The Monochrome Look........................

The Monochrome Look...........

Life and nature, have gifted us with colours from black to white to various shades of grey in between................. from VIBGYOR to infinite hues and combinations of the same and we are always on the lookout to exploit each colour to the max and of course, be 'in'.............. with the colour of the season.............  But there are some colours and some looks which are fashion and style staples and have always been in vogue, since time immemorial................ One such look is the monochrome look !!!

Printed monchrome crop top with zig zag striped skirt

“Monochrome”  is having a fashion moment.................. black and white, all black, all white , all brown or blue. Supposedly it’s a difficult look to carry off but I beg to differ. I think if you nail it, it’s the best way to get noticed and stand apart from the crowd!!!!!!!  Of course it takes guts to carry it off but just imagine yourself in a monochrome casual or formal outfit and the heads turning and second glances coming your way................

With a splash of colour- Orange tote

Though I have supported this look lots of times, but as I started writing this blog, it dawned upon me the immense potential of this style and how I could use my existing wardrobe to limitless possibilities. Wow, feeling inspired and sharing with you some of these ideas......................

All black with only white in sleeves

A white top, black trousers or jeans teamed with a black blazer. Or the same combo with a white summer jacket instead of the black. One can go in for a black pencil skirt instead of trousers . Team it with a black pair of shoes and matching purse. Or one can add a single splash of colour with shoes or a purse in bright yellow, red, orange or hot pink....

All black with white blazer

Another look would be all black look, trousers, shirt, shoes and even a blazer or leather jacket. For such a solid block monochrome look, maybe a stole in muted colours can be added to take away the austerity of the attire.  An all black ensemble is just so.............so sophisticated,  for men and women both!!!!!  A black suit, black shirt and black silk tie or cravat........... you can never really go wrong!!!

If you want to achieve this look in dresses, the LBD or LWD ( little black dress and little white dress) or maybe the "not so little” BD or WD............. are your staple dresses to go with.  Again compliment the look with white or black short blazers, black pumps and any clutch .......... your look is complete. You just need to add minimalistic jewellery and you are ready to rock the party.................. How about trying out monochrome in a printed dress with a solid black or white blazer...............wow, pulchritudinous !!!!!!!!!!!

Monochrome dress

The above looks have been about solid colours only. What if we experiment and bring out the monochrome look in stripes and prints. Envision yourself in a skirt with white and  black stripes or zig zag stripes. Its best teamed with a black and white crop top....... be it in print, stripes or maybe even plain. This crop top should have a stiffness to it, this makes it fall subtly onto the skirt and just kind of completes the attire............ accessorize in monochrome tones to complete the look.

Skirt paired with black boots and solid colour blazer

Talking of skirts, how about trying out a pencil skirt with monochrome look??? For a formal look, a white pencil skirt worn with a black top, can be coupled with a black blazer or monochrome waistcoat. For a more casual, experimental look, try out an animal print skirt in black and white ...... team it with a solid colour plain white / black T and compliment with a neckpiece in gold or bronze for that touch of colour………...

In case you want to carry off this look in a supercool casual style, try an all black attire with a white striped crop top............. or just wear a slightly longer crop top directly on top of your black jeans and maybe show a little midriff if its toned ................ you will look and feel hot, hot, hot...... while being supercool!!!!!!!

Monochrome casual look

We can experiment with monochrome in browns and blues also..................... its a clever way of infusing colour in monochrome. This is usually done in different shades of the same colour.................

Monochrome look  in brown

We have been back to the basics with black and white and I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing journey of exploring and evolving such an awesome style...................... lets go and make a statement of it and catch up soon!!! Enjoy!!!!

Something old, something new.........................

Something old, something new.................. 

What if we challenge ourselves to revamp our wardrobe, without buying anything new, say for the next 6 months????   I am sure all of us have gone through phases when our cupboards are overflowing but we don’t have anything to wear for that party or coffee outing and of course we cannot repeat a dress, after all, the pics have to go onto the social media, right???  So do we rush to the nearset Designer outlet or exhibition or mall and dish out our credit/debit cards or do we pause.........................

