Travel diaries; Navlakha Temple, Ghumli, Gujarat

The temple in the above pictures is the 'Navlakha Temple' in Ghumli, Gujarat. Built in the 10-12th century AD by the Jethwa rulers of Saurashtra/ Gujarat it is dedicated to the 'Sun God' and is the oldest Sun temple in Gujarat. In my opinion it was spectacular, just rose out of the foot-hills in it's amazing ancient glory.

It is an important archeological site and we quite enjoyed exploring it one afternoon! Some-times I think India is so vast and there is so much beauty, in my lifetime I'll not be able to explore it in it's entirety. I am going to try my hardest though, this trip was full of visits to amazing places and it has made me even more determined to see more of this world! I long to be a permanent nomad, exploring and spending extensive time in places I like. But then I remember I need to earn a living.

Clothes-wise I stuck to the tried and tested bright long-kurta with jeans combination for ease and fun. These pictures don't do justice to the beautiful temple and it's surroundings barring the fact that the rubbish dumped around sites like these by people who come to visit, makes my blood boil!

The last day of summer

Today is officially the last day of summer and I am loathe to let the season of swimming in the sea and basking in the sunshine go, so not ready for anything more than light layers with boots and can't bear the thought of dreary weather. So I dressed in a way that although super common for me makes me feel really happy; old, washed-a-million-times-soft cotton with suitably ventilated jeans and converse.

For ages I knew that I like traditional Indian kurtas and angrakhas but recently have come to the conclusion that I am also only attracted to cuts that are similar. I also only like natural fibres, obsessively check tags to know the exact fabric composition and may have a slight problem. I digress, what I mean to say is these traditional Indian cuts are my go to regardless of current trends and I am getting more and more comfortable in my skin to bother with anything else.

This bag was bought off a Rabari woman in Gujarat who was jaw-droppingly beautiful in a way that only real (read non-fashion) people can be. Currently I am obsessed with travelling and paring down my belongings to keep only things that matter; handcrafted beauties and things with sentimental value.

Have a great weekend, world!

Peace, love and mirror work

Here's me finally featuring my first 'mirror-work on vintage denim' shorts that I have been wearing quite consistently. Its been sometime since I've created something and this evening I got all angsty and sad, it took some time till I realised I have not created anything and that is making me cranky. Does that happen to anyone else? I need to do more than work, come home, eat and sleep to nourish my being. I still haven't started on my tie-dye Ganesh/ Hindu Goddess tee-shirt, also I am dying to learn to sew, knit and crochet but don't know who to ask and where to begin. So all in all I am pretty starved of creative fulfillment.

But instead of ranting about it, I've decided to stalk inspiring tumblrs in a bit to energize myself and get the creative juices flowing. Do you have any ideas for me? Back to outfit talk, this is my usual attire when the weather can't decide if it wants to be summer or pre-autumn and I love this plaid beauty to death. Another thing I love is the Bowie tank I've worn here, its perfect, its soft and it has David Bowie on it, what more could I want? As you can tell, I am one to repeat my items of clothing again and again, you've seen the Bowie tank here and the plaid shirt here. Hope you're having a wonderful mid-week and are preparing to spoil your loved ones today. I am going to be dancing for womens' rights and can't think of a better way to celebrate love. Sending out good vibes to the universe.

Vintage Levi's plaid and DIY shorts, Vintage leather bucket bag

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.

Summer shorts DIYs

Like any other girl I love denim cut offs for summer, baah who am I kidding, I love them all year round, but unlike most other girls who might have a few trusted pairs of jean shorts I have amassed a huge collection over the years. Since they look better with age there is no giving them away and as I re-organized my clothes during the move I realized I have an astounding number of Levis 501s alone and an even greater number of various other brands and leather and suede and various other materials, okay I think you get the picture, I have a lot of shorts. So this year I've decided to refrain from buying more and to avoid getting attracted by shiny new ones I decided to get crafty with my existing pairs.

I've already jumped on the tie-dye bandwagon eons ago, ripped a few babies to reveal their cooler shredded avatars, bleached, dip-dyed etc etc but I knew now was the time to up the ante because I want a pair of personalized denim that no one else would have. So I decided to go the ethnic embroidery route, Gujarati needle work style. Gujarat is a state in Western India that has a long history with textiles especially needle work and tie dye, popularly known locally as Bandhani. The stark monotony of the desert landscape in the region is brightened up by intricate colourful embroidery, bead and mirror work. Now I am not any where close to as talented as the local ladies there are but I still decided to have a go on a pair of shorts in what can be described best as my take on that style.

Here are a few pictures of the various DIYs that I am currently working on, I started small with stitching a ying yang patch on the back pocket of a pair, then embroidered a peace sign on the back of another, then sharpied a Mexican sugar skull-esque design on the front of a 501 and then started some more complicated work on a pair of Wranglers that's almost ready. Outfit posts coming as soon as the November rain lets up. Any DIY+design suggestions are more than welcome :D Happy Wednesday all!

The festival of lights

This week was the Hindu festival of lights or Diwali as it is called in India, it is a week full of auspicious days including one to buy jewellery and welcome the Goddess of wealth and prosperity into the house. I am not very religious but a day devoted to buying jewellery in the name of worshiping Goddess Lakshmi is more than fine by me!

The boy and I celebrated the week by calling and wishing loved ones, lighting loads of candles, hanging fairy lights, eating yummy food, buying a fondue set and gorging on melted cheese and I had to take the opportunity to draw an alpona on the balcony. Here are a few pictures of the festivities our way including one of me wearing my festival jewellery acquisition, a yummier than yummy silver necklace.

I didn't want to bring up anything negative in this post but I cannot resist saying, that a few months ago the Freepeople stores/ dressing rooms were decorated with these traditional alpona designs and it seemed a bit weird to me. I am really over people kitsch-fying every aspect of my culture, these designs are used during traditional and religious ceremonies. Also most of the free people one clothing that cost an arm are made in India using traditional Indian craftsmanship and techniques and I really would like to know how much do the artisans creating the beautiful clothes benefit from free people's outrageous prices.

And don't even get me started on Winter Kate, Nicole Richie's line, gauzy cotton/ flowy silks, with traditional Indian motifs and designs that have been available for decades in India and everywhere else, priced indecently and given Indian names like Devi, Avanti, Lakshmi etc! Like seriously woman, stop pretending to be a designer because all you are is someone who has a fabulous sourcing and marketing team. Didn't mean for this to be a rant but I am just over companies and individuals using poor people's talent to make mega bucks.

Back to happier things its almost Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah are round the corner, here's wishing everyone a happy and prosperous build-up to which ever holiday you wish to celebrate.