Whimsical, With A Touch of You

I learnt early that whimsical fashion is not for everyone. The cheerful colours, the mismatched sets, the big and small prints, the overdose of accessories, and everything eye-catchy can all be a little over the top if you lean towards a minimal style.

So what do you do when you see a movie character, wild and free, untamed, romantic like anything, and you feel like a wardrobe switch, just for a day? I suggest you keep one thing basic, it can be either the top or skirt/shorts. Then, you need a big accessory to add some more whim to your printed half. And last, but not least, wear your hair big and unapologetic, unless you have short hair like mine. I hope this helps.

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The Art of Fast Dressing

What do you do on days when your heart says you need to shop but your mind shushes you with logic and reasoning? What do you do on days you feel you have worn everything you have in your wardrobe and have absolutely no energy to mix and match and create something that looks like a new outfit?  

Well, I might have something for you. Yeah, today, I have decided to be a fashion tip giver, and help you put together an outfit in a jiffy. 

Open your wardrobe, and pick any top and bottoms in the same colour. The colour doesn't matter. It could be white, it could be black, grey or purple, yellow, Fuschia for all you care. Now pick any one accessory - maybe a pair of earrings or a pretty neckpiece. That's it! You can stop right there if you wish. Though if you are feeling fancy, pick up those old sunnies or a bucket hat if it goes with your outfit.

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The sunglasses I know I need

I suck at buying sunglasses. Cool aviators, evergreen wayfarers, playful cat-eyes, trendy-and-oversized, they all look the same to me. Till I see them on someone else. Everyone I know owns at least a pair of sunglasses I won't mind stealing. How do they do it? How do their eyes scan at least three huge selves of seemingly different eyewear and pause at one or two?

My pursuit for that one iconic pair of sunglasses that don't make me look like I need to shop continues. Something that gets my quirk off the ground just a little, something that makes me look cooler than I am. And I have realised I can get them dream sunnies only if I beg one of my friends with good eyes to help me. There seems to be no other way. Till then, I will be wearing these basics everywhere - for grocery runs to airports and coffee dates with non-existent suitors.

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Conversations with an old pair of shorts

Dear pink shorts

I decided to talk to you today. You, an object in the perfect shade of light pink, flaunting old-world crochet, reminding me of the years that went by in almost a blur. 

You were so tiny, that I almost didn't pick you for fear of being judged for wearing next to nothing. But then, somehow, good sense prevailed and I got you. You have been with me for 15 years now. You have seen me through so much - from finding flats and flatmates to switching jobs, moving cities, heartbreaks, losing friends, growing out of hobbies, and whatnot. 

I wore you when I saw the ocean for the first time. It was an evening that served up the best sunset I had seen in my life, the kind you use to compare every next sunset you see, at least in your head.

You go well with shirts and tops of almost any colour - white, grey, black, pink, yellow, multicolored? You are underwear-like enough to be worn under a super short dress. And you look the best sandstained.

Dear shorts, thank you for not letting me grow out of you.

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A Case For The Little Black Dress

If you are a sucker for fashion magazines like me, you must have come across numerous articles serenading the timelessness of the little black dress. I for one failed to see the appeal. As someone leaning towards the brightness of yellows and greens and whites, I ended up missing out on the understated yet noticeable additions of black to my wardrobe.

Fast forward almost a decade and I have black clothes for all sorts of reasons. For starters, it gives you this off-duty model kind of feel. Just pair black leggings or jeans with a black t-shirt, throw in some dainty accessories, and there you go! Carry a large-sized Latte for that extra sense of purpose. 

I have also come to realise that a black dress or an all-black outfit is - for the lack of a better word - a mood. The one that gets you dancing, hints you to go to a book reading, or just makes you feel like taking a walk on the beach.

But for the most part,  this little, in the bud affinity toward all-black outfits may have something to do with the growing up. The color comes in handy when you want to appear like you mean business. By taking some attention away from you and adding a touch of orderliness, it can also camouflage the fact that you are yet to get your shit together. What's not to like?

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The Tired Self Has Left The Chat

 #Notafashionpostagain

Almost everyone today is a part of a WhatsApp or some other group chat. And almost everyone has that one group they want to quit but not sure how to.

A friend I was recently talking to said she would like to give some award to the WhatsApp team which came with the idea of keeping archived chats actually archived. Earlier, even when you muted a group and archived a chat, it popped right on the top and it was almost impossible - unless you were some expert with thick skin - to ignore it. And now you can.

So how did we outgrow group chats? If you ask me, it had a lot to do with the fact that the people in a group and I outgrew ourselves. And after a certain point, you don't have the strength to call out someone because they are being an idiot. But it affects you nonetheless. Every sexist joke, racist comment, jibe against someone fat, unsolicited advice, and insensitive remark triggers us. Some more, others less. 

The only thing that is semi-praiseworthy about these groups is the ease of planning an event where one has to coordinate with multiple people. Or a setup where multiple people need to be informed straightaway. That explains why office groups are probably not going anywhere soon. 

But overall, people would love to leave a chat without anyone in the group noticing. It would be simple. Maybe that will happen one day as well. Till then, people will continue to mute and archive.

 

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Saving the best for the last

There are people in this world who save good things for the last. Now as far as meals are concerned, this practice is usually a great idea. But when it comes to clothes, you never know. Growing up, I used to save my best going out top for an occasion that never actually happened. No event was big enough for the top to be taken out. It was always the second favorite top that got the most attention somehow. You know what the downside of this habit was? Eventually I grew out of that top and gave it away. Sounds like a first world problem? Except that it wasn't. When you own less than a dozen clothes, you tend to be protective about your favorite clothes. You don't want a single thread out of place. And so you plan to wear it less. A bit too less. 

These pictures in a white, borrowed dress fall in the same, best going out top. It has been two years and I have been waiting for some good day to post them. No idea what the characteristics of the good day was supposed to be though. Then the pandemic happened and the frequency of my posts decreased because we all had more important things to do. In the meantime, I was exhausting all my blog pictures because none of us were really going out in the streets, getting pictured. But I was saving this one. Because I loved the pictures. The result? Not much except the anxiety that I will never have better pictures in this life. Yeah, I know, this time, it is almost a first world problem.

Hope you wear your most favorite piece more often than you do.

By the way, it's not the last blogpost here, it's just that I will need post-pandemic images now!

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