Wedding Vibes : Part 1 - Engagement

Hey everyone! Hope y'all are enjoying the wedding music, especially that old school ochestra! If not, go peep outta your window and come back to read further. JK!

If you're following me on social media (especially facebook & instagram) you surely know that this post is the first one out of the 3 collaborations I'll be up with 3 different bloggers in my city, to tell you about our favorite ethnic wear designs, for 3 different ceremonies in this wedding season! We all know Indian weddings are grand, traditional and an exciting affair. It brings in joy and happiness with loads of enthusiasm and celebration, but a series of special occasions during a wedding raises a demand for a new wardrobe, not only for the bride and groom but for us too, being their friends or relatives! Engagement ceremony, being the first official function for the family where the to-be-bride & to-be-groom exchange rings, and both the families officially get together, calls for extra planning and preparations. Somehow, we girls know how difficult it becomes when deciding what to wear for that exclusive show!

So, the first ceremonial outfit we're gonna talk about today is for the engagement parties. I've got with me a blogger who's style I adore for Indian wear the most. Shishta Maurya from the Vineyard Passage blog, is a close friend and a super fashion blogger. Being a wedding photographer too, she herself has seen a lot of ethnicity in the big fat Indian weddings! Now, engagement ceremonies, especially in the family, demands a simple look without going OTT. Where on one hand the bride and groom are dressed in similar color palette from top to toe, you definitely do not want to carry that somber appearance! Today, Shishta and I decided to go comfy and stylish in our first ceremonial Indian attire, the famous Anarkali Suits, which has actually become a craze amongst ladies; as this is the most gorgeous style designed by merging the traditional look with an essence of modern trend. 

Basically, Anarkali suits refer to the flowing salwaar kameezes that are quite long and are designed like frocks or umbrellas without any type of slit at the side. These dresses generally include a kameez that falls below the knee, a churidaar that has folds near the ankle and a dupatta to add the ethnicity! The fashion of Anarkalis is not new, but what's definitely upgrading are the various new styles added under the name, from simple to flashy and much more, and we have got 2 different designs for you today, so keep reading.....

She's wearing - anarkali suit : Craftsvilla.com | footwear : Inc.5

earcuffs, ring : ApparelsShoesBagsNMore (on instagram)

I'm wearing - anarkali suit : Craftsvilla.com | footwear : Jabong | earrings, rings : Flipkart

The most important and fun, yet most annoying part during the wedding season is to go out shopping! Like, who's got so much of time to roam about in 50 stores across the city finding out that one perfect dress for the occasion. Well, hardly an of us, right? And then comes Online Shopping to our rescue, and my favorite website for ethnic wear has to be Craftsvilla.com! This site has a wide range of suits and ethnic dresses. To specifically mention the Anarkalis, the collection is so vast that we couldn't even reach the last page. From different fabrics like soft cotton, organza, velvet, net, silk, lace, chiffon, georgette and crepe; to different designs like weaving patterns, embellishments, sequin work and colors, intricate embroidery work for different occasions like for parties, family functions, festivals, daily wear/shopping, or for work; the list seems never ending!