Unused dress recycled with a belt and white summer blazer

Consider the scenario of pausing and organising our wardrobe and maybe overhauling our style . Why not, after all it’s not costing us anything other than a little time, so maybe, just maybe, It’s worth an effort.............

Firstly, organise everything into separate sections, trousers, jeans, jeggings, treggings,  skirts, dresses, formal tops, shirts, sarees, suits, stoles, shawls, dupattas , jackets, corsets, waistcoats.......... easier said than done, but definitely do-able!!!

Then how about checking out those new or almost new clothes, which were a wrong buy or size or just not complimentary or the dress looked maybe a little tacky in color or texture or cut. Worry not, these are not to be discarded but look at them as a challenge on how to overhaul, recycle and reuse..........

A very important step is to try out everything for size and fit and you may be pleasantly surprised that the top or trousers which were looking terrible a few months back are actually a better fit now. Or it may be the opposite.................... ( heaven forbid...... but it happens) No worries, there are lots of solutions and a little ingenuity will go a long way in helping us recycle and reuse!!! Of course, we are going to need that artful neighbourhood masterji (tailor) to execute our ideas / plans.............

Yellow is the New Black.....................

Yellow is the New Black……………

We all  like the soap “Orange is the New Black”, and lots of people like the colour orange , but yellow is another story altogether. As a kid, I was in the “Yellow” house in school and I remember the other kids teasing ‘Yellow, yellow, dirty fellow!!!!’ I sure was envious of all the other so called ‘luckier’ kids in the Blue, Green and Red House. I almost never chose anything yellow while doing clothes shopping, my first preference was always blue or white……….. Till a few years back when I bought a lovely vase in yellow for the house and realised how much it brightened up the whole place. Then my journey began……………. of exploring, trying and finally loving this colour till I actually began to believe that Yellow is indeed the new Black!!!!!

Yellow, its warm, its vivacious, its attractive, It’s happy (maybe that’s why all the emoticons are in yellow), its sexy and exudes loads of attitude…………. But it’s not the easiest of colours to carry off………….  And it does take a lot of confidence and  attitude to wear it effortlessly. If it goes wrong, it can go really wrong…….. a major faux pas !!!! But life is all about experimenting, so let’s go for it !!!!!!!!!!!!

How to wear ‘Yellow’ and set our environ ablaze, literally and figuratively?? I’m sharing a few looks and colours for various occasions and look forward to your feedback…………… My only major rule, just wear one piece or article of this rich colour!!!! You can try any of these……….

-   With all black, on a cold winter day or when its cloudy and rainy. Perfect!!!!! To uplift the weather and bring a smile on everyone’s face.

-   With an all white ensemble, be it a dress or Jeans and a top, but this is a really classy combo !!!

-   With blue……. It can be a dress, blue dress with yellow Blazer or vice versa. It’s a fabulous look to combine a  Yellow top with blue Jeans………. Or blue Jeans, white striped T and Yellow Blazer. All these are classic and we can carry them off well.

-   An all Yellow dress, accessorised with black, blue or fire colours like orange and red….. you can throw in a floral pair of shoes in these colours and take up your style quotient several notches!!!!! Don’t blame me if your feet hurt after wearing those stilettoes but it’s definitely worth it……………

 

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 -   With skirts in almost any colour, I tried with maroon and it worked!!! Pencil skirts especially in grey, black, blue or white work best.

    - For Indian ensembles, its best teamed with matt gold or white….. or maybe wearing a shaded saree or suit which has various gradients of this fire colour……. 

-   One fashion faux pas that I made, wore a bright yellow blazer over a vibrant blue dress. I was travelling abroad and wanted to wear this dress and was carrying just the one blazer…………… so I wore it anyways and carried it off with just my attitude and actually managed to get compliments for the look. It was a very pleasant surprise and a big thanks to you all….. Till next time!!!!