"The twilight Saga"

You're really lovely
Underneath it all
You want to love me
Underneath it all
-Gwen Stephanie(No doubt)

I have a confession to make. I stalk people. Yes, shamelessly facebook stalk. But who doesnt? Isnt our whole life's mission to know more about other people's lives. Isnt that why reality shows are such a huge success? As my travel for work has greatly reduced, FB has become my veritable source of life. Pop culture, the news, sports, music, and also angst. Alas, yes, my pretties, the ugly head bobs again. I return, embittered. Fine. I exaggerate.
As I was getting my usual healthy dose of FB spying, suddenly a whiff of chilled air touched me. I will explain why soon. I was looking at some of my friend's friend's pictures. Dont you love when you can unabashedly, look at pictures of friends of friends, and then their friends. Ah, the level of stalking are limitless.Okay, you dont want to be my FB friend anymore. Fine. But, I digress. So I did look, unabashedly that is. And there I found my oldest, darkest fear, relived. I felt like I had seen a character straight of The-ultimate-teen-fantasy, "The Twilight" movie. Alas, if the lady in question was anything as delectable as the Pattinson boy, I would have forgiven this particular faux pas. In keeping with the Asian obsession(perhaps, the Indian obsession) with the "fair" skin, my victim in question had painted(lets call a spade a spade) her face - white. Alas, she looked anything but. Next thing, I hoped, she would prop open her kurta(it was a an-indian-party-at-a-famous-bschool), and reveal a kimono and break into a demure Geisha-like dance. Nothing of the sort happened. Unfortunately, I am hardly forgiving of the mistake. I can imagine, her top MBA education coming in handy when she probably bullied the woman behind the makeup counter in giving her the "Ivory" foundation, when she should have gone "Tan".
As I grew up in the sweltering heat in India, I have seen relatives of mine, wear mismatched foundations and compacts that run down their expensive silk sarees, only to reveal, the horrible mismatch in their complexions. There was good reason for it. Back in the day, the beauty of a woman was measured only as the index of her skin color. The lighter she was, the more beautiful she was. And so, the foundation, amongst other things, helped Indian women enhance their "fairness quotient".
But this day and age, and in this country where we are proud to tout our uniqueness, ladies, I beg you to please please, spend the time to find the right foundation and/or pressed powder. Please stop from becoming indirect promoters for all vampire movies. You dont want to look like you have been exhumed out of a coffin. Better yet, if you dont know how to find the right color, dont wear any at all. Just show up with a smile and conquer the world!

Dancing queen, dancing queen

I loved the ABBA song.
Last night as I was hanging out at wonderful PCG, drinking in the skyscraper views with a wonderful Willamette Valley Pinot Noir(dont I sound poetic), I remembered this one friend and why she made me cringe every time I met her on different social occasions. The strappy spandex like dresses and the clinginess in all the wrong places just sent shivers down my spine.
I think my biggest complaint with these outfits is the unevennesss of the bottom seam of the dress. You know what I am talking about. Bottoms of dresses and some times bottoms of tops, cut zig zag. Making the wearer look like she walked out straight from the Flintstones era. There is a reason that some of us dont want to look like neanderthals, and dont want to roam around in rags. I think some demented designer decided that straight was too boring and lets go all crazy and rip off the bottoms into whatever shape and the world would be a more exciting place.
It brings me to a moral dilemma, should I tell this friend subtly to stop wearing that outfit? For other people out there, I beg of you to lead this neanderthal outfit down its darwinian path - please please eliminate by selection?

"The Velveteen habit"

Lol. I love the title, I crack myself up:)
This is a long over due blog post. Almost 3 years old now and still relevant. I didnt write about it way back then out of sheer good manners and because it involved my roommate. We never really became friends and the faux pas is unforgivable so here goes. Back in the 80's I think, the velvet look was really popular. Velvet, with its soft and lustrous texture was synonymous with luxury. I remember when I was 7, I had a brown velvet frock with poofy gold sleeves and a giant bow in the back. I loved the dress then.
But, times have passed and the once luxurious look is completely jaded. My roommate, one day brought out this absolute hideous dress made completely in velvet and embellished with pearls and some other intricate work. The dress made her look atleast 30 years older, but she was so awestruck by the magnificence of the dress that I couldnt tell her. I have seen people show up for holiday parties and elsewhere in velvet gowns, skirts(ugh), pants and Indian dresses(Salwars and even saree blouses). The material does not contour well to the human body and makes the wearer look frumpy and old. They end up looking more like moss covered tree trunks. Even worse is to see this out of shape dress embellished with something blingy. Ladies, please take my advice. Accessories made with velvet - clutches, belts , bracelets are all acceptable. I even like demure colored jackets made in velvet. They add a touch of class to the outfit you are wearing.
Other than that, unless you want to end up looking like a carpet, please refrain from this look!

"The Sartorialist"

I found this piece of treasure quite randomly.
The writer writes about real fashion on the streets.
Please read and enjoy:
http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/