Being bloggers, both Shishta and I have a good experience about what and how to order stuff online and we actually put it to use when we bought these two outfits for ourselves to rock at an engagement party we both had to go to together. Ofcourse, our tastes are very different from each other and you can see that above in the pictures already! Like, Shishta bought a pink suit for herself, which has a satin and chiffon lining inside and the upper layer consisting of georgette. The churidar is made of cotton and the dupatta is made of net! The front suit appears minimalistic as the embroidery is restricted to the neckline, the front button area and at the hem of the frock kurta all around in a row. The colors blue and gold of the zari embroidery are complimenting the bright pink color of the suit very well! And, she chose a 14 pleats kurta to keep the suit less heavy and the whole appearance raging, since Anarkalis mostly come with the full sleeves attached to give an appearance of structured body, because the fall of the suit is quite long too. The back of her suit is plain too but the catch is the round cut hole in the center attached to the neck that gives a graceful look! Where unlike Shishta, I went in for an extremely heavy and a different style of Anarkali that came in 4 pieces rather than 3. My suit included an independent kameez made of zari, a churidar of cotton, a kurta made of net, embellished with stones, embroidery with velvet & shining threads, and a dupatta made of net too! I went in for a light purple (mauve) color with green and pink highlights. The white stones embellished on the outer kurta makes the front and back look a little stylish & glamorous. Its a deep neck at the back with strings attached to secure the fall. I went for a bust-fitted suit with 18 pleats to flaunt my feminine style and curb my short height. The cinched waist of the Anarkali is the most magical part because it automatically makes you look slim while giving a flare from the umbrella hem, and we both loved it in our suits! Certainly one thing we did same was that we kept our dupattas on one shoulder side and not drape like the regular wear! Also, we all know how important is to accessorize at Indian functions. But, if you're wearing heavy suits, we suggest you to go minimal like us. Where you can see Shishta put on her gold earcuffs studded with white stones and went in for a white pearl ring to go with her simple kolhapuris studded with pearls as her footwear. And as for me, single looped earrings, a pair of green and purple stone rings worked best, with matching green heels to pump up my short height. To talk about the make-up, we both kept it quite subtle with natural pink lipshades and simple eye make-up with kajal and mascara. Also, we just left our hair lose open because flaunting that mane is what we girls love, right?! So yeah that's pretty much it about our outfits for the engagement party!

Anarkalis are known to bring out the utmost elegance and feminine appeal of women kind. In today’s time, Anarkali dresses are liked by women of all age groups that have knowledge of fashion trends. These beautiful dresses look attractive on every woman, without differentiating them on the basis of their figure, complexion or other factors. Anarkali dresses look equally beautiful on the ladies having a full figure as well as zero figure. Women towards the bulkier side can opt Anarkali suit with a large flare starting from the bodice area. They should avoid the Anarkali kurtas that have flare starting from the hips. Women with slender body structure should wear these dresses with average flare. Anarkalis look extremely awesome on tall ladies and equally fantastic on short ladies too. One should remember that deciding upon what to wear for the engagement should be taken into account with extra time and should not be decided in haste! So, if you're eager to buy these Anarkali Suits, there are several high quality online stores that have a great collection to choose but we'll recommend you to head to Craftsvilla.com right away because they have an exclusive range of styles in abundance with a lot of offers running at this time. So, go check out the website now!

Photographed by : Shubham Bhasin

~xoxo~

The Autumn Doubles

Hey stunners! Hope y'all are having fun and enjoying this Autumn season to the fullest! Well its almost running in its last days and winters are on the roll, but still we haven't got those heavy jackets out, no? 

Well, its been a while since I did a collaboration post. The first one was with Sumbul from Stylebon for Missa More last month and this time I've chosen another rising blogger, Poorvi from Shades of Jade. She is from Lucknow too and I'm really fond of her blog name, btw! So yeah, today we're sharing with you our looks for Autumn '15 which we both decided for one another picking up our favorites from a brand we love a lot!

So, if you didn't already know, I'm a particular fan of this amazing fashion website called STALKBUYLOVE and to be true, the clothes in the line are amazing! Of course I've said that umpteen number of times in my previous posts with the brand and also that I have a special inclination towards their collection of jumpsuits! For the very same reason, I chose to work on my Autumn look with Poorvi using some latest jumpsuit designs SBL added to their stock.

She's wearing - jumpsuit, jacket : StalkBuyLove.com | heels : Annabelle

clutch : Globus | necklace : New Look | sunglasses : Miu Miu

I'm wearing - jumpsuit, jacket : StalkBuyLove.com | heels : Factoryrush.com

clutch : Zara | handcuff, necklace : Shopnineteen.com | sunglasses : Ray Ban

While searching what would suit both of us from the range, Poorvi got hold of a beige colored jumpsuit for me that had bottoms trimmed to the length of culottes which I personally wanted to buy for myself a few days back but didn't had faith whether it would look good on me or not, since I'm a petite woman, always scared to experiment! But she chose the same piece and filled in some real energy in me while describing it as a chic jumper, made keeping in mind all sizes and shapes and the noodle strap to give it a notable look which had a cross back to add to the uniqueness! Plus, it was purely made of cotton fabric which was like a boon to my comfort!

