This is not Bohemian

I've noticed outside of those who know the difference between an anarkali & kurta, angrakha and kurti, kediyu and kaftan; my style (or lack thereof) is usually called 'gy*sy' (rhymes with pixie) or 'bohemian' etc and I want to talk about the fact that these terms are actually racial slurs and not a compliment at all. Most people call themselves or others “Boho” or “Bohemian” because they have thirst to travel off the beaten track, an eclectic/Woodstock-esque/hippy style or as 'gy*sy' because they aspire to dress similar and are 'wandering souls'. This is not just incorrect it is quite awful.

Bohemians originate from a region in Czechoslovakia called Bohemia with a lot of conflict and trauma in the past. Bohemian is an ethnicity NOT a style or an aesthetic that can be put on and taken off at will. It is highly appropriative to call oneself or others Bohemian.

Also I have discovered via research and from talking to people of that ethnicity that the laid back bohemian people that people like to emulate were that way because they had a massive opium and absinth addiction problem. The word bohemian is mostly just being minimalised as a people and reduced to a fashion style which is highly inaccurate and frankly goes against a lot of cultural morals. In the nineteenth century the Bohemian people were the lower class in France with the Roma so Bohemian became a slur for poor people.

The Romani are widely known as “Gy*sies”, however to the Romani people this is an insult and a racial slur as it is has connotations of illegality and irregularity. Romani people are a traditionally nomadic ethnic group residing mostly in Europe and originate from many different countries. When referring to nomadic tribes from Rajasthan, Gujarat or anywhere else it is incorrect to use the term 'gy*sy'. Genetic as well as linguistic research does point toward the fact that the Roma people were originally from the north of India and 900-1,500 years ago they likely migrated toward Europe. But as the term has become a widely used slur for a highly persecuted minority I believe we desis should absolutely refrain from using the word. After arriving in Europe, the Romani were enslaved in many regions, put to death in others and still more countries ordered their expulsion. Even to this day in Europe they are referred to extremely negatively and face a lot of backlash. I have seen/ heard it first hand and was shocked at some of the generalizations people made.

Honestly I've known there are negative connotations to this word and that the word can be used as an insult to some groups but didn't always know that one should refrain from using the word 'gy*sy' as a synonym to nomad. However meeting with and connecting to a wider range of inspiring WoCs have ensured that I am learning things and educating myself more and more. I think especially as People of Colour we should stand in solidarity as an ally to other marginalized communities and be even more circumspect about using slurs, it is up to us to not perpetuate appropriation and vilification.

I have also used the word bohemian quite a bit to find inspiring pictures etc but have tried and refrained from using that word out of context since I have learned a bit more. You might even find the word used previously in one of my blog-posts and I don't think there is anything wrong in growing as as a person and admitting that 'hey I've done it in the past out of ignorance'. The most important thing for me is to listen when we're called-out on something, to the person who is affected by the discrimination.

Also most of the things I wear from my clothes, to scarves, to accessories, to jewellery are native to the Indian sub-continent and calling my style anything but desi is frankly quite ignorant. When you see me wearing a 'hippie dress' it is more than likely I am wearing a kediyu or anarkali, when you see me in a flowy skirt it is more than likely a gaghra and when I am wearing 'bohemian' prints it is more than likely they are traditional Indian textiles. Like I said I am learning as I go, so if you are Roma feel free to correct me if I have got any of this wrong and/ or as a person who belongs to these specific ethnicities you would like to expand on this.

Pochampally & Kutchi embroidery

Pochampally, is a group of many many villages, in Nalgonda in the South Indian state of Telangana where skillfull weavers on traditional hand operated looms make these amazing woven fabrics. They weave stunning silk sarees and cotton fabric that I constantly dream of and ensured that I picked up a bunch of this fabric during the Hyderabad leg of the trip. This top was made from some of the Pochampally ikat fabric I fell in love with, it is a simple shirt/ kurta that I can wear with denim or churidar and dupatta or even wear to work with a skirt. I love the fact that slowly I am creating a wardrobe that includes things that I consider staples; ikat, block-print, bandhani, leheriya, shibori, traditional embroidery etc.

This bag is made by the ladies of a tribal group in Kutch and was picked up in Dhordo a tiny village in the Rann of Kutch. I am currently in love and wear it with everything. All the jewellery worn in this post is silver from various silver-smiths who cater to and specialise in designs specific to certain tribes. While I was walking around the markets one day, an older gentleman was very confused as to which tribe I was from because I was wearing jewellery from three different tribal clans. The cuff that I am wearing on my left wrist is something I haven't taken off in over a year and the jumbled bunch that is my anklets stay put all through summer. I am also wearing a hooked clasp silver key ring at the waist similar to a 'chatelaine'. It is called 'Chabi ka Challa' or 'Chabi ka Guccha' in Hindi I think. The lady of a house wears one of these with all the important keys of the house. Depending on their socio-economic status these could be of 22 carat gold with precious stones or silver with semi-precious stones.

