Lifestyle – SLAY THE STYLE

Ways To Style A Kurti

Published on August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 by Lavanya Pulijala6 Comments

Well, it’s almost been a month since my last post and I am now back after having some quality time with myself and of course, with new content 😀

While I was trying to figure out your interests on my Instagram, quite a few wanted to know the ways to style a kurti.I heard you and I am back with some good feasible ways of manipulating your kurti to look different every time you wear it 🙂

This time, I have chosen to style the kurtis in such a way that it works for any working woman, a college going student or for that matter, anyone who is obsessed about wearing kurtis but at the same time, is bored of wearing it, the usual way.

Also, I am skipping the usual ways of wearing kurtis with chudidhars or leggings because I know, you are already better at styling that way 🙂

Here we go :

1. Tuck that kurti into a skirt

This is the most easy way to make your kurti look different. Tuck that kurti into your skirt and make it look like a top. Spend your money on some neutral color skirts like beige, white and black. Voila!! you can pair those skirts with most of your kurtis 😀

2. Turn that kurti into a dress

Grab that kurti and wear it simply as a dress. Cinch it around the waist with a belt or a safety pin to make it look more structured 🙂

3. Pick calf-length trousers instead of mainstream leggings

These mid-rise calf length trousers are both comfortable and chic . I usually prefer linen cropped trousers to pair with my kurtas. You need to stock on the basic shades of off-white, black and beige so that most of the kurtis could be matched with those 🙂

4. Don’t forget those harem & dhoti pants

Yeah!! aren’t they too comfortable to wear all day long??!! Match those printed dhoti pants with a similar pattern kurti ( Print-on-Print, of course).

Few Styling Tips:

If you choose high-neck kurtis, try not to use any neck-piece. It would just make it look clumsy
Own a plain black kurti, it can be of great use (Basic colors are a mandate)
If the entire outfit is single colored, add a pop of color with juttis or kolhapuris
It’s always better to own a pair of neutral colored juttis and kolhapuris – works for most kurtis

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Photos by Rishabh Kumar

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Kurtis : Sanghria (Jabong) |Cropped Trouser : W | Skirt : Global Desi | Kolhapuris : Bandra thrift store | Earrings : Colaba Causeway

My Wardrobe Whereabouts

Published on May 26, 2018May 26, 2018 by Lavanya Pulijala3 Comments

One constant question which I keep receiving from many of you on my Instagram and other channels is about the places where I source most of my outfits. And, finally in the process of creating content based on the ideas that most of you guys suggested on my Instagram, here we go starting with the most frequent request 🙂

There is no such single brand which I count on, for all kinds of outfits. There are specific brands which I look forward to for each dressing style. Giving you guys a brief overview of my shopping pattern, I am not someone who usually spends a bomb on each piece of clothing. I try to spend money to get high-quality basics since those are something which I use literally everyday. Definitely, not an impulsive shopaholic.

Let’s quickly get into the whereabouts 😀

1. Basics

Basic jeans, solid black and white t-shirts, basic nude heels, black heels – these are fashion staples. And, when it comes to staples, it’s always suggestible to invest in good quality brands. I personally prefer Zara for all sorts of basics and for jeans, Levis is my go-to brand. Both brands are definitely worth the money you spend and the kind of attention that these brands pay to the fit is something I fall for.

2. Blouses or Tops

I prefer shopping online for most of my blouses, crop-tops etc. or Zara during Sale or Forever21. Shein and Forever21 are two of my current favourites to find something unique and interesting in terms of designs. The best part of both of these brands is that they offer products that are completely affordable. Shein, sometimes has few styles copied from Zara at a much lower price (of-course, don’t expect Zara quality at such low cost :P)

3. Jeans

I absolutely swear by Levis, Westside Nuon Brand and Zara. I would rank Levis on the top for fit and comfort followed by Westside. I would prefer Zara only for any unique design of jeans.

4. Skirts and Dresses

Forever21 and Zara are my go-to stores for skirts, skorts, dresses or trousers. They have such unique designs and flattering fit that I rarely divert from these brands.

5. Fusion Wear

When it comes to fusion wear, I rely completely on Westside: Bombay Paisley brand for most of my ethnic handloom dresses or formal solid coloured kurtis. They have a really good collection of fusion wear.

6. Dupattas

I had few of you ask me about the places where I source my dupattas from. Most of them are from handloom exhibitions or are something which I pick from local stores when I travel to different places as I consider them as souvenirs. Westside and FabIndia have a good collection of duppattas. FabIndia is however, a little expensive. If you happen to go to any place in India, search for government tourism stores which sell clothes and are specific to that place. That’s where you can find the gems. Visit Biswa Bangla if you happen to be in Kolkata.

7. Sarees

Most of the sarees I wear are something which I happen to pick from any handloom exhibition. Some of them are from Suta ( http://www.suta.in) which has an amazing handloom sarees collection. Personally, a great fan of Suta.

8. Men’s wear

Shirts and T-shirts from Levis or Jack and Jones. Blazers from Zara. At times, I pick sweatshirts from HnM Men’s section. Linen shirts from Marks and Spencer Men’s Collection.

