Merino joggers and Ajrakh

I don't do winter without merino wool, like hands down it's my favourite cold weather staple, I mean I love duck/ goose down for the warmth but merino wool I love for everything AND I like pyjama-esque pants. So these Icebreaker merino joggers had to show up here at some point. As much as I like the look of fleece (only sometimes), I really don't like wearing it often.

I have some fleece trackies but they are strictly my "all my wool is in the wash" time wear. These joggers though, I wear them to sleep, to travel, to work, basically everywhere, my only problem with them is that they are not available in any other colours. Another thing that I cannot get enough of is Ajrakh, scarves, kurtas, dresses, pyjamas, what have you. This scarf was bought in Kutch and this hand embroidered bag is years old, basically comfort clothing at it's best. What are your cold weather must haves?

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.

Running around in an embroidered choli

In my opinion things can't get better than hanging out with one's loved ones in a tropical jungalow by the coast with three massive dogs and a cat wearing embroidered clothes made by kickass women!

This choli was bought off a lady from Kutch and is among my most treasured objects. I cannot wait to go back to Kutch's magnificent white sand encrusted desert plains soon.

The landscape and arts and crafts are exquisite, while Rajasthan is being marred by unsustainable tourist influx thankfully Kutch is off the trail for most. I find people who go to Jaipur for three days, Jaisalmer for two, buy some shiny looking clothes only tourists buy, then come back to the first world and start calling India Motherland and decide to wear bindis to every music festival. People like that are just so ignorant and very funny to me.

Two days to Fridaaay, yaay!

More mirror work madness

A choli is a blouse that one wears with a traditional Indian skirt; the gaghra and this particular choli has been worn year after year for Navaratri, a nine-day festival celebrating a demon killing avatar, Goddess Durga. Now my love for ass kicking Goddesses is well known as is my obsession with mirror work, I mean just look at the banner for this blog but I have recently decided that I am going to make mirror work tops and bottoms a part of my every day attire. I already wear loads of it in small doses, like a patch here a handbag there but now I am going to up the ante.

Its just that I am just so bored looking at the usual blue jeans/ white tee-shirt combination that I have decided to brave any funny looks that might come my way. You know the best part? We just went to get a cup of chocolate milk wearing this and no one, not one person gave me any funny looks, it was awesome. Just goes to show that there is nothing wrong in wearing what one feels like, most people are too busy to pay any negative attention. By the way, I don't have anything against the blue jeans/ white tee-shirt combination, I just don't like wearing too much of it but if that's someone else's thing, I am sure they rock it.

The little red kantha pouch that I am wearing is from Aarong, a fair trade organisation that sources its goods from impoverished local artisans in Bangladesh. Reaching out to weavers, potters, brass workers, jewellers, jute workers, basket weavers, wood carvers, leather workers and more, Aarong represents about 65,000 artisans, 85% of whom are women. I have over the years bought a lot of stuff from them and if you're interested you should definitely check them out. I am only speaking from my personal experience because I love to support businesses that benefit women especially from disadvantaged backgrounds. I have not been asked to write this nor have I been paid for it. Hope everyone's having a great week so far and looking forward to the weekend, its the Sydney GLBTQ Mardi Gras and I can't wait for the parade on Saturday. Rainbow sparkles, sequinned hot pants and wigs, here I come.













Mirror work choli: Gujarat, India, Shorts: Vintage Levi's 501s, Wedges: Wittner, Kantha pouch: Aarong

More needle-work on denim adventures

Lately I've been thinking that just posting pictures of my outfits doesn't really define my idea of what this blog should be. I mean of course I want to post pictures of outfits that I really like but let's face it, most of them are going to involve cut-offs and ripped tees, instead of being repetitive I want to share things that I really really inpire me. One of the things that seriously makes me want to decorate my surroundings plus myself is hand-embroidery/ needle-work, there is just something about colourful sewn designs that makes me go aah! I gotta have it!

Also I got a couple of very sweet emails from some of you asking me for photos of the process and DIY needle work tips instead of just putting pictures of my completed designs. So here goes, now for this particular DIY, the idea was to stitch a patch on my denim vest but the fabric is so thick that I broke a couple of needles trying to poke it into submission. So before I did more damage a decision was taken to try my hand at a denim shirt, I have heaps lying around and they make the most wonderful layering pieces in the colder seasons. Since I am documenting this here, I wanted to challenge myself; therefore instead of just using a combination of stitches that I already know I decided to learn one online and then use it to make my shirt pretty. I will share the tutorial that best helps me learn my chosen style instead of making a repeat tutorial. My chosen art form is Kutchi embroidery.

Kutch is a part of the desert in Western India where the artisans sew intricate colourful designs on fabrics that adorn various people and objects. I have wanted to learn this method forever and I just hope I am half as good as the local artisans. It seems like an elaborate process of first making a grid and then interlacing the grid to form an absolutely beautiful design but as I found it isn't as hard as I first thought it was. Here go the pictures of the shirt in different stages of the process as well as the link to the tutorial that I used to learn the Kutchi border design. Please excuse the pencil drawings you can see on the shirt, I haven't washed it yet, scared to put it in the wash for the fear of the mirrors falling off and also I was excited to take pictures and post them. In case any of you decide to try this DIY send me pictures of your endeavours.