When it came to styling the whole look with that jumpsuit, I picked up some easy accessories like a dark brown fringe necklace that had a golden lining on each of the tassels, solving my match-match theory with the golden handcuff I wore on my left wrist. A pair of trendy wayfarers from Ray Ban and a monochrome envelope clutch which thankfully matched my snake print heels that I love the most! For me, Autumn has always been a cue to get my darker colored clothes out and since my jumpsuit was a lighter color and a plain one too, I teamed it up with a heavy black leather jacket from StalkBuyLove's latest winter collection, since it had some really cool and sexy golden zipper details at random areas which complimented the whole look really well and also because I wanted to save myself from the cold breeze too!  

Coming to Poorvi's look, I picked up a sexy monochrome jumpsuit for her. Of course, while choosing the piece, I had in mind that she is tall, and the full bottom length would suit her long legs the best, while the upper attached white top that gave a look of a shirt will look fancy and cover up her skinny body from the front and to my thinking, it actually brought out the perfect silhouette to Poorvi's body. Easy to wear, one piece jumper which had an elastic to divide the upper and the lower parts and the semi-cotton, flowy fabric attracted both of us the most. Plus, its such a versatile piece that one can wear it in the day or even for an evening party and Poorvi was quite happy with the color, so we finally bought it after a research from the never ending collection on the website!

Since Poorvi loves to keep everything quite simple, she didn't accessorize much but just added a slender layered golden chain over the collars with a pair of monochrome club master sunglasses that were on point with her attire! Her pick with a cream color clutch and similar colored heels were something I thought was incredible. To complete her look, she chose to add a less heavier leather jacket, which she too got from StalkBuyLove's latest winter collection, and well that was a surprise to both of us that our choices were quite similar!

Being bloggers, we both know some girls look upto us and ask us for advices for looks as per the changing trends in the changing seasons, so hey these were our Autumn looks for this year and we hope you enjoyed reading about our picks! As per both of us, "jumpsuits are totally in this season, and you should not miss out on StalkBuyLove's latest A/W collection, because they have some of the trendiest pieces stored for you!" If you still have any questions or suggestions, feel free to comment below or reach me on any of my social media accounts, namely instagram, facebook or twitter!

Photographed by : Daniel Joseph

~xoxo~

Hanging around in MissaMore

Hi girls!! Hope everyone's having a good September!

I would really like to apologize to keep all of you waiting for this collaboration post, since so many of you kept on insisting me to do one with a blogger. Well, let me tell you, Lucknow city doesn't have too many bloggers, but I luckily came across this fabulous girl Sumbul Siddiqui recently on instagram and she turned out to be one in my city, who writes some amazing stuff on her blog - Style Bon. Well, I feel what has to happen, does happen any how, so yeah I met her and approached her for a collab post and she instantly agreed. Also, we've become quite good friends now and today we both have something for all you lovely ladies, so keep scrolling down and read!

She's wearing - slit maxi top : Missa More | spaghetti : Jockey | pants, rings : Globus

heels : WalkIn Store | bag, necklace : GK Market | sunglasses : Amazon

I'm wearing - dress : Missa More | heels : Forever 21 | bag : Hotel Shop in Jammu

watch : Quartz | sunglasses : Vogue Eyewear

Being fashion bloggers, we're both looked upon as fashionistas, not just by our friends but other girls too! But we all need to understand that not every girl has the same fashion statement or style. Being individuals, we both know what will look good upon us and how we should carry different attires, suiting upon our body structures! So recently, Sumbul and I came across a new online clothing store by the name Missa More and we both fell in love with their pieces. While she chose to get her hands on a slit maxi top, I bought a shift dress that I felt would suit my body. And, we surprisingly picked up plaid prints for both our attires!