I hope this resolves all your queries. Let me know through Instagram DM or Facebook if you want to know something more in detail 😀

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Photos – Sourced

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A Letter To The Society

Published on January 6, 2018January 6, 2018 by Lavanya Pulijala6 Comments

This is going to be a post which is very personal to me and which is described entirely based on my own perspective. Hope you like it 🙂

Dear Society,

Who decides your rules?

Who does your moral policing?

Is it those who support modernization or is it the bunch of people who are still stuck in the zone where they are not able to accept any change?

Is it those who consider wearing a crop-top a sin while wearing a saree is decent even though the extent of exposure is same!!!?

Is it those who rip us naked with their looks in case they found us wearing something below the knees?

(Omg!! You need to take care of your clothes such that those people don’t comment about you!!

Oh yeah!! Why not wear a Burkha that covers you all-over? Oh no!! If you have a bigger bust, then even that would not help !! Chuck-it, you just need to ignore or probably get used to those creepy looks!! )

Coming back to those people who design the moral policing for our beloved society,

Is it those who look down on an unmarried 30-yr old happy independent woman?

Is it those who start pestering parents to get a ladka for their beti as soon as she graduates?

Is it those who judge a woman’s character by the length of her dress?

Is it those who are completely fine with a guy wearing a boxer and walking on the street but who are, at the same time, not fine with a girl doing that?

Is it those who try to curb the enthusisasm of an ambitious woman?

Is it those who try to silence the voice of any outspoken woman who is trying to fight for her rights?

Is it those who judge a woman’s character if she smokes or drinks?

Is it those who make it difficult for anyone to take up any offbeat profession?

(You know, there are too many people offering you free advices!! They find interest in what you are up to than thinking about how to improve themselves!! )

Is it those who blindly assume that a girl has to compromise with her interests when she is getting married?

Is it those who feel that the guy is doing a favour to the girl while marrying by accepting huge amount of dowry?

I don’t understand the extent to which these people dictate society moral policing. Even though, there are a really brilliant set of people trying to change the perspective of this society, it is only these ill-minded people who have a larger voice in declaring what is morally right and what is absolutely wrong.

Can we change this for good?

Yours Lovingly,

A Woman who strives to stand out in the mad crowd!!

These might seem like an everyday thing and many of you might be ignoring it. But, for me, as a person who found passion in fashion blogging (an interest which is significantly different from what people do in the society my parents live in), it is really getting frustrating to think about my moves just because my parents think that my so-called well wishers open my blog / FB / Instagram and start cribbing behind my back about my clothes rather than directly questioning me.

So, to all such people who pretend to be my well-wishers rather than being one in reality, if you are reading this post, an advice may be – I guess you have a better life to deal with!! Invest time wisely, more for yourselves and probably less for others 🙂

And to all other lovely people, a sincere thanks for believing in my work. I promise to deliver much more inspiring content in fashion, travel and life 🙂

The support you guys keep showing me, could be in terms of the messages you send or the comments or likes, that’s what keep my passion and me going. Even though, I couldn’t thank you personally, I genuinely feel so grateful for your love.

If you are someone who support my thoughts or fashion or travel, do show your love by following me on Instagram if you are Instagram-friendly like me 😀 or on Facebook or may be on blog via email 🙂

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10 Tips To Pack Outfits For A Beach Vacation

Published on December 13, 2017December 13, 2017 by Lavanya Pulijala2 Comments

Are you someone who hates tagging along heavy baggage to your vacation? Do you love to know how to optimise your packing list so that you don’t have to carry a lot of clothes but just pick few basics and style them differently to create new looks!!

Bingo!! I heard you 😀

December is here!! I guess most of you would be planning for a vacation and majorly, it is a perfect time for a beach vacation!!

So, here I go with all the styling tips which I am going to splurge at you for your beach vacation 😀

For me, an outfit includes clothing and accesories. These tips include all about those 🙂

1. Whites Will Be Your Saviour

White has that cool vibe which syncs in well with the beaches and adds a touch of boho vibe as well.

Whites !! Whites 😀

2. Choose A Pair Of Comfortable Shorts

Pick a pair of light-colored shorts-say, white or light-colored denim which could go with most of your tops

My go-to pair of shorts

3. Carry One Bohemian Shrug In Neutral Color

Preferably, a white shrug.It would be great to flaunt in a beach 🙂

All white lace shrug

4. Carry A Couple Of Floral/Embriodery Skirts

Since, our basic whites don’t add that pop of color, try to choose a couple of skirts which bring in that colorful essence to your outfit.

Floral/Embriodered Skirts- you can go for flowly skirts as well 🙂

5. Pick Good Shades / A Straw Hat

How can you miss these and that too for a beach vacation unless you want to get tanned!! Also, these accessories give a complete different look to your outfit.

Straw Hat

Shades

6. Carry A Mix of Neutral and Colorful Tops

Since we stuck to neutral colored shorts and shrugs, pick a few tops which are colorful and if you choose to carry a colorful shrug, pick light colored tops. Choose these tops such that they go with the skirts as well. Pack Less!!

