style tips – Mirror Mirror by Aiana J

You know you are in Mumbai when the festivities are in the air at this time of the year. Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most celebrated festivals in this part of the world. It marks the beginning of the festive season and all that a girl needs is more reasons to buy, make and take out the Indian-wear all dressy and flouncy and rich.

I am as girly as girly gets, never been a tomboy, though I love the grunge as much as the bling , I take my love for wearing Indian wear to a whole different level during the festivities.

So my lovelies in the weeks and months your truly is going to photo document as many possible of my Indian wear looks and share with you.Officially I have more reasons to dress up , its my job too… hehehehhee all in the name of work you see…. I just love my job….. dressing up doesn’t even feel like work you see…. 😉

By no mean does it mean I don’t work hard enough. Like you guys know I also also Style Coach people and help them dress , look and feel good. It gives me immense happiness to see the transformations and the joy of seeing happiness in the eyes of my clients and the confidence in their gait……. it sure is a priceless feeling.

So, I was at the Lakme Fashion Week last week and as always it is a joy to see the veteran, new and upcoming talent all at the same platform. Some are quirky and some classic, some love their cottons and some their silks. It is an awesome platform to meet new and talented designers on the block, there is where I met the very lovely Designer Mrunalini Rao from Hyderabad. She loves designing Indian wear and her outfits were classic and gorgeous. See for your self….

Without being over the top and just the right bling is her style. The lehengas designed by her had gorgeous use of embroidery and just the right mix of colours. and are the kind you would wear to a wedding in the family or a friend in a heartbeat,brides who love classic and timeless styling would love them for their trousseau .

I decided to wear one of her outfits for the festivities. Gowns are mostly kept aside for the evenings and yours truly decided to wear it during the day time, this particular gown by Mrunalini is so Indian in its essence that I wore it for the ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. I loved the colour and and a subtle dash of bling . This outfit could be played up by accessorising and using bright makeup for an evening. Since I was wearing it during the day I decided to use a subtle gold hair band as the only accessory and tied my hair in a low bun.

Kept the makeup simple, Just used the Ponds BB cream as a base, which instantly brightens the skin . Eyes were done up in slightly thick eyeliner than I usually wear and some mascara. Some blush and nude Lipstick and I was ready to greet the lord and celebrate the festive in style.

I hope you enjoyed the look. Looking forward to hearing from you.

OUTFIT : Mrunalini Rao

MAKE UP : Ponds BB Cream, Lakme Absolute Eyeliner, Mac Blush & ColorBar Lipstick

HAIR BAND: Gifted

It started with a whatsapp picture posted in a friends’ group with a caption that Urvashi has fractured her foot…..really…I couldn’t believe , she seemed fine and OK a couple of days back, now suddenly I get to know this…. she is an active girl with jam packed diary….well!!!…. those of you who do not know Urvashi, to begin with she has more visa stamps on her passport than a whole lot of us put together, she travels to 2-3 countries every month and lives out of a suitcase literally and to imagine her foot cast in a plaster…pretty unimaginable…and whenever she is back in the city she has a rocking social schedule…cast in this scene is pretty pretty unimaginable…… right!!!

I rushed to see her as soon as I could and she didn’t care enough how much it hurt, not word about her pain , just a bit about how it all happened…what she was most worried about was that what will she wear all through as the cast would limit her fashion options…..we women will be women after all…..right….hugs and chats later yours truly and she decided to put together a fashion post, How to be Fashionable with a Cast on your foot.…. I styled her and she was my muse for that day….

While you cannot put Urvashi down or out for long, she has been hopping all over house on one leg and making sure she attends as many lunches and soirees she can within the complex….she is working as diligently as ever..her bedroom has become her office and all her meetings are on Skype ….she definitely has a spirit so wonderful that you are nothing but inspired….

Besides being this strong, confident and well travelled girl she is also so fond of everything that spells fashion and style….and when you have your truly for a friend it goes without saying that we had to have some fashion fun …and also prove a point that ….that cast should not limit you to not play dress up and have fun….I raided her closet one evening and styled these looks…Her Husband Saurav joined in the fun..helped me with the pictures and we almost ended up competing with each other as to who got the better shots….here goes….the shots!!

Look 1: Urvashi has lovely hair, God Hair Spa(ed) and Ironed her hair…she has fine highlights and loves that they have grown in length now, keeps her hair open always with a side parting and side bangs… so I decided to keep it open but opted for a middle parting for her, neatly pinned at the back , it made her look a different and she loved it….we chose a shimmery dress that she had ordered online (that’s what she has been doing these days….shopping online like all stores are going to run out of clothes by the time the cast comes out…he hehehe ),which was easy to slide on without her being bothered about the foot… raided her accessory bag , found these fun big earrings in red and dull gold, and we were ready to rock the first look….she had such happy gleam in her eyes doing this….for you all to see…

Look 2 : Next on was her chevron print long skirt, which she told me she always wears like a dress..how very creative of her…so it was worn like a dress (also that with a cast on she wouldn’t be able to wear a long skirt which would have bothered her in walking and could have caused a stumble had it got stuck under her foot), I tied her hair in a fun hairstyle , changed the liner to winged , a lot of blush later….here we have ….see she is enjoying it all…

Look 3: She doesn’t wear buns….so I had to had to make her wear a messy bun which she absolutely loved, added a bunstick for a little fun..took a chunky chain necklace and wrapped it like a bracelet around her wrists…voila she was ready to get pictures done….she was already perfecting her poses by now… for you to see…

Look 4: Military Green , cinched waist with metallic gold belt …messy hair…vintage earrings….do I even need to even say any more…..here goes….

Look 5: Pair of white summer shorts…they were a little too long for my liking…so I folded it couple of times and voila we had the length I wanted for her….a tank and a summer jacket on …paired with a stash of bangles with her hair tied in a side braid….and she was ready to rock the look….

….next time you know someone who has fractured their foot direct them to this post ….even better have a fun girly time with them trying out all the things they can wear then….borrow style tips from here any day…..in case of any style queries you can always write to me at [email protected]

How I Styled Indian Gown for Day Look

How to be Fashionable with a Cast on Your Foot….