Formal Basics for Fall '17

Hello ladies! Hope all's going great at your end. It's getting cold here in Lucknow, but somewhat not, and I am not really appreciating the climate change because I've literally got a ton of summer dresses to flaunt, but in the evening it gets chilly and I have to ditch them. Is it the same for you? You know that one-pieces are my favorite picks mostly but wearing pants is all I'm left with! It's evident that winters are not yet here, but this is that period of time which brings in some excitement with the fall season, making you wear summer clothes put together with full lengths that look both comfortable and chic.

Well, in the middle of fall, lie two glorious weeks (more or less) where the weather literally could not be better and you're equally comfortable sipping on a warm coffee drink as you are a cold one. You're also probably going on a stroll in the park because this is the only time of the year that sounds like something nice to do too! Anyway, in this post you're going to read about my fall picks that are both summer bright and winter shady, also a few tips on what fabrics to choose. Let's scroll down and take a look..

top, pants : Pantaloons | heels : Steve Madden | bag : Stitch in Style | watch : Daniel Wellington

I have always been a casual stylist. For me comfort is of utmost importance. I dig into my wardrobe daily but pull out all basics everyday. For once when I chose to give street styles a hit, I got my hands on a black & white polka peplum top in polyster fabric with quarter sleeves and teamed it up with a pair of sky blue skinny pants in cotton that look formal but make me feel hep over those laced tan booties that are the classic fall footwear, and also match the tan sling I carried. Oh yes, this entire look is a timeless fashion trend!

Well, it's not just about colors that make fall fashion a hot topic to be discussed, but the fabric as well. It's essential to be aware of what type of fabric is going to suit your skin during this muddled season where you are not even sure of pulling out your trench coats and packing your shorts back in the trunks. It's no secret that if you choose the correct colors, it can make a trend outfit that may be used in a lot of situations. But with my recent studies fabrics that are picked with right colors are even better for the smartness people see in you! Basics like polyester, cotton and suedes work wonder for you (because of their insulating value that conserves your body heat) and you tend to walk in confidence, without shivering or feeling no sweat on the skin or getting irritated. Isn't that reasonable?

My entire look is a mix of easy feminine pieces. This look can be carried at a formal meet in office (layer it with a blazer) or at a casual lunch with your friends. Appears pretty hep and classic! Say wha'? Leave your comments in the section below if you liked it.

Photographed by : Devina Rastogi & Yash Athwani | Shot at : Free Spirit

~xoxo~

Funkyween : No Costume Halloween

"Change the game, don't let the game change you!" - Macklemore

Been saying this for years, Halloween parties are not my thing. Spooky costumes, scary music has never been of my interest, but with the urge of gaining new experiences and adapting to different ideas, I've learnt to give everything a shot! But, like always it has to be my way or no way. I get it, Halloween is all about turning the everyday on its head, being dead when you’re not, wearing your underwear in public and calling it a costume even though it's really cold. Certainly I am not doing that, though with Halloween approaching in just 2 days, I know people are working on their outfits to look crazy AF! However, I have my own way of looking glorious for a Halloween eve that I plan to attend. 

I never like to dress up extravagant and go out-of-the-box making efforts to look stylish. Each one of us has a different way to make him/herself stand out of the crowd while being comfortable in their own skin. My personal style is minimalistic and I love carrying outfits that speak more of what I am than what I might try being. For Halloween, I have created a simple yet classy look while adding some funk to it! Scroll down for complete details..

top, leggings : Pantaloons | boots : H&M | choker : ProLeather | sunglasses : Amazon

With Halloween around the corner, it's only natural to look entertainment for costume inspiration. But if you're a person like me - lazy, carefree, fundamental, you know uncultured costumes aren't for us. You are going to look stunning with what you have in your wardrobe, just like how I knew and picked out a turquoise blue side-shoulder top and paired it with black lace leggings! The lace gives elegance to the entire look while the colour of top being an unusual one, looked raw and gorgeous. I chose to add some spice to the outfit with a hot pink broad sized choker that covered my entire neck but appeared graceful and unconventional at the same time! Needless to say, it looks fancy. Also, I snugged into my black suede boots, keeping it sleek and comfortable for the eve. It's a lot of dancing so you know you gotta stay unworried. PS : The sunnies are optional but they look absolutely mesmerising!