When it came to styling both our pieces, Sumbul teamed up her top with a pair of black pants and a black spaghetti and let her maxi top open and loose. Though she had an option of closing all her buttons on the front but she let it out to flair, which also looked more like a cape! The best part about her top is that its a versatile piece that she can team up with a short dress, or a pair of colored pants and any sort of short top, which would even look good in an evening party! Coming to my short dress, I loved it for two major reasons that it was a loose fit and had full sleeves. It is also buttoned up till the waist and has a touch of a shirt which looked quite sporty and casual and can be worn on a brunch party or a casual day-out with friends! Did I mention both our outfit sleeves could be rolled up too? Anyways, so for our feet we both picked up pairs of black heels each because it went perfectly with both our attires. And, while she chose to add a little bohemian-bling to her ensemble by adding a fringe-chain necklace with a similar style bag, some gold plated rings, and mirror glass aviators; I completed my entire look by adding trendy accessories like a metal watch, a pair of cat-eye sunglasses which a friend gifted me on my birthday and a fringe bag which I got from Jammu city about 10 years back while on my trip to Vaishno Devi. You can't even imagine how carefully I keep my things so that I can use them later!

Finally, we're both in love with our clothes from Missa More and since both of us are flawed by the sexy pieces, we would recommend you to try some from the site too. There are several reasons why we liked clothes from this store, and the first one being the fabric which is so durable and comfortable; cotton-casement suitable for both summer and winter months and the quality is amazing too! Another reason is that the prints are eye catching and leave you mesmerized, not only plaids but abstracts also. To end, we also realized that be it the A-line silhouette dresses or the slit tops & maxis, all the pieces are just amazingly designed keeping in mind the different body structures but can suit to the curves of most girls. And, if you're still not convinced, you should go ahead and check out their website for some exquisite designs!

Photographed by : Nahid Saman

~xoxo~

The continual journey of THINK TOTKA

Hi guys, hope everyone's good there!

Firstly, Tons of thanks to all of you for the overwhelming response to my first ever video message that went up on youtube a few days back as I completed one year as a blogger on this blog! (For all those, who haven't still watched my video, do so HERE) To be true, it was like a huge task because I've always been so camera-shy. Well, today I'm going to be introducing you to the creators of my video, which a lot of you had been requesting, plus I myself wanted to do it so that you get to know who could bear me behind the camera, control patience and encourage me to revoke my mood swings! 

From complete mess, to pure magic, a film production company has to face everything at some point of time. But, dedication, hard work and perseverance are the keys to success, said someone long time back! This amazing production house by the name Think Totka has risen up in the last 10 months like a phoenix. Yes, their journey started 10 months back as the members of this formed team passed out of a prestigious film-making college in the town itself. The brainchild of a Lucknow lad, Wamiq Khan, Think Totka was co-founded by three more friends of his who shared the same enthusiasm like him. So, what happens when so many creative minds come together? Yes, magic! This company is the coming together of talented, like minded people who share a variety of skill sets that contribute to cutting edge media creations. Here work is not only work, but is fun, interactive, and a melting pot for good ideas that are forged in the fires of production to deliver quality media solutions to one's communication needs.

Meet The Team

Wamiq Khan : Founder/Creative Director/Screenwriter/Editor/Sound Recordist

Collecting people and forming a team is the hardest job that one can ever think of. The person has to convince everyone that his idea is unique and productive, since not everyone is acceptable to do something like film-making. Wamiq brought together people who inspite of being skilled in their individual fields were ready to learn something new everyday. His idea was to make a strong brand with collective experience of his team members which could handle projects with all possible perspectives to ensure smooth execution of it. To be specific, you can call him the back-bone of the team, who has always visualized to achieve the greatest of all through his exquisiteness. Also, being as versatile as he is, excelling in his field of work, he guarantees flagrancy in everything that he does, giving his clients supreme output.

Abhijeet Srivastava : Co-Founder/Director/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor

It had always been film-making for him, only that fascinated him. Like any other art, it is a very profound means of human communication; beyond the professional pleasure of succeeding or the pain of failing, one wants his film to be seen, to communicate itself to other people. Since, post production didn't really enraptured Abhijeet, which he initially learnt, he went ahead making short films for quite some time and realized that film-making was certainly what he wanted to do.

