Chiconomical

Happy Navratri folks! It's the season for festival and dance and of course beautiful outfits! Don't let the grey day get you down, there's nine days of revelry ahead and nine gorgeous colors to follow!! Today's color is yellow and I figured since not everyone can access traditional outfits, I'm gonna do what I do best and share Navratri lookbooks for any personality type you may be! Whether you need to wear a yellow festive look to work or need to dress up for dandiya, I've got you covered! Let's dive right in to find looks that can take you from day to night!

1. What to Wear to Work in Navratri


So you have a big meeting but your heart's singing songs of the season? Oh we've all been there. There's a simple way to get around workwear blues by mixing your formal outfits with interesting statement pieces. For this look, I paired my yellow fitted dress with a blouse. This backless blouse has a front closure which make it perfect for converting it into a jacket. Functional and sneakily festive, this is a great outfit that lets you indulge your festive spirit while still being work friendly.

2. What to Wear to A Fusion Navratri Party




This one's for people like me who don't own traditional navratri outfits. Why not dig out that bright yellow top from the back of your closet. I know you were too afraid to wear it but pairing it with greys or blues will make you stand out. Add a bunch of accessories in silver and put your hair up and out of your way and dance like a pro! Oh, and instead of layering on clothes, why not layer on the accessories? For instance, I used a necklace and a waistband here as a half waistband instead of tying them traditionally to create a bit more visual interest to an otherwise simple outfit.

3. What to Wear to a Traditional Navratri Party



Finally, if you have some pieces that are 'Navratri' friendly but your key struggle is pairing them up in ways that aren't boring, this look's for you. Have you tried wearing your dupatta as a top? For this look, I pinned up my dupatta at the front and the shoulder and created a quick, cold shoulder top. It's on trend and is so very interesting visually, I dare you not to get compliments when you wear it to your navratri party!

I hope these looks have inspired you to try some new trends. I'm absolutely love the inspiring styling that people come up with during this season and I hope you'll share your tricks with me. Tag me using #Chiconomical on social media and I'll feature you on my pages. You can also comment below and I'll definitely get back to you!

PS: If you want exclusive updates and two more ways to wear yellow this Navratri, sign up for The Chiconomical Insider today! It's absolutely free and guess what, you get a chance to get a free style consult with me! Sign up today!

Day 1! Every single year I get over excited when it comes to Navratri Dressing. While I don't always enjoy the dancing bit (and my sister will attest to that fact loud and clear), I do enjoy the outfits. Last year, we did a 9 day long crazy series where I styled three outfits for the colours for each day and of course, after the massive response I got to those posts, I decided we'd do it again this year! There's going to be a lot of pieces that we'll reuse by style differently so you've got more looks to choose from! I'd love for you to swing by my posts from last year and check them out here.


Well, time to dive right in to today's colour. We're starting Navratri styling with a bang with one of my all time favourite colours, Royal Blue! Now, this is a super bold colour and while I have accent pieces in it, I only have one complete mad piece that is my royal blue jumpsuit! It's never really made an appearance on the blog before so I'm super excited to share it with you. While this particular piece is sold out, there's a few lovely ones you can still get your hands on like this one that's only Rs. 525 or this one that's got some dainty straps!

1. The Minimalist Maven




So you've actually gone to the Navratri event after spending a few hundred hours slaving in the office and obviously have your work bag that has no space after you've added that laptop, notebook, five packed 'healthy' meals (cos we all know we spend all our time in the office), that old guitar pic (how is that even there is a complete mystery) and that last minute makeup for when you've not had the time to put it on (erm...everyday). Well, this is a look that is minimal and can be created by literally carrying the pieces you need in a corner of your handbag. Honestly, I love a minimal look and while navratri outfits can be all about being over the top, there's something quite lovely about just a minimalist, clean look.

2. The Boho Balika


Well I know twirling is a major part of Navratri. There's just something magical about an outfit that can twirl. Well, why not give the regular loud skirts a fresh twist and wear them as a long top instead? I actually used an aline kurta and wore it one shoulder on top of my jumpsuit. The trick is to either add a belt so that it helps avoid any inadvertent peep shows while you dance or just layer it on top of a piece such as a jumpsuit the way I did. Either way, don't forget to twirl and show the pretty flare (even if I haven't quite managed to master the twirl on self timer shot yet).