To complete the look, my MUA gave me lose curls to add definition to my hair, making my face look sleeker, while she also added some pop glam with subtle colours while painting my face with makeup keeping it sumptuous and swanky. The bright pink lips look even cooler because of the neon coloured choker and compliment each other!

Let's get on tricking with no costume this Halloween and still treat ourselves with the pleasure we all deserve. Go out, dress fun, stay comfy, stun for run! I hope you all liked this look. For more, connect with me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and for my daily whereabouts, add me on Snapchat (username : shubhigarg04). May you have a great Halloween! Until next, love and luck.

Photographed by : Madhukant Tripathi | Makeup by : Simran Taneja

~xoxo~

Power Dressing 1O1 (ft. Ni & Sa Bags)

Hey pretty ladies, hope all's good and you're keeping pretty. It's been a while since I've had a conversation about power dressing, and a lot of you have been asking me to put across my thoughts about the styles we could don at work! TBH, I'm not really fond of dressing for work, but there's no reason I shouldn't be doing it as well. I meet so many different people at work and I've realised the first think they notice about me (and vice versa) is how I've dressed, and it speaks a lot about my personality. So, today's post is about a formal look I created recently to show you how to rock at your next business meeting! 

My favorite quote about style is "Being stylish means standing out yet fitting in at the same time."  I think this is so appropriate for workplace attire and creating a powerful style because you always want to stand out for the right reasons at work.  This means to find a style that fits within the parameters of what’s appropriate, but this varies for each individual. Clothes tell you a lot about a person, and whether you like it or not, the way you look plays a role in your success in the modern workplace!

shacket : Shopnineteen.com | spaghetti, pants : Pantaloons | heels : StreetStyleStore.com | bag : Ni & Sa Bags

sunglasses : Rayban | watch : Daniel Wellington | ring : Blinglane

It's true that there isn’t a lot of variety when it comes to work clothing, so when creating a powerful style the goal instead is to play with how you combine these pieces to make them look different.  In the outfit above, all the pieces are pretty basic. I opted for a pair of high-ankled grey pants from Pantaloons. Now these are cotton pants with classic checkered pattern and super comfortable to wear! I paired it with a pink spaghetti and layered the top with a zebra print shacket in brown-beige. This 'shacket' is a substitute to the heavy blazers we opt to wear at work, but this is a lighter piece with satin fabric base apt for summers, and looks formal and stylish at the same time giving a stronger impression!

Along with a stylish outfit, what also is needed to invest into are the accessories you choose to play with. And bags actually play an important role in making you stand out! For my look, me being me, chose to ditch the boring leather bags and picked this cool tan bag with multi-colored tassles from Ni & Sa Bags Collection. Its really spacious to fit in everything you need for the day (files, stationery, and other regular essentials). And, the sling makes it a cross-body which is super comfy to carry too.

To finish my look, keeping the other accessories minimal, I added a classic petite sterling silver watch which looks the most formal in my watch collection; a little ring on the mini finger; and my stepped-up peep toes in beige and black to match the outfit and portray a straight posture. Trust me, heels (not too high) are one of the most important part of power dressing especially for younger girls! They make you appear classy and smart in most cases and everybody appreciates that.

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So girls, the next time you're leading a team, making a presentation or just want people to know you are in charge, dress up your best and rock it! Let me know if this post helped you in some way, in the comments below. Until next, love.