Yusuf Khan : Co-Founder/Writer/Performer

It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Being asked to join in while forming Think Totka, the founder didn't really need to persuade one man who actually came out be an angel in the team, is Yusuf. Through characters, plot and setting, he creates places where previously invisible truths become visible, or to make it easier for the director to posit a series of dots that the audience can connect. The vision he carries with all his work is to reflect himself in it. With everything he writes, he leaves a part of him on it with a lookout that perhaps someday, he'll recollect all of it on papers and perish forever in a book. On the other hand, as a performer, he maintains the enthusiasm which is the result of protracted study, resoluteness and reflection. 

Ratnesh Pavan : Co-Founder/Photographer/Graphic Designer/Actor

While excelling in graphic designing, Ratnesh really wanted to try his hand into photography, cinematography and acting too. When he joined Think Totka, he knew he needed to give an innovative visual shape to everything the team does. He is available to engage with any kind of still photo shoots and cinematography which also involves the creation of original print communication, corporate identity design, logos, posters, flyers and album art. Other than this, Ratnesh has also acted in a few short films and wishes to continue do so, since its one thing that keeps him enthralled.

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It is rightly said that a company is nothing without a team. Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work. Think Totka has always been a hard working group, each member of the team inspired by various film-makers, has an individual vision of his own as to what he really wants from life and where he sees himself in the coming 10 years maybe. This is what keeps each of them going! The formation of Think Totka has given each of these men a great start to their achievements. Their first ever project 'Revamp', a conceptualized short film was acknowledged by the Toronto Urban Film Festival in 2014, in the US, which gave the team a boost to produce more such stuff. Since then, Think Totka is also simultaneously promoting & online distributing a diverse of short films and documentaries which embraces culture, faith and philosophies. They have a rising YouTube channel where they have uploaded films like 'Awaken' which is a social message appealing the world to save girls' pride, a social interaction video by the title 'India says NO to HATE', another one being a commercial project for Lucknow's best coaching institute and many more (watch HERE). Other than film-making, the team has also covered Hi-profile fashion shows through photography under reputed institutes like AIFT (Lucknow) and NIFT (Raebareily), in the presence of actors like Kalki Koechlin and have been appreciated by many for their exceptional work.  

Be it a brand, a project, a product, a work of art or anything. Think Totka's dedicated and creative crew gives it with the help of the modern digital technology to promote it. They treat every project like a unique work of art which makes their clients grow. They are committed to producing a diverse range of quality entertainment for today's marketplace, with 4 experienced team members, covering live action along with in-house post production facilities, this company provides a full production resource for its clients - right from creative scripting through to broadcast. They bid the project keeping in mind one's budget limitations because their only mission is to deliver effectual and captivating world class films and their long term relation with any esteem organization that will insure the production experience is professional and enjoyable. 

Since I myself have worked with this entire team, I can very well say that they have the best collaborative approach which enables a zeal and zest throughout the project. These guys made me feel extremely comfortable and as passionate as they are for their own work, made me too for mine! It was indeed, a lot of fun while I was shooting for the video with them. Its not often that you get to work with such an easy-going team where the members are really considerate and benevolent! I was overwhelmed by seeing them committed to integrity, vision, passion and excellence in every shot they took.

(pictures taken during the video shoot for Picker at Pace)

Think Totka's journey has been really enjoyable till now. In the founder's words, "We make films. We make promos, commercials, explainers, virals, music videos, shorts, documentaries…you name it, and we do it. What makes us different is, we provide you the best professional work within your budget, whatever the platform is. We have no looking back now, since the vision always was to excel. To go beyond what everyone was doing. We always had it in mind, still do, which will make us different is to be original. We want to keep it real, we want it to be ours, whatever we create, all that we do should scream of originality, non-conformism and of Think Totka as a brand name, be it at the stock market, or the business brand of the year, we dream to achieve it all in the years to come!"

So, now if you have an idea of what you would like in a video, or you just know that you want a video made. Either ways Think Totka is up for it. They can develop an idea for you or run with what you have. Give them an opportunity and they will provide you with the best project estimate with options to enable you opt for the best basis in your creative vision for the projects. 

Find Think Totka on : Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

OR

Call them at : +91 8960575884, +91 7800290615

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Photographed by : (Exposure Imageries)

~xoxo~