3. The Mashup Queen




Well, this is honestly the look I'd have when I want to stand out, be over the top and still look bohemian AF! Navratri for me is all about fusing traditional and modern aesthetics and is a festival that holds a special place in my heart. For this look, I decided to wear a simple cotton saree as a half saree on top of my jumpsuit. Then, to keep everything secure and give me freedom to do pretty much anything while still wearing a saree (that I usually am super nervous about) I added a belt to keep all the pleats in place. A few accent pieces and a messy updo and you're ready with a fusion outfit that is unique but practical too!

And that's it for today folks. In case you're interested, I'd highly recommend checking out my other Navratri posts. There's over a dozen outfits in a wide variety of styles that can help you figure out fresh way to style your existing pieces. We shall meet again tomorrow! So stay tuned!

Don't forget to swing by the Instagram feed since I do have several more style ideas that I'll be posting there daily through the entire festive season!

PS: Need some serious help in styling yourself this Navratri? Just join my free Pinterest community and I'll instantly help you with any style problems you might have!

Hello you lovely people! We're back and it's Day 2 outfit ideas and I'm over excited! Yellow is such a beautiful colour and while I always think that I look a little washed out in yellow, we're taking the style challenge and getting our Garba gear on! So first things first, I did this massively popular Yellow dupatta styling for Navratri last year and you guys, you HAVE to go check it out! It's one of my all-time favorite posts!!



This look is all about getting your draping on and still wearing something that's super comfortable.

I love taking an completely western outfit (the base of this look is literally a tank top and a pair of trousers) and then added that one hero piece that simply screams Indian.

My best friend got me this phulkari dupatta and I was dying to add it to a post. For this look, all I did was drape it the way you would for a regular lehenga. The way you do this is that you tuck it and drape it the way you would a regular saree. Next, pleat it at the other end and then wrap it around your neck. Finally, add a couple of pins to secure it in place and you're done!

PS: This outfit is actually perfect for people who like to dance a whole lot during Navratri!


  
    Look 2





So the final look is actually honestly this great only because of the headband. This is for anyone who goes to the Navratri party straight from work (because let's face it, we've all done that and that's actually what 80% of the people who can afford expensive Navratri parties do).

To create this look, all you need is literally that holy grail of bohemian chic, the embroidered vest and you're all set!

While this headpiece adds a hole lot of drama to the look, you can actually switch it out for a pair of nice long earrings and an updo instead and look just as good! Honestly, the vest trick is something you definitely had used at some point if you had last minute Navratri plans and had nothing to wear!










That's it folks! I hope you liked these looks and will recreate them in your own way.

In case you still need a bit more style inspiration, go ahead and check out my other posts about styling yourself for Navartri on a budget. You can see Day 1's Look HERE.

If you do decide to style yourself taking inspiration from these looks, don't forget to share the look with me on social media.

My handle is @QuirkyEngineerR on Instagram and Twitter and I love talking to new people!

Join My Pinterest Community to get instant style Advice from me! It's free and I will help you as much as I can!  

Is there a girl out there who doesn't own pink? I'm guessing there's probably several. However I'm betting you'll be hard pressed to find a girl who hasn't ever tried pink! As we reach near the end of Navratri, I'm getting closer to thinking about reusing key pieces that I got for Navratri and incorporating them into your regular wardrobe.

Oh, in case you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, here's a quick intro. Navratri is a nine day festival in India and I'm doing 3 ways to wear one color for every single day of the festival! If you fancy, you can check out the previous posts here (Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7)

I remember a conversation with a girl in the office about this very same thing. Today's looks all have one core Navratri traditional piece, mixed in with wardrobe staples. There will be a special post up next week where I get into this conundrum, however, for today let's dive right into the lookbook!

1. Festive Workwear




When styling for this, I realised I haven't yet featured a single look in one of my favorite combinations. A co-ordinated separates look! Since practically everyone I know balks at the thought of wearing a blouse to work, I decided it had to demonstarted it's simple. Here, I paired by heavily embroidered blouse with high waisted palazzo pants and added a long jacket for a bit of structure (okay, it was really to hide the back of this blouse but it's still a good workwear layer). Ladies, it IS possible to wear your heavy wedding outfits to work, the trick is to layer it with more structured pieces to tone them down.

