Get Your Quirk Up!

Life's no fun without a little bit of quirk! I love fashion with a sense of humor...It says so much, beyond "I look pretty".

I know that dress is not really 'Fall', but terms like fall and winter don't apply here in Mumbai(Better known as Bombay). It is hot, humid, and awesome all year round where I live!

Been caught up in painting and sketching everything under the sun...preparing for design exams! Will do an outfit post soon, promise!

Love,

Shubhi!

Knots and Moustaches

Sometimes, on a Sunday, all you feel like doing is  knotting up your favourite white shirt, going up on the terrace and strumming some chords with the birds for company.

And oh, wearing a beret because you have a bad hair day.

Shirt-Westside
Beret, Shoes-Bandra
Skirt, Watch-Vintage.
Moustache Necklace-Rooja.com

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Love,
Shubhi!

How to Sort your Closet!

A herculean task, no less. Something which I  dread, yet yearn to do.
My relationship with my closet is definitely a love-hate one-In it are all the things in the world I love, but I hate the closet itself. Or rather, the way it is arranged. It is the pride of my eyes for exactly 2 days after it has been sorted. But afterwards..umm. I'd rather not say!




So today was the D-Day. I opened my wardrobe(long overdue for sorting) and the contents tumbled out on top of me. I set about putting clothes in piles...Love,  Don't love too much,  Traditional,  I don't know,  Give away.Having done this much, I was exhausted! So I decided to take a break and read some Sunday Papers.


And guess what? My favourite sunday magazine 'Brunch' had a feature called 'You Can Save your Closet'. It was a sign from God! It gave me hope. 


Here are some tips:

1. Give away stuff that you are NEVER going to wear NOW.
2. Organize your cupboard once in 10 days at least. This way you dont have a jungle of a closet at the end of 2 months!
3. Pack away the chunky knits, seal them, and keep them in another place, if your kitchen has additional storage, there they go!
4. Add hooks, extra rods, in every surface of your closet. Don't ignore that door!
5. Freshen up your clothes with your favourite scent-Invest in some good quality potpourri or closet fresheners! 

Now for my ingenious DIY , hah!:p

I noticed that my scarves kept getting tangled up with my clothes. 

AND, my poor hair bands simply didn't have anywhere to go!

I got these metal neon bangles at a Sale for a steal-originally Rs. 150 down to Rs. 19! You can use any bangles though..the ones of oxidized steel would do great too!

The plastic clothes-hanger was right THERE.

And some strong, white string.(The criteria is: Strong.)

If you have your scarves, dupattas, belts, headbands all over the 

place, this little DIY is perfect for you! What I have done is easy enough to figure out (If you have any questions though, fire away!).

I folded the scarves and tucked them into the bottom row of bangles.

 You can add as many rows of bangles as you like. And, make it as neatly as you like:P I left the threads all astray because I was too excited!
The hair bands sit daintiy on the top row...I love them too much and they know it.

You can hang it on the rod in your closet, of course! Do give it a try:) Took me about 7 minutes!

Love,
Shubhi!

Accessory Post: Glitter Headband

The ONE  glittery thing every girl should have. Glitter on clothes or bags or shoes-too over the top for you? I know what you mean!
But does a little glitter cheer you up nevertheless? Put it on your head!

I have fallen in love with this accessory ever since I  bought it...It can transform any day look into night-time glamour! It is a different story that I am wearing it with everything-morning, afternoon, and night.
But its tough not to!

Love,
Shubhi!

Vanilla Sugar

Have you ever tried Vanilla Sugar? Vanilla is one of the most comforting and beautiful fragrances I know...and if you have a bunch of Vanilla Beans(which unfortunately are very expensive), you can make your own Vanilla Sugar! 

Well, this is hardly a recipe. All you have to do is pop the beans in a jar full of granulated sugar( I used  coarser sugar, but the finer the better.) Shut the lid tight, and keep it someplace to mature. The beans infuse the sugar with the vanilla flavour, and after about a month,you have Vanilla Sugar!

It can be used in desserts, obviously. My mom made some lovely kheer with it! But a spoonful of vanilla sugar in a glass of warm milk on a rainy day is a comfort and luxury few other things can give.


Artificial vanilla substitutes can be used, but its not quite the same! You can find recipes here. 

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Love, 
Shubhi

Grey Rain, Tiny Flowers and Lady's Fingers

Rain always makes things so different. Its like you are looking at the world through a whole new pair of glasses...The leaves look greener, the contrasts sharper, and the skies greyer!

So anyway. I was on the farm house this rainy day, and the rainy weather was picture perfect! Donned my new floral jacket with tiny flowers (My first such print), and my comfy tee and jeans!

Also a very pretty black suede clutch with a polka dotted silk flower, a gift from a friend:)

Raindrops on the lens..

Floral Pullover, Tee from Lifestyle.

Cuff, Clutch: Gift

Bangle:DIY

Ring: Bandra

The lady's fingers were in full bloom, ready to pick straight from the kitchen window!

Have a Happy Sunday everyone! 

Love,

Shubhi!

Travel Post: The Romance of Shimla

This is a photo diary of Shimla, a hill station in the Himalayas I visited this summer(You can read about my entire trip here)...The place is seeped with history, and walking down the streets or the Mall Road, it is difficult not to imagine that you are still in the days of the British Raj.

The writing here is an excerpt from the book 'Plain Tales from the Raj', a copy of which I found in a second-hand book-store and have cherished ever-since!

"The hills of Shimla provided a brief respite from the heat of the plains.Shimla was the summer capital of India, the whole government moved up to the hills! Wives moved up mainly because of the heat down below, and of course other wives weren't going to stay, so they all went. There were parties, theater, and they all had a pretty gay time."

"It is difficult to convey how enormously romantic the atmosphere was in Shimla. The warm starlit nights and the bright, huge moon, those towering hills and mountains stretching away, silence, and strange, exotic smells. "

" Affairs and liaisons were commonplace. Bored wives, Flirtatious Army-men, and Young girls looking for husbands formed most of the society. Most of them were pretty harmless, and very seldom were there serious scandals. "

The church, built on a high point, was the place where Sunday Mass was conducted. There are still pews for the Viceroy and the Commander General, in the very front row, marked with gold!

"Shimla was plastered on the sides of one of the lower ranges of the Himalayas. You found yourself, always, on one of the ledges, one ledge above the other, nothing but narrow paths everywhere and these appalling drops. "

Iris Portal, who was a girl during that time, recalls:

"In the two summers I spent at Shimla I never thought about doing anything but amusing myself. It was excessively gay. My record was twenty six nights dancing, at the end of which I could hardly keep awake!

You had to ride everywhere in Shimla. So one used to ride out to lunch and to race meetings in one's best dress hitched round one's waist with a blanket tied around, and a big, floppy hat.

We were always meeting the same people. Everyone knew rather too much about everyone else's affairs, and it would be the staple topic of conversation-what was going on, who was going out with so-and-so. If there was a very big party you always knew about it and if you hadn't been invited you took that very seriously indeed."

I went there this summer, eager to see all this for myself. And I was not disappointed. As I walked down the streets, clicking the pictures, I was completely transported to another era. The era of moonlit picnics, high teas, and summer romances.  Because really, nothing much has changed. Except the crowds, perhaps.

But that's everywhere.


Love,
Shubhi!