Photographed by : Madhukant Tripathi  |  Makeup by : Divya Vishnani  |  Shot at : Rollarappa Lucknow - Episode 3

~xoxo~

Monsoon Affair with Monochrome

Monsoon brings end to scouring heat of summer and the pleasant weather gets under way. There is a positive change in the atmosphere and life becomes beautiful. But, rain doesn't mean going back to the bygones; the change in the weather also demands alteration of your wardrobe. Monsoon fashion has always been associated with light fabric, bright colours, and rain affable clothing. But I always wondered, how would just black and white look during the season?! 

Shades of black and white and the damp weather are not usually synonymous. I always had the intuition that translucent white and perennial black individually might not look admirable, but coupled together the two could look divine if carried out properly during the deluge. The thought compelled me to experiment with monochrome and the end result is what you are going to see in the pictures below. 

top : Zara | culottes : Pantaloons | heels : Dorothy Perkins

watch, cuff : Daniel Wellington | ring, choker : Myntra

The simplicity of monochrome makes it a timeless classic and it's a revival to dominate our wardrobes in 2017. Whether it's prints, stripes or colour blocking, working the monochrome look is so easy, like my new look that includes a pair of striped culottes from Pantaloons with polka dot tee from Zara tethered in a crop top!

Well, this culotte style features a voluminous leg that billows out from a clinched waist and ends to 2 inches above the ankle making it a great substitute for pants and denims, saving you from drenching and wet hemlines. There’s also a comfort aspect to them — the flowy polyester fabric makes it just so cool! High waist tie-ups and vertical stripes are my favorite for the season (or just anyway), cause they make me look slimmer and taller respectively, and it's wonderful you see. As for the tee, it's a white cotton piece with black polka dots, with a broad v-neck that I off-pulled from the shoulders and knotted at the end shortening it in length. There’s something chic about those cropped polkas and lengthy stripes right now, that make the look appear apt for a work place and a party right after that, eh?

Accessorizing the look minimalistically, I simply added a black choker to edge up my neck, a finger ring in black stone, a pair silver sterling mesh strap watch with a slim cuff from Daniel Wellington's latest collection to sprinkle some glamour, finishing off the look with a solid white strappy footwear to keep the monochrome theme in running, very proudly from top-to-toe!

Photographed by : Yash Athwani , Devina Rastogi  |  Location Courtesy : Free Spirit Cafe


~xoxo~

India On A Platter at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow

Hi guys, what's up? Hope y'all are gearing up for all the festivities that are lined up! Yeah?

Now, please consider my apologies for the delay in publishing this post. I know how eagerly you've been waiting to know all about the INDIA ON A PLATTER dinner buffet I attended at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel last week, but tbh I just wasn't in the condition of writing anything because as some of you already know (via my Snapchat), I accidentally burnt my face and still am in the dilemma seeing the scars on it! I so hope it recovers soon.

Well, I am sure by now you are quite aware with my association with Renaissance Lucknow, and I really want to thank you for being so supportive and loving all my articles that I've been writing for them past 2 months! It feels overwhelmed reading your responses too. Like for the last one, one of you readers mailed me saying "I love the way you portray each and every detail about all the food that you eat at Renaissance, it feels like I myself am experiencing all of it!" It touched my heart you know.

Anyways, so the last editorial was about the Oriental Food Festival I attended at L-14, and this time again I was invited to be a part of their Independence week dinner at the same restaurant! I surely was much excited because the place won my heart even the last time, completely. So, I along with my friend and photographer Karan Sawnani went to hog on some scrumptious delicacies as flavoured and brought under one roof from all the corners of India, as to celebrate the country's 70th Independence Week! We spent some amazing time tasting the delicious food at the buffet, and clicking some pictures for you to drool over. Scroll down to take a look at all of it below...

