Hand painted Kalamkari duster

Last year a lovely friend in Pune (hey Archu!), bought this amazing hand-painted Kalamkari fabric and had this duster jacket made for me. It quickly became my most favourite thing to wear with pretty much everything.

I've worn it here with ripped light wash jeans, a Guns n' Roses tee, a vintage leather backpack and platform brogues from Jeffrey Campbell to go to a picturesque waterfall in a natural park in Sydney's north shore.

What is your favourite way to wear Kalamkaris?

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!

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!

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!

Suede shorts and Cowrie shell belt

Another day of fringed leather shorts and bag, a shell belt, comfy tee and tumbling around magical greenery...

Sunset meanderings

Change of seasons mean allergies plus flu, I may be really excited for spring but cant for the life of me take the blocked nose and perennial exhaustion anymore.

On to better topics, sick days call for warm and comfy clothing and it can't get comfier than soft merino sweaters and oversize cardigans, the turquoise fabric bag is just to keep things cheerful. Nothing is better to cheer oneself up than to sit by crashing waves and drink beer

Hope everyone's had a great weekend.

Outfit tales from the basement

Winter outfit photo taking comes with its own set of challenges therefore these basement photos totally made the cut. I love these jeans, they are op-shopped men's jeans from Vinnies and I cannot describe how much love I have for them.

There are DIY sand-blasting plans in the works for these babies and right now I am on the look out for similar ones for my sister. This made in Vietnam pretend Hmong top is another Vinnies find that I LOVE.

Hope everyone's having a great week.

Sunset shenanigans

Dress: Mink-pink, Suede-boots: Wittner, Back-pack: Rozelle markets, Jewellery: India+Sydney Markets

Spent Sunday afternoon at the Rozelle markets, met a bunch of lovely puppies and then walked to the Balmain cove to watch a lovely sunset while sipping ice-tea. A lazy Sunday afternoon is just what I needed before the hecticness Monday is sure to bring.

This outfit makes little sense but this is what I do all winter, just pile on layer after layer over a print I like in the hopes of staying warm. This little fabric back-pack is straight out of my dreams and I might never take it off, all I need now is a heap of Cowrie shells that I will hang off it. Hope you have had a great week and a rad weekend.

Blogger buddies RULE!

Dress: Anokhi, Bag and Beanie: Sportsgirl, Boots: India

I have had a rough couple of days and have been dealing with some yucky personal stuff lately and that had made me crawl into a hole and avoid doing much here but then one of my blogger buddies (Hey Debi!)spoke to me all night and that helped me gain a little perspective and I decided I miss my little band of fabulous feminist ladies too much to mope around for long. Therefore here I am...

My love for ethnic blockprint fabric is well documented here as is my unwavering devotion to this brand called Anokhi which supports local crafts people in Jaipur, India therefore I shall not bore you with more odes to this fabric. Instead let me tell you the story of this particular Anokhi dress; made out of thick linen fabric it used to be a maxi which looked completely ridiculous on me, so I hacked it and let the ends fray. I intend on patchworking one of my army bags with the leftover fabric and I love the shapeless-ness plus floaty sleeves of this dress which make me feel like I have wings. All in all a win-win situation, where I have a dress I love which is perfect for fall weather, I can wear a tonne of layers under the dress and it is something that no one else has and fabric from it will help me personalize my army bag. So much happiness from one little dress!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter holiday and feasting on goodies, I am off to do some work and then take it easy. Happy Sunday world!

A few of my favourite things

When I am disturbed and things are not going well, I turn to objects that have always cheered me up, given me comfort and motivation. Here are a few such things; succulents, succulents and more succulents, any kind of plants actually, if I could convert my house into a jungle I'd be happy, fabric/ carpet bags have been inspiring entire outfits lately, my bags are hung all over the room off every conceivable piece of furniture including my book-shelf, chair etc, plaids always have a place in my outfit choices and they look great clashing with the prints on my bags.

I have bought a copper plant hanger from the local Salvos today and can't wait to put a plant in and hang it up. Little things give me great joy in trying times. What inspires you?