Shibori dyed dresses with african beads embroidered necklines

The Shibori Collection.

Whew! Making this collection was fun and all the designs sold in a weeks time. This year however, there is a lot of shibori all over the stores that  I  have stopped creating any more.

What are clients looking for this year?  They definitely  want simpler styles in solid colours. Again, the colours have to be jewel tones and they are looking for fit and styling, and in drape styles the fall of the fabric and garment.

I am working on a new blog as well which should be more fashion oriented and yet craft oriented as I feel a lot of India's craftsmen are left behind. I hope to get the pictures out soon and maybe connect with people interested in taking the art further. I work with a lot of embroiderers and unfortunately these guys are looking for work when they should be working instead.

Big brooches are in and diamonds mixed with poth and sallis are in at the moment. Laces and embroideries are going to rule along with cutwork and pleated net dresses in pastel hues. Brocades, georgettes,crepe georgettes, lucknowi work on georgette in mango shades, dark midnight blues, electric blues, shades are deeper and richer and opulent fabrics are the order of the festive season.

Trend-The Rise of the New Age Indian Female Warrior in Fashion.

You know, when I started the blog, I was really aiming to bring out new trends in clothing and styling and accessories but instead I seem to have turned into a sociological trend reporter and  its funny, but that was waht I majored in at University.

Mr Joshi, a Graphic designer and facilitator at Wigan & Leigh college once pointed out to me that my strengths lay in the fact that I was  able to convey an idea through composition of the whole and not the parts by itself. He said this after seeing a couple of my drawings. Fine arts students and apparel design students design differently and he could not understand why we had to draw croquis and sketch the way we did. but anyway coming to the point, I think I see Indian clothing evolving as  a part of the larger sociological surrounding and there is a new Indian Warrior in the female form who is rising from the ashes of her 80's and 90's sari clad counterpart, like a Phoenix  and she is in no mood to be tied down by her pallu.

At You ,the fashion store at Kemps Corner , where I design  clothes for Real women , women want to pour themselves into the Dress.  Traditionally the dress was worn by the Catholics ; the Goans and East Indians from Bandra  and unless someone travelled abroad but very few women from the other communities  flaunted their curvy figures in dresses as showing off legs was and still is considered taboo. Now howver thanks to the globalisation and the Internet, Shop style , Net-a -porter ,women are dressing and demand comfortable fashion and doing away with the traditional salwar kameez , the kurta pyjama and in its place pair leggings  with trendy tunics and on occasion, wear only the tunic as a dress. Women are doing away with the bling and want very subtle embroidery and if it must have any ,then it better be  rich using  french knots, anchor thread work, zardosi , pitta work . The end result has to be classy.

The Indian shape however doesnt lend itself to fitted waist styles and therefore belts are not an option and even scarves are not and integral part of the wardrobe unlike their western counterpart.Interestingly, more and more women are becoming conscious of their looks, exercise regularly and try to keep  their waist unlike earlier; when Indian wear was more focussed on the empire line shape, to hide all those kilos piling up below the underbust. Now they are fitter,more confident, know what suits their body type andwilling to experiment. In the past 1 and a half year  I have made only about 2 -3 completely Indian Ensembles. Indian women want gowns, drape dresses  which are more shaped, western tops and of course dresses. They are willing to experiment and yet have respect for old traditions.

 Even when they are draping their net saris with halter blouses, they make sure that no one misses their fluted hands, shaped waists, toned hips from all that those visits to the gym. Like the earlier Virginia Slimms Ads announcing" You've come a long way,Baby", the Indian Fashionista has surely come a long , long way, leaving her 6 yard sari behind and  stepping out unabashed and Standing Tall! Not really expecting anyone to rescue her; she can do that all herself, thank you very much.

A time to Kill.

I have been trying to blog regularly, however thanks to all the new designs I have to churn out week after week at work, all the ideas teeming in my head seem to land on the backburner and its been a while since I have found time to blog,so here goes....

What was I doing on the day Mumbai burned again? An hour before the blasts at Opera House, I was 2 blocks away and found the place deserted. A lone Police van was parked  ahead of  the Lucknowi Chikan shop Normally this area is choc a bloc with traffic. I had to get back to work as my karigar was on his way to collect the embroidery ordersand I remember feeling that the silence was somehow,eerie.

13/07/11, 9/11,  these are becoming numbers for everyday Mumbaikars. I went home by the local train around  8 o'clock. I went back to work the next day. The news channels reported the events, casualties and its becoming routine ;this  media circus, the polititcians sound bytes, are all annoying to say the least.

Grant Road station East is a mess. There are police vans parked outside along with a group of men ,women and children who have made the outside area their makeshift home alongside garbage trucks. I am not surprised they found bombs planted in tiffins etc. There is zero security and honestly no one cares any more.
Santacruzz station East the foot overbridge which had shut down for structural repairs is teeming with beggars in the morning. There are hawkers below taking up every inch of space and no one's complaining. Santacruz
West suffers from the same plight.

