Birla Cellulose unveils "LIVA" | A new age fabric

Many of you might have heard of the name Liva already. I had a couple of years ago, when I had a day time job where I rubbed shoulders and worked in the corporate world of fashion. Birla Cellulose was a client I often met with, under my seniors to ideate themes for their next show or how to design their next stall for their exhibitions. There I was introduced to Liva which was always the star and the main product that had to be showcased so I always went home with tiny sample pieces to try and make things out of this almost viscose jersey-like fabric which was soft to feel and was very easy to work with (and of course mom would make her flowers). Soon after I started noticing Liva on hoardings, particularly the Global Desi ones. I sort of knew that Birla Cellulose had a tie up with a few brands, but I wasn't really aware of which ones they were until quite recently. 

Fifth one's the charm | On getting inked, again

Last week I told my mum I'm getting another tattoo, and she said "again? why?" and I said "why not?". But since I shared that idea with a few friends, most of who supported it and a small minority (well two people) who asked "again?" and "one more?", I decided to go for it. As luck would have had it, a friend/tattoo artist, someone who I've never met in person, but am just Facebook friends with, and have had a few conversations with on messenger or whatsapp regarding tattoos, just launched his own website and a lovely offer as well. So taking advantage of the situation, I finally headed out to his studio and met him to discuss designs and fix a date. We agreed on the last day of this month and narrowed down to either a floral tattoo or a cat face on my forearm. That same evening, or more like at 2 am, he texted to tell me there was a sudden opening the very next day and if I was okay to get mine then, my enthusiasm made me jump and say yes!

Bringing Animal Print to Fashion Week | All my 5 outfits

Fashion week is where good fashion meets with bad fashion. I mean no where else will you ever find a situation where you get a bevy of women wearing clothes clearly not meant for their body types (or even age) and try to walk around in the highest of heels, and stomp around the place, while trying to battle the wind (that plays very naughty when one decides to wear a shorter dress) as well as hang on to a handbag on the crook of their arm and look poised at all times. There will also be a healthy mix of seasons, like a winter jacket or a trench and a summer dress all at the same time, while wearing boots. But then, what is fashion week without all of this really? It's plain old boring.

My favourites from Lakme Fashion Week Resort 2015

I have to admit, I was very excited to attend Lakme Fashion Week this season. This would be the first time I attended as a blogger for my blog as opposed to the times I've previously attended a few shows here and there as a guest holding passes. But having a card that gave you a few privileges, well almost, was something exhilarating. Also, when it comes to fashion shows, except for a few rare moments, I have never been a spectator, but always a "behind the scenes" kind of person from the time I used to be a backstage dresser and help models change from my studying days to the times I styled and yelled at backstage helpers and models to hurry up and performed head to toe checks before they walked on the ramp, the only thing visible to me was the screen backstage and small views from the side. So this season, I was all ready to attend the shows and had fun putting together my outfits for all five days.

My photo diary | Some R&R in Goa

I know I spammed last week like a mad maniac on Instagram and managed to make a few people a little envious of my trip, and here are some more images. And since I cannot remember the last time I've ever uploaded an entire album dedicated to a party or trip or whatever on Facebook, I make sure I share the ones that don't make it to instagram (and the ones that did as well) in this space. All these images are taken either by mom or myself and a majority are from my phone, a few others from mom's digital camera and a couple from our DSLR.

Chasing Waves and being "beach appropriate"

Last week was a pretty good one. Mom and myself went on a little trip to Goa, which most of you might already know, thanks to the power on Instagram. I've been to Goa countless times and for many different occasions as well. But the thing I've noticed about a lot of people my age, or even those who belong to the same decade as I do, they all believe Goa is a place to go wild and crazy, behaviorally and as well as when it comes to dressing up! 

So many people believe that you can wear anything in Goa. No one will care. I myself used to say I was only comfortable wearing a two-piece bathing suit in Goa, as compared to any other place in this country. While you might have the freedom to wear what you want to in Goa, there needs to be a bit of caution as well. When I went to the beach, I saw scores of women dressed in the most atrocious attires, and no, I don't mean skimpy, but completely irrelevant to what one usually wears to a beach. While I'm not saying every woman has to be in a bathing suit, there has to be a line drawn, and garments like leather, skinny jeans, etc are just bad bad choices! I even spotted a girl wearing a pretty skater dress, which again was so out of place at the beach. And let's not forget the boys. Men, if you're reading, please, boxers are not swimwear. In fact they should not be seen! Please keep them under your pants. If you need to wear shorts, you can buy shorts. They're not too hard to find!

Urban Love | Every woman's story

Women have always been strong literary characters. Women generally possess a lot more dimensions as compared to male characters and is usually a writer's dream, because from their basic description from facial features to the clothes might choose to wear for a particular occasion, to reactions during tense moments, there is so much scope to dramatize and play these things up and that makes a book interesting and fun to read.
In fact if I had to name my top five female protagonists, I would say Nancy Drew; because solving mysteries and crimes is always so bad-ass, Jane Eyre; a modern day feminist with her strong values and principles, Hermione Granger; while many argue she wasn't a main character, she was vital and the brains of the group, Jessica Wakefield; I must confess I was a Sweet Valley High fan and appreciated Jess's vain and cool approach to men and school and she was probably the original mean girl and lastly a tie between Anna Karenina and Catherine Earnshaw; both of who lived in different times but were remarkable woman, each in their own way.