A mix of light and bright colored tops

7. Don’t Forget Flip-Flops or Any Comfortable Pair Of Flats

I choose a pair of white mules which go with almost most of my outfits. You can choose even gladiators or boho sandals. Comfort should be your priority 🙂

8. Bohemian Backpack/ Sling

I prefer a backpack or a bucket sling as I can dump in a lot of stuff. Try sticking to tan colored bags as they can go with most of the outfits 🙂

Bohemian backpack

9. Convertible Dress

This is one boon if you could find a dress which can be converted into a shrug or a maxi which you style as skirt. You can easily create a minimum of 2-3 looks with such a dress.

Used a buttoned dress as a shrug

10. Bunch Of Bracelets and Rings

These are absolutely going to accentuate the look. Go clumsy with bracelets and rings and stay subtle with chains or go for a heavy boho neckpiece and ditch other accesories.

Never go heavy with all accessories. Highlight one and relax the others 🙂

You can clearly see that I have used the same pair of shorts for completely different looks and same is the case with tops.I choose tops and bottoms in such a way that they can be interchanged.

Hope these tips are helpful for you guys 😀

Shorts : HnM| Mules : Koovs| Jewelry : Street Buy | White Shrug, Hat, Shades and Yellow top : Shein | Backpack : Pushkar Market | Embriodered Skirt : Zara | Floral Skirt : Forever 21 | Blue Dress/Shrug : West Side | White top : Sarojini Nagar

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Photos by Rahul Kongala and Durga Pulijala

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My Own Tales!! QnA

Published on August 19, 2017October 10, 2017 by Lavanya Pulijala2 Comments

This blog post is definitely going to be quite different from other posts. I am going to answer the questions that many of you have asked me on Instagram and Facebook.

Going to be as precise as I can 🙂

Here we go!!

Are you planning to have a career in fashion blogging in future?

Absolutely 🙂 Fashion genuinely interests me. It has always been fun to play around with fashion to create new looks. Styling is definitely something that I would look forward to make a career in.

When did you feel that you have interest in fashion?

It all started as a challenge during my engineering which later started slowly turning into my interest.There is a friend of mine who claimed that I had a very bad sense of dressing.That’s when it started, I took it as a challenge to prove him wrong ( Thanks to him 😀 ) I started observing people everywhere ( I used to even watch movies for the sole purpose of checking out the costumes) . The kind of trends that people are following, how they are styling accessories and how I could improve my style. Observation is the best teacher. But my interest took an important turn when I stepped into Bombay for my job where I have started seeing colleagues and other people around having incredible sense of styling.I started trying new trends and avoided sticking to the monotonous dressing. Slowly, a couple of my friends ( Ganesh, Sampath) and my mom started encouraging me to start blogging in fashion as I show insane interest in it.That’s how the blog started 🙂

The most craziest thing you have done so far

22 hrs of Goa road trip, getting almost caught by police (3 times in the same day) , the most scariest midnight ride through a secluded road in the woods (not even a dog was present ), deciding to extend the trip for one more day when we were actually leaving Goa and finally, ending up in a very gruesome road accident ( where I didn’t realize that our car was twirling for the first two twirls because I was busy sleeping 😛 ), meeting an important person in life – All this happened in just four days of our Goa trip.

Your favorite fashion icons/bloggers

Among bloggers, my current favorites are Kritika Khurana, Chriselle lim, Divya. Sonam Kapoor’s fashion , Sanam Ratansi and Devki ‘s styling is something I admire the most.

How do you find something that brings happiness to you?

Happiness is a relative term.What brings happiness to you might not bring happiness to me.Few people find happiness in small things while few don’t. It all depends on how you perceive the things that come your way.

How can you be sure that something will continue to bring happiness for the rest of your life?

I believe that this was asked in terms of deciding something as your passion, continuing with it and later not liking it. Atleast, in my case, it is my confidence that I can style differently that is currently keeping me going. Regarding being sure that it would continue to give me happiness – I am not sure but currently, I am just believing my interest in fashion.If it doesn’t bring me happiness later, I will explore other options 🙂

Luxurious villa having a wardrobe filled with top brands or a beach house surrounded by serene surroundings?

Definitely, a beach house 😀

It’s great that your parents have agreed for modelling.How did you convince them?

Guys, this is not modelling. I don’t aspire to become one either. Even some of my peers ( leave alone my orthodox relatives) don’t understand the difference between modelling and fashion blogging (#facepalm). Modelling is where, a model dresses up to showcase someone’s creation of fashion( A model need not have any own sense of fashion/styling and most importantly, they don’t style their own looks).What I am trying to do is blogging about fashion to explain the ways of styling and I am trying to convey it through images so that people understand.

One thing I hate the most

Diplomacy

What makes people attractive?

Confidence

What is one hobby that you plan to pick up?

Learn new language

All time favorite fashion trend?

Denim and a loose tee

I have received too many questions and I tried to answer most of them.If I have missed anything here, I am going to DM my answers on Instagram.

Thanks for the love guys 🙂

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