2. Fusion Swag


Full disclosure? I really couldn't keep my eyes open while I shot this look. Which is exactly why the sunglasses came out and while it was a completely unplanned addition, I couldn't help but title this look 'swag' inspite of finding the word way too frustrating. Anyway, this is the exact blouse that I wore before, only this time it's paired with dhoti pants and a scarf (you may remember this from my newsletter if you've signed up) as a turban. Lately, I've been into wearing scarves on my head (Hey Mumbai weather, thanks for giving me a reason to do it). The overall look is a very I don't care what you think of me, I'll rock my midriff exposing outfit without a care in the world!

3. Desi Damsel


Finally, after all the crazy looks, I had to give you a good girl outfit. For this look, I paired this printed ghagra (also seen here) with a tshirt that I knotted to convert into a croptop. A quick raid of mom's closet to get her pink dupatta and pinning my tassel earring as a maangtikka and we're done. A super simple outfit that can be thrown together at the last minute without any problems! This works with any skirt, dupatta and top really. And if you're feeling a bit bold, try going with just the top and ghagra!

And that's it for the day folks! Tomorrow's the last day of Navratri and also the last day of the series. I honestly struggle majorly with coming up with the content for tomorrow but it's still majorly interesting (atleast to me) and so I'd say you better swing by the blog tomorrow to catch the tail end of this crazy 3 ways series! In the meantime, give me a shoutout in the comments with what you'd like me to feature this festive season. Since we're going to be hit with a massive blur of festivities soon, if you have something on your mind, go ahead and ask and I'll definitely feature it on the blog! 

We're almost at the end of Navratri guys. Can you believe it? I thoroughly enjoyed creating these styled looks on a budget because Navratri can get expensive really quickly if we're not careful. But we've still go two more days and let's create some more interesting looks for the day. For today, the colour is sky blue and I for some reason do not own any pieces in this shade. However, when you think about it we all probably own atleast one piece in this colour. Yes, you got that right, those faded denims at the back of your closet. And that's exactly what I chose to style today's looks. This gorgeous sky blue paperbag waist denim palazzo that hasn't featured nearly enough but definitely needs its time in the limelight!

Look 1

Do you have a piece that you don't quite use everyday? For me it was this bandage dress that I indulged in but then wore exactly one time.

Who else remembers the bandage dress trend?
I remember I spent an arm and a leg and then some to get my hands on one, only to realise it was meant for curvier girls and bones and no boob girls like me just can't really look like Kim Kardashian in these. But that's a story for another time.

For this look, I decided to chop off it's bottom half and use the top half as a blouse. The rest of the look is fairly simple. The top is a statement piece in itself so I didn't want it to look like it was a bit too much. A pair of statement earrings and a few rings and it's that minimal outfit that's orange but still striking enough to take to the Navratri party.






So guess what, the last look exhausted all the orange tops I own. But then just because you don't have pieces doesn't mean you cant create an outfit.

For this look, i stole borrowed from mom. I used the same trick that I'd used last year to create this look and voila, there's a dupatta converted into a top! I absolutely love how this transformation turned out. All you need is a couple of pins and you've got yourself a new top.


I added a belt to of course bring in the waist the kept the rest of the look fairly simple. These statement pompom earrings are such a favorite and I wish I could find the store for you but I can't since I bought them off a store on Spoyl that's now since changed it's model. If you do find similar things, do tell me!








Okay, so I might have cheated a little bit for this look. If half of the outfit is still the colour you like it counts right? Well, we're making it count so oh well.

For this, we've got yet another dupatta hack. I turned this classic embroidered dupatta into a jacket. All you do is knot it halfway lengthwise and then wear it as a jacket.

Really, it's that simple. I personally think this is a great way to give a fresh new twist to those regular dupattas. It also honestly saves you save a few bucks on buying new jackets.

Of course, I couldn't just end there and decided to wear a broken earring as a maang tika. This is actually a great trick to get some use out of your earrings that somehow get separated or just break but are still pretty and you can't part with them! Try using them as charms or badges!




