Sunset by the beach in Lucknowi Chikan

After a long week when one goes to the beach to watch the waves crash framed by a gorgeous sunset, you want an easy outfit. This is my go-to for the in-between months during spring or autumn.

A bright crop with boy-friend jeans and a duster of some sort. This duster has white hand embroidery on a white muslin fabric, this kind of work is called Chikankari and the North Indian city of Lucknow is the heart of Chickankari today. Anything I wear always has a touch of home in subtle or non-subtle ways especially since I've moved to a country with absolute no textile heritage!

The earliest reference to chikankari dates back to as early as the 3rd century BC when Greek traveller Megasthenes mentioned the use of flowered muslins by Indians. You have seen me wear Lucknowi Chikan here in a post last year.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Waterfall by the beach

We spent a wonderful afternoon at this amazing beach with wonderfully clear water and a little waterfall on the side. I wore the usual hand blocked tent dress that suits the current summer weather here perfectly.

I have the exact same dress in another colour that has made an appearance on this blog post in 2013! I find these cotton anarkalis beautifully flowy in their billowing glory (some may call it shapeless). The fabric gets softer and wonderfully worn-in with every wear and wash and I cannot get enough of these.

In which I wear a skirt as a top

Last weekend was spent walking in the bush at Sydney Harbour National Park and spending the afternoon on this picturesque beach. This pretty spot has scenic views across Sydney's north harbour and is a great spot for a swim especially for doggie paddle swimmers like myself.

I wore my usual garb of hand block-print cotton with shorts to walk in the heat and splash about in the shallow waters. The top I am wearing here is actually a wrap around skirt that I wear as both a top and bottom. I love clothing that can be mixed and matched and is multi-functional. I wear this top, summer or winter and it is a great something to take along when traveling. I've also worn it casually on the beach or for brunch as well as dressed it up for a night out.

I find a lot of traditional Indian prints and designs incredibly versatile and think they can be worn in many different ways. IMHO sarees, kurtas, cotton dupattas and skirts are the most multi-purpose slash easy to style in myraid shapes.

The Dabu print indigo scarf I have on works as a cover-up, a beach towel, head-wrap, pillow and a cape (I like super hero capes) and much much more. I always have a bunch of these kind of cotton scarfs in traditional block prints, handlooms or bandhani handy during my mini-adventures.

What are your most multi-functional items of clothing?

Incoming storm

I love kurtas is a major understatement, I could use the word obsessed but I am trying to avoid words with ableist connotations. But I can tell you this, I constantly dream about kurtas, the designs, the fabric options and how I would style them. I've only been back from India for a few months and I already have fabric and sketches ready to update my kurta collection for my next trip.

Lately I've been wearing heaps of kurtas with curved hems and longer tail. And I absolutely refuse to call kurtas; tunics, if the world can learn to say pyjama and jodhpurs we shouldn't have to use tunics when we mean kurtas.

I think its high time we wore more than just short kurtis to work. Cotton anarkalis in my opinion makes great summer dresses, Patiala salwars make wonderful relaxed pants, churidars make great drop-crotch pants, sarees make wonderful evening wear, cholis/ saree blouses make interesting crop-tops, I could go on but you get the point.

I genuinely don't understand people who keep their traditional clothing for special occasions or just wear them during ethnic get togethers. I dunno why anyone would want to blend in. The silk kurta in these photos is ages old and as is the beaded necklace, I have worn it before here.

Saree blouses are the best crop tops

The festive season is upon us and I can't wait for Navaratri/ Durga Puja and Diwali, it's the best time of the year in my opinion. Keeping in mind the celebrations as well as the warming weather in the southern hemisphere, all my saree blouses have come out to play as crop tops. I pair traditional silk blouses as well as cholis with everything from shorts, skirts and pants to salwars and gaghras. I am so excited to wear all my blouses and get some more from my sister and go totally crazy all summer.

I wait for warm weather every year to bring out my wonderful cholis to play as you may have seen here and here. Today I celebrate the birthday of one my most favourite people, (happy birthday Mummy) by spending the afternoon in a magical garden getaway. What are you wearing this spring?

Sunset shenanigans

Nothing much to say about these photos, except that I love to dress for comfort, nothing defines comfort in the cold more than corduroy and merino wool, I love block print and will add block print accents to every outfit and above all I love cute puppies and playing catch with them. Sydney sunsets are gorgeous aren't they?

Sea spray

There are days when one goes to the beach and the weather is just right, not too sunny so no hordes of tourists, just cloudy enough to make wonderful patterns in the sky and ensure a spectacular sunset.

Nature puts on such stupendous shows for us, it has me awestruck every single time.