settle for these.

So ladies, have a good sense of distaste and stay pretty.

I love love love black. Not only it is the best color to wear when in doubt but it also is flattering on most skin tones and body types. When it comes to wedding however, black may not be the first choice for many people. One reason is the superstitions attached with black (I experienced that during my own wedding too!!!). The other reason is that as most Indian weddings are held at night & black may appear a bit dull and monotonous on the bride. This post addresses the second reason.
Whether for a wedding, family dinner or a night out with friends, rock in black with these options:


- Have black as a base printed bright gold motifs (butis etc) as print, giving just a hint of black to the entire outfit.(pic 1)
- Go for a plain chiffon black saree with gold or silver lace (gota) border paired with a gold or silver blouse. (pic 2)
- Black paired with dull sand gold – Not as bright as the first style but is sure sensuous and beautiful.(pic 3)



- Play with the dupatta – This is perhaps the most common way to wear black. You can choose almost any colored dupatta on a black lehenga and it will look good. But, don’t settle for usual reds, maroons and yellows. Go for something different like in the 4th picture below - pale blue, pink & lemon would be perfect for summers. Gold, though common, never fails with black. So when in doubt combine black with gold (pic 5 & 6).

Hello Ladies

This is a new section that I am adding to my blog - a small retreat where I would rant about my personal style, what I am wearing currently, things that I am obsessed about and lots more... On the surface it may seem as a slight departure from the current theme of my blog, but actually it is just an extension of my passion for style and fashion.

Hope you enjoy it as much as you enjoy reading other stuff on my blog!!! As always, would love to hear from all of you.

Starting right here with my first outfit post


Denim Shorts - Wet Seal, Blazer - Target, Breton Stripes - Forever 21

Currently I can't seem to get enough of stripes. Whenever I go shopping I feel myself drooling over all the striped pieces - shorts, pants, tops, shoes. Combining two of the latest trends of the season - stripes & shorts - I feel all set for the best summer months ahead. Added the boyfriend blazer to give a little shape & edge to the outfit.

I am also a member of StylePile.com - An online social community of fashion enthusiasts!!!

These shots from Maria.B make me smile. Beautiful clothes in flowy, rich fabrics with antique hand embroideries speak of traditional touch with modern elegance. Tied up hair with flowers bring back memories of old-fashioned beauty that seldom goes out of style. The evenings with tea in the lawn, close friends gossiping sharing their secrets and happy radiant faces – all in all a perfect picture.