Both me and Karan are vegetarians, and its kinda said that vegetarians miss out on a lot while they just have a few options to choose from, but bursting that myth, let me tell you that the chefs at Renaissance make sure that vegetarians are never lagging behind when it comes to getting the best of fooding amidst the huge layout of non-vegetarian dishes. For us, the menu was a super huge one to pick our favorites from. Starting from the starters served at the table were Kurkuri Tikki, Malai Seekh Kebabs and Tandoori Aloo, while after finishing it we got up to enjoy the buffet loaded with mouth-watering main course that including variety of dal (lentil), and other gravy dishes from different states of India, and we ate Dal Makhni, Gujrati Kadhi, Paneer Tikka Butter Masala, Gutti Vankaya Kura, noodles, etc. with variety of rice and breads. The salad section was filled with multifarious assortments as well. And lastly, the desert section like always pulled me for more. My favorite being the Rasmalai, Mathura Peda and Petha. 

STARTERS

Kurkuri Tikki

Malai Seekh Kebab

Tandoori Aloo

Tandoori Corn

Variety of Salads

MAIN COURSE

Bhaji (Curried Potatoes)

Bhurji (Indian Scrambled Eggs)

Wok Tossed Vegetables

Dal Makhani

Gujrati Gobhi Matar Ka Saag

Keema Kaleji (Minced Lamb) - Non Veg

Andhara Fish - Non Veg

Nijami Tangri (Hyderabadi Spices Flavored Chicken) - Non Veg

Mutton Tomari (Minced Lamb Preparation) - Non Veg

Pulao

Guests at the dinner buffet

Oh, my fingers! But the food looks much more appetising! (hehe)

DESERTS

Mango Savarin

Mathura Peda

Rasmalai

Me trying to grab the petha like.......dayyum!!

I would separately like to mention the Chaat corner they had consisting the flavours of North India to be specific. I enjoyed the LIVE Pani Puri eating session, and then we had the startling Raj Kachori to sum up our love for Lucknowi chaat. Also, I love to eat Gujrati dishes, and one of most favorite is Khaandvi. I don't really get good Khaandvi in Lucknow, but the pieces I tasted at Renaissance charmed me tons!

Chaat Pre-preparation : paapdi, kachori, mathri, bhujia, sev, etc.

Like how we love to have the authentic Paani Puri.

Raj Kachori (filled with aloo tikki, fruit bits, dahi, chutney, sev, etc.)

Dhokla (up), Khaandvi (down)

It might sound monotonous while I tell you that L-14 has the best view for you to gaze at the town outside, but I can't resist mentioning it again & again! It leaves me spellbound each time I visit there. And, lets just talk about the interiors and the ambience provided for a minute, they have something new to cater each time, like for this week, it was all festooned with colorful kites (that incidentally matched my outfit for the day too), above their open kitchen, the roof above the dining space, and everywhere. Immensely beautiful it appeared! PS : A little Chai (tea) corner completed the theme for #FlavoursOfIndia as arranged by them, that if one of my tea lover friends would've visited along, surely would've felt in love with.

Its really thrilling to see how the entire team of Renaissance manages to make you feel comfortable each time you visit at the hotel. In other words, I've started feeling like home at #RenLko already. Also, in a quick recent interaction with Chef Sachin Verma at L-14, I got to know about a variety of flavours and techniques that he and his team used to prepare some of the most authentic Indian dishes for this exclusive dinner buffet that's running up till tomorrow - 14th August, that'll be followed by a grand Independence Day Brunch on the 15th of August, 2016. Now you surely wouldn't want to miss out on that! Make reservations now.

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You know I'm not much of an Indian outfit wearer, but occasionally it feels good to dress up as per the theme. So, this time at L-14, I wore a long, blue Pakistani kurta with pink, wide palazzos to that came along as a set! Accessorized the outfit minimally with a pair of matching earrings, a handcuff and rings. Completed the look with a matching clutch and heels!

kurta, palazzos : Pantaloons | heels : Steve Madden | clutch : StalkBuyLove

handcuff : Shopnineteen | rings : Myntra | earrings : Auhna Creations

Hope you liked this post! If you did, do share it across. And, don't forget to hit up to my social media that includes facebook, instagram, twitter and roposo for daily OOTDS and other cool updates. Until next time, much love!

Photographed by : Karan Sawnani (Exposure Imageries)

~xoxo~