Outfit Details

Orange Skirt: Rs. 200, Linking Road, Bandra

Orange and Pink Dupatta: Borrowed from Mom

Maroon Dupatta: Rs. 250, Surat, Gujarat

Kowri Belt : Vintage

Earrings: Rs. 500, Pipa Bella

Vest : Rs. 100, Colaba Causeway

Well, I hope you liked these three looks. I honestly think I need to get a few more orange pieces in my wardrobe (Send me some maybe?). If you like, you can go check out the last few days' posts at the links below :

All of the looks I've got for you today are actually looks that I quite possible might love more than all the other lookbooks out there. Plus, a few of these actually work in non-navratri settings aswell with a few different accessories. Let me know if you need some pointers on that!


I know this is a bit out there with it's multiple element but bear with me. While I love dupattas and might be slowly building a huge hoard of those but that's not the point.

Try giving the conventional dupatta a swap out with a printed jacket instead. This beauty is actually a second hand buy and I think the print is so quirky and fun it ties the whole outfit together!

Now, since I didn't have grey skirt, I pleat wrapped my grey saree around a maxi skirt. This is a great trick and I actually use it to try and get more use out of sarees. Yes, if you're like me, these pieces are special occasions and it always helps to get interesting ways to get more use out of them

Then finally, I added accessories cos ahem, let's face it, it's me. The complete look is honestly something I would wear to an event. It's different and unique and absolutely me!


If you're somebody who doesn't think they'd be comfortable in all the skin exposed when you wear a saree, here's my take on solving this problem.

Why not swap out the blouse with a long top instead?
Here, I added a thrifted grey one shoulder top in place of the regular blouse and then wore the saree with a long pallu.

Now, since I sometimes find that the pallu gets in the way, I wrapped it around the top in order to give myself a bit of a cinched in waist and then pinned it at the shoulder.

The overall look is actually just a fun take on the normal saree. I'd highly recommend adding a few pins to make sure everything that you think might slip off is in the right place. The rest of the look is fairly simple with just a statement necklace and a cuff.

It's the final day of Navratri! Are you happy about nine days well spent? Or are you sad it's almost over! I'm at that bittersweet point where I'm super happy we have a long weekend right around the corner, but I'm also a little sad I have no plans for it! Somehow all my close friends are working and the rest already have perfect getaways planned! Anyway, let's get back to the post instead, this is something I am super excited about!

If you have just stumbled onto the blog and have no clue what I'm harping on about (no weekend plans excluded) then let me fill you in. This post is part of a nine day series of 3 ways to wear different colors during the festival of Navratri. You can go check out the previous posts here : Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8

Right! Back to the lookbook. Now purple is something I struggled with right from the time I realised I had to create three looks in this color. I don't own a lot of purple pieces, I especially don't own pieces that can be mixed and matched and so the struggle was very real. However, a bit of logic and a whole lot of luck meant I still managed to pull it off so read on to check out the looks!

1. Purple Reign


This look wasn't supposed to be on here. I had something completely different in my head but then somehow I ended up loving how festive and formal this whole outfit was at the same time. The top is actually a kurta that I bought on sale years ago from Globus and it makes for a great top. The skirt is new from forever 21 in the sales and the overall look is super twirly (always a good thing) and has just a hint of festive in it. Perfect for the office!

2. Simple Pairings



This outfit has been worn multiple times before. From Diwali parties to friends' weddings, I've taken this look pretty much everywhere. It never made it to the blog in this avatar and this was a good thing because it gives me a change to share it today. The outfit does all the work really. Don't want to take too much effort with styling for festivals. I suggest hitting the sales post diwali (yes, that's the right time to get the best prices) and stacking up on pieces that make a bold statement. The only time you take any effort is when you look for them, the rest is all a cake walk!

3. Purple Pyaar


Finally, the last outfit had me stumped till I saw my Pyaar top tucked into a forgotten corner of my closet. The clashing asthetics of this look make it quite interesting to me. Bold fonts paired with traditional pieces. My nod to the pop art phase that the whole world is seeing right now. Of course, there's always scope to spread love and that's exactly what I want to end this series on.

Thank you so much for the love you've sent my way over the last nine days! I'm so grateful. When I started this series, I didn't think it would be so well read and loved and it's all because each one of you has stuck with me! So thank you and have an absolutely fabulous long weekend!!

PS: Worried all your Navratri clothes go waste for the rest of the year, I'm putting together a guide to reusing them by fusing these pieces with your everyday wardrobe. If you want in then I suggest you go sign up for The Chiconomical Insider right now to have all these styles delivered straight to your inbox!