Chiconomical

Stripes, stripes and more stripes. If there's one design I've always been a fan of, its gotta be stripes. So during a rather random discussion with a friend, I decided to have a series on stripes and all their glorious possibilities!

Its not always that I go shopping and find an entire outfit. Honestly, most days, I find one piece that I like and then it waits in the cupboard till I manage to find some interesting things to pair it with. However, on some rare days, when I'm really lucky, I try an outfit in the trail room, love it, and wear it almost exactly the way I did in there. This entire outfit is worn here, just like I did in the changing room, and I still love it as much as I did when I wore it the first time.






I think a striped skirt is a cool, versatile piece in any girl's closet. In this outfit, I wore it in almost a formal setting. I feel the peplum top adds the bit of office to the outfit. The rest of the accessories are fairly standard. The bag and the necklace add little pops of color and make it a bit more interesting. All in all, an outfit that can work well in a lot of different settings!

Tips To Wear a Striped Skirt: 

• Choose the correct style of stripes. If you're skinny like me, you can actually pull off horizontal stripes, but if not, choose vertical stripes, they're rather flattering and will give you a slimmer silhouette. 
• If you are wearing horixontal stripes, pair it with a solid color or a flowing top in order to balance out the top and the bottom.
• A little bottom heavy but still wanna wear horizontal stripes? Try a flowing maxi skirt in a chiffon or equally light material. These aren't figure hugging and hence, won't add ten pounds to your shape.
• Striped skirts work well with small prints. Be bold and mix muted florals with stripes. 
• Wear a half tucked in shirt and a backpack to make a skirt like this, work for the weekend. 
• And finally, experiment with the styles you try and Always have fun! 

My last birthday wasn't exactly exciting, unless you count all the shopping and brilliant presents from my family. Honestly, as the years have gone by, my family has always been my birthday constant. However, this doesn't mean that I didn't get any presents from my friends. One of my dearest (shocked aren't you boy?) friends wasn't in the city on my birthday and he bought me the gorgeous neckpiece that's seen in this post.

Now anybody who knows me knows how much I love accessories. However, recently, for reasons I can't quite fathom, I seem to be going for increasingly simple, accessory free looks, and as such, I haven't been able to show this new necklace on the blog before. I loved it so much, I wore it on the same day that I got it (it was dad's birthday!!). Somehow, it still hasn't been seen on the blog after about two odd months. Oh well, better late than never.

The rest of the outfit is fairly common. A maxi skirt is something I love wearing, no matter what the occasion. I bought these gladiators on a shopping spree on Valentine's day and I think they're going to be seen a lot on the blog in the future. They did give me a couple of shoe bites though, so I shall have to take preventive measures the next time I wear them. Still, they're absolutely gorgeous!

• Pair a sequinned top or skirt with a cool jacket or cardigan to mute the all over shiny sequinned patterns. If you have a top, pair it with your well fitted workpants or skirt. 
• Wear a sequinned dress with workwear flats and a formal blazer in a color in the same pallette as the dress to mute the bling and make it workwear acceptable. However, don't try this with an all over sequinned dress, it might not work well enough! 
• Remember that any outfit with sequins will have to be balanced! Especially if its for daywear. Don't go over the top with loud accessories if you're already wearing a sequinned piece
• Wanna bring a little bling to everyday? Pair your casual jeans and tshirt looks with a cropped sequined jacket to get instant glam during the day! 
• If you feel you can't yet take the plunge into wearing clothes with sequins, add a little bag or heels with sequins to your everday look, then build up the courage from there! 

Valentines doesn't always mean red. Sometimes, it also means lace and floral prints. While I've already done a post with the skater silhouette, I just felt that I should do a post with these two rather Valentine's day classic trends. Now, I don't really have a lot of floral in my closet. Yes, I have a lovely Topshop dress with roses and a leafy dress, I still have a much larger number of clothes in monotone.

• Floral prints make a statement on their own, so if you have an all over floral print, try to limit you accessories.
• A simple floral skirt can be paired with solid colors to design a simple yet playful look. 
• Clashing prints is a big trend at the moment, do this by pairing florals with florals! Wear a tiny floral print with a loud one, to make a statement. 
• Wear a floral dress with a biker jacket and boots to show the world that you ain't no shrinking violet! 

I hope you guys have been enjoying the looks ideas I've been posting for Valentines. You can see the first two posts here and here. I thought it would be a good idea to do a classic valentine's outfit. This dress always makes me think of an extra romantic date with candles and candies. I decided to show this dress because its such a pretty piece that can work well for both day and night. A candle light date or a fine dining lunch booking, this works in both settings. I styled it for a daytime look but swap the block heels for stilettos and the sunglasses for a sequinned bag, and you're all set for a party.






I added the red statement belt for giving the dress a little structure kept the look minimal and just added my new 3 Mad Chicks bag to add a little color. Honestly, I seem to be taking this piece everywhere! I like how the technicolor print makes it compatible with almost every outfit I decide to wear. And surprisingly, it is extremely spacious. I've managed to fit in all my usual stuff (sunglasses, lip balm, money purse) as well as a bottle of water and my latest read (A Ruskin Bond compilation which is absolutely lovely!). Other than that, I didn't even get time to run a comb through my hair before the shoot, so please excuse the messy hair! Another thing I'd like to add is that, while I bought this dress in a store, its extremely easy to make. See the DIY idea below. I'll try to include a video tutorial in a future post. You can always ask me if you have any questions.

DIY for making a similar Dress: 

• Get a simple long slip in the color you like. 
• Find an old dupatta or any chiffon cloth that goes with the color of the slip. 
• Cut the dupatta in half and drap it on the slip so that it crosses at the front. 
• Stich the dupatta at the ends at the shoulder and the bottom of the slip.
• A simply shift dress with an interesting drape is all ready!!

Valentine's is a distinctly western concept by nature. So its quite obvious that most of the outfit ideas that come to mind are markedly western. I've also known a lot of girls who think buying a lot of dresses is a waste of their time as they cannot wear it on a daily basis. Well, I thought it would be a good idea to post an idea, using the same dress as yesterday with an Indian twist.

Honestly, I dont like conventional outfits so I'm forever mixing and matching one piece with another. I first wore this to college when it was a rather sombre day and I felt dressing in bright clothes might make me happy. I got mostly positive reviews for the outfit, except one friend who kept pointing out some tiny details he didn't like. (Ahem, annoying, ahem). Well, I didn't really think much of it but when I was planning the outfit post for yesterday's outfit, I thought this was a good way to show versatility.







I like the bright colors of this outfit. While the stole makes it complete traditional, as Sneha pointed out, it looks much better without it. I also like how you could take this to a conservative workplace and then just switch the leggings and accessories for a quick dinner date with the mates. I'd style it
like I did yesterday (see complete post here!)

For Valentine's I feel there aren't nearly enough Indian outfits, so this post was a necessity.Now if you feel squeamish about sporting Indian flavors on V-day, let me tell you, I've had a lot of guys tell me that they find girls in traditional outfits to be much more prettier. So go ahead girls, flaunt those Indian outfits with pride.

Tips for wearing a Dress as Indianwear:

• Look for the proper length while pairing dresses with Indian pieces. If its short like the one above, it works well with leggings. If its a flowy dress, you could also wear it as a kaftan with a belt.
• Look for dresses with Asian prints, these make the outfit look inherently Indian.
• If you like to rebel, pair shocking prints like animal prints with salwars and Indian accessories to make a statement. 
• Don't be afraid of experimenting with a few different things. 
• Pay attention to the fabric. Usually, dresses that have a bit of cotton in them and are a little flared work better and are easier to style.