Subho Oshtomi

Happy Ashtami to all those celebrating today, I thought this was a good day to show the version of skirt and choli I wore last weekend for an impromptu wander in a little secret garden. Chania cholis are too pretty to save just for Garba and Dandiya so I wear them all year round. Embroidered gaghras with my favourite graphic tees and cholis with shorts, jeans and minis seem to be a staple in my wardrobe. I especially like relaxed boyfriend jeans with vintage backless cholis with sneakers.

How do you wear your staples?

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.

Relaxed spring afternoons

Most of these pictures have been taken in front of a mural of the Aboriginal Australian flag in The Block, Redfern. The Block has been a meeting place for Aboriginal people for more than half a century, as people travelled from country towns to Sydney in search of work. The area is synonymous with Indigenous land rights and till quite recently was the site of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy demanding affordable housing for Indigenous Australian.

It is a place steeped in history and struggle, I went there over the weekend to listen to some live music by Indigenous artists. It was the first really warm day this spring and my embroidered top from Columbia came out to play with beaded jewellery from Kenya, South Africa and Columbia. I am obsessed with Maasai, South American and Indian beaded jewellery and wish to deck myself head to toe in them. A great afternoon spent listening to some good music and chatting with interesting locals before riding away as the sun set.

Rock n Roll in a Saree

These pictures were taken on a pre-spring fun afternoon out and feature my current favourite way of wearing a saree. This way let's me move/ dance freely,look good with heavy duty boots and/ or leather jacket and above all allows me sit on a bike. I can't wait to get more sarees and wear them more often. It sometimes astounds me when the rest of the world is so unaware of the rich, luxurious textile traditions of Indian and the a many other parts of Asia. The joy that comes from wearing handloom silk, khadi, cotton or wool is second to none. And I'd rather wear a vintage saree than a dress made in a sweatshop somewhere!

Appreciation not Appropriation

Early morning train rides, walking through crowed market-places, breathtaking temples at every corner, street food fragrance wafting through the air, incense and glowing lamps at dusk, there is so much to see do and experience in the only place that will ever be home. I will travel, I will experience new things but when I drift to sleep, I crave the comfort of home, of being able to worship at a temple or mosque or church or Gurudwara, my home where Eid is celebrated with as much excitement as Diwali; Durga Puja and Christmas share traditions, where Navroze Mubarak isn't just something alien on one's tongue, where we don't need a Harmony Day to celebrate diverse cultures.


Where wearing a Rabari shawl, bag or cuff isn't just a fad, where we know the meaning behind traditions and don't just jump on the cultural appropriation bandwagon because it is cool to suddenly pick and choose the shiny parts of my culture. Bindi; mehandi, lehenga; choli, rangoli; Holi and Om these are not just words, they mean the world to us. And that thing that you wear and call it a slave bracelet, its actually called a haath-phool which literally means hand-flower.

Under paid labour and summer whites

One of my favourite blogger friends posted this the other day and I couldn't agree with her more. It expresses everything I think about global brands exploiting desperate people in poorer countries and I hope we as consumers show some sympathy for the people literally killing themselves so our tee-shirts cost five dollars less.

I know the whole issue isn't as simple as that but you know what? It kinda is. These people are asking for their monthly salaries to be a hundred dollars and their work conditions to be a bit more humane. Is that too much? And to be honest our buying habits will make these clothes producing juggernauts sit up and take notice if we choose to buy less and less of their inhumane-ly produced, over-priced must-haves!

To people who say style blogs are frivolous and one should do better things with their time I have something to say. Yes, I know that this blog isn't helping solve issues of world hunger and poverty and believe me I wish I could do something to help. But I do think in a sea of blogs that claim that the latest Phillip Lim is a must have and one's minimalistic wardrobe is incomplete without Wang, sitting in a little virtual corner with people who wear vintage and thrifted items makes the world a fun place.

I know I have a long way to go before my materialistic tendencies are fully curbed but being part of a bunch of women who have their own style identity makes me happy. So yes, I do believe sharing one's point of view is important even if the topic of discussion is frivolous according to some. And I can't wait to share more and interact with these positive women who keep re-inforcing the joys of thrifted treasures and DIY delights.

Okay mini-rant-type monologue over and on to clothes that haven't contributed to the exploitation of people. To me nothing says spring summer like white linens & cottons with splashes of colour and heaps of jewellery. Hope everyone's had a wonderful start to the week.

P.S. Please ignore the unsightly scabs on my knee, tumbling off the bike and wearing shorts don't go hand in hand in the unblemished knee department.












Shorts: Tailored in Thailand, Shirt and Bag: Thrifted, Jewellery: India

Creature of habit

For all my rants against the world becoming a blur of grey and black in winter, I am not much better. This winter I'd decided to dress creatively while trying to stay warm but from the following photos one can tell that I have failed. Lately my uniform du jour has become a bright jersey skirt, sweater/ shirt, an over-size cardigan or coat and my converse. Hmm going to have to change that.

I tried not to just wear pants and this happened, I think I am more of a creature of habit than I'd like to admit. To be honest I've had my decent moments of wearing bright yellow leggings etc to work but ofcourse I haven't documented the fun outfits. Time to up the ante blog photos wise.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Thank you so much for your comments on my last post. I think I am going to include more travel posts on this blog from now on. Happy Thursday all!

Winter outfit details

Lately I haven't been doing much apart from working and trying to stay warm, most of my time outside of work is spent dreaming about warmer weather and what I would do when the cold finally dissipates.

I've also been thinking about people and their unkindnesses, what boggles my mind is that some people will be unkind and mean just because they can and then will go every week to temple or church as if God cares whether or not one attends prayers with a face full of make-up and a heart full of nastiness. It really bothered me for a bit, then I thought why even let them occupy a tiny breath of my existence and decided that I would never be like that, I will try in every way that I can to be a better person and that is all that matters.

Since there hasn't been any time or the right kind of light to take outfit photos I will leave you with these random recent and not so recent photos of outfit details that really make me happy. Hope you have a great weekend!