Red Velvet Closet: 2014

Fashion

Christmas Capes

Friday, December 26, 2014

Elizabeth Arden

Fusion

Sunday, November 09, 2014

Shirt - House of Masaba// Skirt - Forever 21// Bag- Anita Dongre//

Earrings & Necklace- Tholia's Kuber Jewellers, Jaipur// Shoes - ASOS

Fashion in the 60's for Bollywood was all about vibrant colours, big bindis, bold silhouettes, winged eyeliner and lots and lots of experimentation. Women were no longer afraid to be bold or even be portrayed as sex symbols. They were comfortable in their own skin and that's why I absolutely loved the sixties, oh and also because of the endless hours spent, staring at Sharmila Tagore. Well...

Big bindi's, your mother's vintage jewellery and kohl. What else does a girl need to dress up for a family lunch? Oh well clothes. Haha. Yes, I put together an entire outfit according to the colour of my bindi. Judge me all you want but you know how you have those days, when you look at pretty little things and your heart melts and and.. the world is a better place to live in. That. Thats what this blue bindi did to me, this one fine saturday afternoon.

Since the occasion was formal, I went in for a linen collared shirt from the House of Masaba. The quirky people's print and folded sleeves toned it down, after all you don't wanna look like you came straight from a business meeting. Next step was finding something to go with it. I don't understand how this wine maxi skirt always ends up perfectly matching with everything. Even after trying 50 other things, it always comes down to my precious from forever 21.

Once the clothes were done, everything else was pretty much decided. I kept the make up minimal. Nude lips ( Inglot 417), a slightly winged liner and open loose hair. I wish I could have made a fancy poofy hairdo from the sixties but then my impatience simply fails me. Also did I mention how lazy I am.

The last bit was to steal my mother's vintage silver jewellery that she bought from Jaipur some 20 years ago. This gorgeous necklace is pure love. Had my eyes on it since I've been a little girl, finally got to wear it :) I wore my black ASOS sliders instead of punjabi juttis for an indo-western look. The Anita Dongre clutch bag added the much needed colour.

ASOS

Checkers.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Beauty

Colorbar Nail Lacquer Pro Review

Friday, September 19, 2014

Goddess or Puppet?

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

This article was written by me as a part of my college magazine but it became much more than just that. Magazine Ground Zero's first edition talks about women as power houses and while we spoke about powerful women, could not however ignore the condition of rural women in our country.

This photo shoot is the story of a young girl from a small village in India. At an age where she should have books in her hands, she is being forced into marriage. According to the indian traditions and culture, a girl is the Laxmi (goddess of wealth) of the house. She is to bring luck, success and wealth to her husband's home even if it becomes the very end of her own dreams. Her life. Her identity. This is her story. And many, many other's. Have a read. Share your views.

Woman is not born. She is made. In the making, her humanity is destroyed. She becomes a symbol of this, an example of that. Mother of the earth, slut of the universe. But she never becomes herself because it is forbidden for her to do so. The Indian woman fights each day to survive in this male dominated country. For a developing nation on its way to greatness, India’s treatment towards its women is appalling.

It is ironical how we live in a country where women are worshipped as goddesses yet they are abused, shunned and killed in the womb. It is said that medieval India was considered to be the ‘Dark Age’, due to the foreign invasions it was one of the worst periods for women. A lot of new rules were made and old ones broken. Women were asked to stay in the four walls of their houses. They were treated as the property of their fathers, brothers and then their husbands. They were raped and beaten. Misogyny existed then. It exists now.

A country whose father of the nation gave the slogan ‘Nari Shakti’ struggles today to protect and respect their very own. Sexual abuse, sati, child marriage, are not merely stories narrated to us from our history textbooks but are more real than our deepest, darkest fears. Indian marriage is sanctity. Bliss for women. It is the marking of a new life but not when you’re under 18 and definitely not when you are forced into it. Especially when it comes to rural women, they do not rebel against their spouse in the fear of losing their economic support. There is also a lurking fear of rejection which makes them put up with abuse as their ‘destiny’.

In its true sense, a woman straddles between two extreme ideologies of conscious imprisonment, downsizing them to be either or both a Goddess and a slut. Anything in its extremity can conspire upon a woman with its shadow of enslavement. Reputation and respect both in a famous and an infamous manner cast down upon her like waves on shore rocks, breaking them patiently with every conscious blow. Amidst the conspicuous normality, one which in itself is a matter of debate among many, lies a whole spectrum of other staggering disempowerments mellowing down a lady’s womanhood to the bare tatters as it can now be seen. Girls are made to feel like a piece of meat, made to feel if they walk out of their house wearing short clothes, they are all harlots enticing ‘the man’ to rape them.

To think a girl isn’t capable enough of taking care of herself in the 21st century when she has literally reached the moon and back, shows how corrupt and hollow our mindset really is. It is time we stand up for what rightfully is ours. Rabindranath Tagore in one of his poems said, “O Lord Why have you not given woman the right to conquer her destiny?Why does she have to wait head bowed, By the roadside, Waiting with tired patience, Hoping for a miracle in the morrow?” And we keep holding onto that...

“Her eyes are mirrors, stare deep into them and you might find where you lost yourself on the way. She can stare right through your soul, right through your broken pieces and mend you as if you were made of clay. She’s a miracle if you’d believe her to be”