Cuckoo - Moonrise Kingdom

The magic doesn't end... I think... I feel so .. quaint ... Just watched "Moonrise Kingdom".. I think I am in love.. It had such delightful music too.. special .. *sigh* .. watch this .. and move slowly to the music..Wes Anderson I think you know I love you .. it's impossible not to ..  I can hear the sky rumbling...and here I am rambling..

Dear Suzy,

Here is my plan.

Dear Sam,

 My answer is yes

Dear Suzy,

 When?

Dear Sam,

 Where?

Dear Suzy,

Walk 400 yards due north from your house to the dirt path which has not got any name on it. Turn right and follow to the end. I will meet you in the meadow.

Goodbye guys,

Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2012 - Kolkata - Nida Mahmood

Nida with showstopper Raima Sen

Nida Mahmood  - artist, painter, fashion designer who has an insatiable and all-pervasive love for kitsch

The more I see her designs the more I get fascinated with her. I am ashamed to say even though  I had heard of her before I had never really looked her up. The kind of work she does is what I love and what I crave to have hanging in my wardrobe someday. I remember telling my best friend a year ago while pensively staring at the ceiling one night that the reason I don't like Indian kitsch that is available so readily everywhere is because it is so bad and done in such an obvious manner and I would love to have a wardrobe full of the so-called kitschy and oh-so-Indian patterns in my wardrobe - clothes and shoes and accessories et all. Nida's work has made me love Indian kitsch even more. Her work is colourful, detailed, refreshing and exciting to watch.
FYI Nida designed the dress with 2000 LED lights on it which Lady Gaga wore on her F1 trip in India last year.

Her collection Bombay Bun Maska ~ "ode to the irreverent youth of India"
Inspired by the kitsch of 60s-70s Bollywood films.

resort wear with a twist of kitsch

angry young man, amitabh and gabbar singh adorned the men's casual tees..while their voices adorned the sound track

ombre ombre ombre!

ombre!

light bulbs in flowers..flowers in hair..and those oh-so-exaggerated long lashes!..That's Agnimitra Paul in the magenta dress and Asmita Marwa in black beside her.

more rad prints - this pic was also featured in my intro post

saris draped with jeans & leggings..not petticoats people!

Nida and Raima with the other models

Goodbye for now!

i love this photo for some reason

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Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2012 - Kolkata, Day 1

Blenders Pride Fashion Event - Day 1.
Four Shows.
Over in a matter of 2 hours.
Made me very happy with their collections - Nida Mahmood > 60s - 70s Bollywood inspired with Gabbar Singh and Amitabh Bachchan's voices booming along with the soundtrack. Amazing prints and gorgeous kitsch. Asmita Marwa > again 60s. Woodstock inspired. Coloured glasses. Round glasses...can you picture me already sitting there with rapt attention and a smile playing on my dark purple lips?
Designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil and Raghavendra Rathore (when he walked on stage mere feet away from me I think I was holding my breath. As creepy as this may sound I wanted to go up there and just touch him (and then never wash said hand that touched him @_@ )did not disappoint. I have looked at Rathore with sheer admiration for as long as I can remember.

Here's a sneak peek

from Nida Mahmood's show

Style Spotted

this is Madhu, a freelance photographer. She was covering the event and I hounded her with my camera. :D

More Than A Feeling : Anger

A bout of flu, a new episode of Downton Abbey, a slight dilemma and the feeling to bash a couple of nincompoops...ahhh what a week it has been. Now the next week holds the promise of 4 exams on monday, finally watching Barfi (I am one of the very few people who hasn't seen it yet) and well I don't really know. Things happen and I keep thinking about them, about possibilities, about new directions, about a white fluffy pillow and warm sunshine and a cool ocean breeze in my hair.
I am loving playing around in polyvore. This is my 1st outfit collage there. This gives me a way to keep a tab on the outfits I imagine but don't necessarily have in my own wardrobe. It's fun to have a virtual wardrobe!

Swaroviski + Polyvore "More Than a Feeling: Anger" by debiparna-chakraborty featuring vintage jewelry

This was for a contest I entered. The theme was anger. I have had anger issues in the past and I still do though it is under control (more than before anyway). Channelling my anger or even disappointment/frustration into something creative (either on my blog or on white sheets of paper) keeps me from going over the edge and entering into a zone where there is only numbness. That is a dangerous territory to go into and best avoided. Anyone who has ever felt that way knows what I mean.

Anyway after much thought I have decided I can indeed attend The Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2012 tonight and then either pull an all nighter or fail in monday's exams. If you are there, then see ya!

P.S.-I have uploaded pretty much half the photos I took at the Kolkata Fashion Week here. I probably won't be posting more on my blog. So do check them out.

KFW Day 2

So the dude from the computer company finally came today (with the weekend and then Vishwakarma puja he was on a holiday..while I was feeling like a total cripple here) and said due to massive vibration caused by thunder some wires got replaced. I was like lolwut?! I have never heard of something like that and now I have over 200 images from the show which I can't even look at right now. I fished out one decent enough photo of me and will share it here now. I generally do not like my own photos and post only the one after nitpicking through a dozen. This is my day 2 outfit, on day 3 I was wearing something pretty relaxed because guys lets face it I don't have too many dresses and I don't often wear things one usually wears when brushing said ones shoulders with the celebs and the rich of  the town (most of them anyway). On day 3 I wore a lose shirt with maroon (or should I go trendy and call it oxblood?) pants, black wedges, layered on my spiked and chained bracelets from Romwe and ebay. And I didn't go on day 1 and day 4 so..

my make-up looked more prominent in person..and I was wearing a nude shade of lip colour..which I think I had licked off mostly by then..photo c/o Anupriya

and for the love of god how the hell do I a rotate portions of a video that I shot with my nikon?

help me I am useless with editing vids!