I just don't see the point of changing things that are already perfect. Instead of trying to get my hands on what's trendy every season I try to source traditional jewellery and handicraft items that will last me for years and something that will hopefully be passed down generations. I'd rather spend my money ensuring that traditional craftmanship remains profitable.

I am wearing these with Kolhapuri leather chappals that I bought from a street stall in Colaba, they are destined to be used like crazy over the summers to come. I wish one day I am able to spend extensive time in some places with a rich textile heritage and master some of these crafts, until then I am going to live in them and hope the magic of creating beauty rubs off on me.

In which I talk about incorporating more traditional wear into everyday looks

In these photos I've worn one of my tiered block print kurtas belted to form this billowing shape. It was too hot to wear pants and to be honest pants have never been my thing so I mostly wear my kurtas with shorts. This post is for my fellow brown girls, desis who've been othered so much that it has become a second nature to blend in and hide how stunning we are. It took movements like 'Reclaim the Bindi' and talking to other WoC for me to figure out that not very many desi girls are able to express their fabulous selves in traditional finery especially out of South Asian events.

I have always faced a different problem, I've always worn traditional clothes with my own little twist and the puritans have always rolled their eyes at me. I think being brought up surrounded by people who have loved handloomed textiles and traditional weaves has given me a life long obsession with the rich textile heritage of my Motherland. Both my parents have great taste, my grandmother loved all things sarees and my uncle knows an immense amount about traditional textiles and fabrics. My sister and I can spend hours caressing mulmuls, silks, cashmere and getting our tailor to stitch our sketches into clothes. We have both imbibed our reverence for traditional handlooms from them. Some of my most treasured photos are of my grandmother travelling in her saree and trench travelling through Europe, my Mother in colourful silks with almost knee length cascading locks sailing around the world and my Dad wearing Kurtas working across the globe. It never occurred to my sister and I that we need to blend in with the grey blobs around us.

The fact that I love traditional Indian cottons, silks and wool is quite obvious on this blog but what is not obvious is they are something I wear to work, play and to go out. I've worn kurtas from work to going dancing and sarees on dates and to pubs. I genuinely think it's not what one wears but how one wears it. I love DIYs and have embroidered traditional Rabari and Ahir motifs on more denims than I can keep track of. I've decided to share more photos of me incorporating traditional clothing into my everyday wear. Every single one of these looks have been worn either to work or while I was out and about and none of them have been worn as a part of a desi get-together or event. With Durga Puja, Navaratri and Diwali coming up I hope we will all find it easy to celebrate in our spectacular threads while going to work, uni or even just to the beach or to go out dancing.

I would love if you guys would share pictures of you wearing kurtas, anaarkalis, churidaars and sarees in your everyday lives. And remember to keep track of and tag your pictures to the 'Reclaim the Bindi' week coming up for Diwali.

To be honest I don't find most mainstream fashion magazines and blogs interesting in the least. I have my own sort of preference in terms of the cuts and proportions I like, they've changed a bit over the years but my deep abiding love for all things hand crafted has remained steadfast. In my opinion never taking any fashion magazine or style advice seriously has helped me be much more comfortable with myself. I still peruse through glossies and admire style spreads, I just never apply any of their suggestions to myself. Also I am not at all a believer in the dress for your shape nonsense. I dress to make myself happy and smile at my reflection when I pass mirrored glass.

Seasons greetings in block print

Lately the sometimes sunny but suddenly not so warm temperatures in Sydney have made it easy to wear my maxi dresses and boots, therefore instead of complaining about the undecidedness of the weather I choose to be happy that I can indulge in a little light layering. As I have already waxed eloquent about my love for block print fabrics, I will not bore you with more of the same but just leave you with the pictures of this amazing dress that I wore traveling across the Himalayas and this perfectly worn-in vintage leather back-pack.

All my presents are packed and ready to be opened in a few hours, the wine's chilling in the fridge, appetizer kebabs are marinating, meat for the roast is thawing, I can hear the boy packing my presents upstairs and here I am chilling in another cotton block printed dress waiting for the festivities to well and truly begin. I hope all of you'll are having fun celebrating whatever holiday you wish to observe. Happy Holidays world!

Dress: Anokhi, Leather boots and bag: Vintage

Suede shorts and bombshell cuff

Scalloped suede shorts: Kookai, Jewelery: Gifts and from India, Fringe sandals: Sportsgirl

Its finally spring and all I want to do is wear gladiator sandals, shorts, hacked off tees without tights or sweaters, pile on the jewelery and gamble about at the beaches and the rock faces screaming Yaaaaaay sunshine. Now on to something a little less frivolous the first of the brass cuffs is from Ranjana Association retailing at Oxfam, their brass jewelery made from old Cambodian bomb shells left behind by the Khymer rouge. It such a beautifully made, hand crafted message of peace and starting over that I couldn't help but buy it. I hope everyone is having a wonderful start of the week. Happy Wednesday all!