People wake up only when the problem hits them, until then, everyone's sleepwalking or looking out for themself or sadly even,accepting of the way things are.
The last time there were blasts, I was in a faraway land watching the train blasts on T.V. as it happened;
but this time it was an hour away.


Come on Mumbai, we can do better than this. I have stopped giving money to the kids who beg at the station because it is obvious that they are part of a larger nexus.I don't buy from hawkers in the train because all of this is a part of a corrupt system which is not helping government to function.The reason I am saying this is because people are getting fed up and its not leading to creative action but instead its creating a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. The general feeling is outrage, but it is soon replaced with a "hota hai" attitude which is unfortunately, more dangerous and means we are becoming " benumbed".

Mumbai Mirror is doing some awesome work with their stories of the" Clean Up " Campaign by the college students, their achievements and failures in attempting  to get the BMC to do the work they are supposed to.Great Going Kids!! We appreciate the work you are doing.

Designs by Beatrice for You store

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Shibori dress with african beadwork neckline for You store

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Embroidered yoke  kali dress in beige for You store

Get your Geography right.

Ask any Indian where the US of A, is and he will happily point out on the map and also very confidently tell you the name of its President in correct English  ," Obama" Not  Osama.

 Ask him where is Tamil Nadu, Kerala ,Bangalore and watch his/her face blank out.  Were they  not paying any attention during  geography class in school?, one wonders.
" One and the same thing" is what they say. Well it is not so, please go get an atlas or google it.

Guys, Kerala is a  South Indian state. It is ONE of the South Indian states and not THE only South Indian state. All Keralites speak Malayalam .They do not speak Tamil, which is a whole new language with its own grammar not do they speak Kannada  or Konkani or Tulu. These languages do exist but in different states of South India. OK? Just because I speak Malayalam does not mean I also understand all of the different languages although I may know Kannada or  Konkani.

 " It all sounds the same to me" says one of my friends.  Well to me it doesn't. In fact what it does show  is the lack of information and knowledge  of the person making the statement.

 Another thing I absolutely cannot take is one's ignorance of the National Anthem. Its not just ignorance but complete lack of  Respect which is reflected in our surroundings. We need Independence Days not just to remind us of the Martyrs who lost their lives,We need Independence Days so we can be free from our own ignorance.

India is not the land of Corruption

Its funny, but of late I am coming to the conclusion that  India is not the land of the corrupt as has been stated in the various magazines etc.. Its absolutely nonsense!!! I am making a very important point and I invite people to feel free to disagree with me. Because I am speaking from experience.You know, in my normal routine day to day travel to work and off it, I find people breaking the law and getting away with it, but heck, if I even think of it, , lightning and thunder accompany my very thought and I find I cannot even fudge a single document, give a guy wrong change, a torn note, lie.. nope just doesn't work. ... I GET CHECKED!!!.
And that's funny, cos,  This is India,right ?  the land of corruption and it should be okay right ? WRONG!!!

I think we were so unhappy when the British left, we decided to settle for Corruption !. I mean we just couldn't live without all that abuse ( If you go by what  the history books say) we just had to get something else to replace them. But now I am not so sure ; Either the Times of India and Mumbai Mirror is full of bull crap about the corruption because I have absolutely not been able to hoodwink anyone till now, embezzle funds etc, hide and get a new passport ...

Yet, everyday, I am faced with this invisible corruption monster who laughs at me because I am just soooo not smart. Beggars on the roads, begging bindaas right in front of a cop vehicle at Santacruz Station. Not one but ten. OK, ten persons smarter than me.

 Hawkers selling  clips earrings, brushes toothpaste,wallets what have you in a First class ladies bogey without a pass. They even let the guy enter inside and asked him to have a seat. I was the only one complaining.  You guessed right. I wasn't asked if I wanted a seat.

Slums coming up left, right ,centre some right under police chowky noses but hey,  if  I stand outside a shop they ask me to move on.Maybe they think I will open a Vada pav stall  while I just stand there?

The residential building we live in has a tailoring shop and a dentist working out of their homes for commercial purposes and guess what, after beginning talks for redevelopment with the Builder , they backed out at the last minute,citing some irrelevant details, and in the meantime legalized their practices ,for a fee ,of course. How they got the society consent is a mystery and whose signatures have been forged, Heaven knows; But hey everything is legal. Corruption? Nah! Just perfectly  inconvenient to a bunch of the rest of the members who now have to run around and fix things in the perfectly legal way.

How the terrorists got fake passports is a mystery to me. I went for a reissue and they scrutinized each and every word. I was standing in line from 8.00 am in the morning outside the Passport Office and was there till 12.30 am by which time I was asked to get the correct documents.
 I go .."Sorry? I have the documents". "Maybe you didn't check properly"
Clerk : "Sahi paper leke ao".

Haan!Haan Bhai Haan!

 I am glad somethings are the way they should be. Jai Hind!!!