P.S. - It was quite hilarious how the press people fought with the bloggers for better seats. I was pretty sure that if good shots are needed I would require a good seat so the organisers obliged. But I did not feel as great with the management as I did on Day 2. Everyone wanted their own people in first. It was rather funny to overhear representatives from one media channel criticise the other ones. And of course there were the ones who didn't even know what bloggers do! Well to answer that I would say I talk about fashion and persnal style and the difference between the two. I know very well it is hard organising events that too something on such a scale. But these are legitimate concerns voiced by not only me but by all the other bloggers invited there with all access passes and not to gatecrash the event. I wish I could be there for the afternoon shows too. I know I missed out.

Signature Premier Fashion Week - Kolkata Day 3

Remember that woman I was admiring and so wanted to take her photo because of her rad style?? I got lucky and met her on Day 3 because she was showcasing her latest collection inspired by Egypt! She is fashion designer Susan Mantosh! I had a fan girl moment when I met her. She was sparkling in all the light! I told her how I wanted to take a picture yesterday and she was so nice!! The press photographers wouldn't just leave her. I took photos of her, with her, with others. Press people took all our photos. She came and talked with us later as well as we waited for another show outside The Galaxy at Park and showed us a picture of her when she was younger. She is a total rock star, she was so awesome with her larger than life personality and warm, friendly attitude. We also had a chat with her daughter later, Johanne, who is really into blogging and like all of us was surprised to know Calcutta has fashion bloggers.

Susan Mantosh (sneak peek)

Susan Mantosh - forget minimalism! she makes a statement! *love* .. she walked the ramp staying in theme with her collection

Sumit Das Gupta (sneak peek)
(there were some truly beautiful pieces in his bridal collection)

Here's to future events and shows where my role as a digital influencer is utilised fully. I really am grateful to Gingerclaps for letting me have this wonderful experience. I have faith in these people.

Abhishek Surana (sneak peek)
(he is inspired by Raghavendra Rathore...he launched his men's and women's wear collection at KFW)

My Humble Input 
This year's theme was to celebrate the weavers of Bengal, a part of the profit will go to the weavers. The fabrics and dyes used in all the collections were all natural. Keeping that in mind I would say I want the Calcutta designers to do more than just the traditional designs and silhouettes as beautiful and distinguished as they are it would be nice to have some variety. It would be fun to see edgier things from them. Designers have the power to influence the fashion scene. But so do the buyers. We do have a Sabyasachi Mukherjee and we also have a Kallol Datta. So let's ponder on that Kolkata wasio.

Zooming out to meditate

you do the same

bye

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Signature Premier Fashion Week - Kolkata Day 2

I am still feeling so pumped that I could barely stay in bed to have a proper sleep. My head is swirling with what I saw at  Signature Kolkata Fashion Week Day 2. The energy was unbelievable! For me I am in the whole run for the experience of it all. The day started for me proving Murphy's Law right at every turn but it all ended on such a high note. I wasn't sure if I would be attending today but after yesterday I am plenty sure I am attending Day 3. My pc got fried yesterday as I tweeted due to the thunderstorm which resulted in not only massive thunderclaps but also knee deep water around my house. But who really cares about all that when you know fashion bloody week awaits you on the other side! Well I kind of do because you don't want to stomp around the runway in wet shoes and wet, frizzy hair. I mean given it is me I totally can do that with exuberance. If you have read my about me you know I have a habit of blowing raspberries at life every time a curve ball is thrown at me. Anyway not going into the various curve balls that probably is the reason for my flat nose I shall regale you with a few photos I could neither edit nor re-size. Embroidery is something you can see pretty much in every Indian fashion designers collections (not all but pretty much 98% of them). But what was an experience was the bold colours, glittery shoes, fabulous make-up and updos that was on display from Tejas Gandhi (press box) , Agnimitra Paul (2nd row) and Monapali (front row) [these are the 3 shows I attended as I mention rain and all kinds of cosmic hindrances hit me earlier in the day and I did not see the 1st 3 shows]. It was all about "bold and the beautiful" and only the BOLD stood out. Yes the colours and music and sometimes quite unexpectedly so, hooting from a group who it seemed were friends of some of the models walking the shows.
Just so you know the theme of this year's KFW is eco-fashion and promoting the local weavers.

Tejas Gandhi
(black was the colour used liberally *love*...there was no typical Indian style aesthetic in his collection...which was refreshing...he celebrated the global woman who wears other than traditional Indian garb to look and feel glamorous)
P.S.- I loved the earrings he sported..one of them was the peace sign ala hippie style *love*)

Tejas Gandhi with his showstopper

 Agnimitra Paul (sneak peek)
(madhubani art and bhojpuri influences were there..the models walked down the ramp doing thumkas at points and chewing paan..it was an enjoyable show with 'Womaniya' pumping up the atmosphere)

Monapali (sneak peek)
(signature use of lace, crochet, applique, thread work mixed with bold prints and graphic patterns in their eclectic fusion style)

Style Spotted

Shayoni's caviar nails (it is a tough thing to not lose those round thingies)

...and the woman who oddly reminded me of Madame Bijoux

..I was too afraid to ask her for a photo..

P.S.- I saw her on day 3. She is none other than famous fashion designer Susan Mantosh. I had a lovely chat with her. More on that later.

she was rocking those ribboned dreadlocks

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