Random shots taken after dark

Hello hello :D Two posts in a week after almost two months of silence? What can I say except for I love getting my posting mojo back. So I am sharing these pictures more for the accessories than anything else, I know some people post perfect looking pictures but I am not one of them. In the first outfit I am in love with the DIY-ed CK shorts, embroidered camel leather bag and the crochet cardigan thing and in the second with the gauzy skirt and the neck party.

I bought the shorts from a vintage shop in Surry hills which I haunt for denim and bags, the embroidered bag was a gift, the crochet cardigan is from the Manly markets, the gauzy skirt is from Paharganj, Delhi and the neck bling is from all over. I bought this skirt on one of my first few days in Delhi with my soul-sister, promptly wore it to go see the Qutab minar and I think I'll always treasure it because of the person I bought it with and the people I met while wearing it for the first time. Yea I am sentimental like that.

The more I read about fashion in most magazines the more I am inspired to just dress for myself, I can't really understand how it is okay for magazines to tell us that we are not good enough if we're not dressing for our body-type, we need to wear certain colours or certain things are not in and wearing them will make us look what? Silly??? Stupid??? Well Bleh! I am barely five feet tall and I will wear maxi skirts and dresses without heels because I WANT to. I am fed up with people telling me what looks good on me or even worse what is appropriate.

Appropriate or inappropriate is all in one's head if you ask me, telling people how they should dress or behave is just plain idiotic. If it is 40 deg celcius outside I will wear the least amount of clothing and if that makes you insecure to have me around your man or woman, one go see a shrink and get rid of your insecurities and two go run round the block to whip your body into shape instead of telling me to dress appropriately!!! Phew rant over.

I've been wanting to get this off my chest for ages, the trip back home was filled with people who made me tremendously uncomfortable about being who I am. The worst part of it all was that more women seemed to be intent on girl shaming than men. But something my Dad said stayed with me "You don't have to change who you are or lie about anything as long as you are happy with yourself". Thankfully my parents are wonderful people and are happy to let me grow into whoever I want to be. I think I should actually sit and do a post on how stupid it is to judge people on the basis of how they choose to dress or undress their body. But in the meantime I have read a pretty good post on the topic and you should definitely read Courtney's blog, especially this post

Happy friday everyone!

Yellow and Blue

Dress: Only, Shirt and Leather jacket: Super old can't remember, Boots: India, Turquoise pendant: Mexico, All other jewellery: India

Ummm...So where do I begin? I basically had the awful-est time on my trip both physically and emotionally and I'll stop at that. But I can't let things or people get me down, can I? Therefore I am going to do all the things that I enjoy doing more than ever and wear ANYTHING that I WANT no matter what. One thing that I've decided is that no one is going to tell me what to wear or how to behave :D

I have been obsessing about Maxi dresses and skirts for quite some time now and this spring weather lets me wear boots as well as pile layers of mis-matched clothes and jewellery on top. What could be better? Have a great week everyone!

Pyjama shorts and embroidered leather

Vintage Versace goodness

Vintage Versace shorts: DIY-ed gifted jeans, Boots: Gifted, Hat: Myers, Jewellery: All over, Everything else: Thrifted

I have been on the look out for the perfect pair of Mom jeans to hack into a pair of boy-friend shorts that are back-packing across India-suitable and a friend just gave me her old vintage Versace, made in Italy jeans that were then DIY-ed into this man-repeller goodness. They hang off me in a shape that apparently is pleasant only to my eyes and I am in LOVE with them. I love items that travel all over the world like these boots, they were ordered online by the boy, delivered to his address in Europe and flew to Sydney with his friend and are my new footwear obsession.

I don't think I need to elaborate on my love for crochet, tie-dye, silver jewellery or carpet bags because looking at my pictures one can definitely tell I hoard all items of the above mentioned description. I put these things together haphazardly just because it was warmish, I wanted to wear my shorts, twirl my crochet shawl around, pretend to be a witch and obviously take photos. I think I succeeded and am going to bed a happy little girl. Have a great weekend all!

Yessss! I can finally play with HTML

Tie-Dye skirt: Jay Jays, Black crochet top: Thrifted, Crochet cardigan: Thrifted/ Vintage, Boots: Country Road, Jewellery: All over, Carpet bag: Vintage

Hi guys! I have figured out how to make the pictures in my posts larger by editing HTML and am super stoked. I am sure this isn't really an impressive development for most of you guys but for a technically challenged person like me it is like reaching a super advanced level previously un-thought of. I am glad I figured it out in time for this outfit post because it combines all my favourite elements namely tie-dye, crochet, leather, silver, Chelsea boots AND it is mostly thrifted/ vintage.

On other things inspirational I have found this awesome diy dip-dye jean tutorial with a link to finding great dyes locally in Australia in Define Inspired, a rad blog that I cannot believe I have just found. And this is inspite of all the hanging out that I seem to do online oh well! Better late than never. But honestly stupendous style and great DIY.

I've got the plumber here fixing our bathroom taps and grouting therefore can't think of more to write. Happy Wednesday everyone! Nine sleeps to holiday-land Yaaaaaaaaay!