#TrendAlert : Aiyoh!

Ringing in the Tuesday with a blog post about something that is not very fashionable to talk about at the moment. Colloquialism is something we are all guilty of, but we are often unaware of having indulged in it. With ours being a country of diverse regional pools and having multiple language influences, it is only normal when the occasional 'yaar' or 'abey' creeps into our conversations without us even realising it. It is now even considered to cool to incorporate such slangs in your speech and informal texting language. What I love about the colloquial language is that it is our own and it gives us a sense of familiarity and comfort when we converse in it that the regular spoken english just can not.

source: www.indianmeme.com

Why this rant about colloquial language all of a sudden? Because one of our dearest 'regular use' words has left the echelons of colloquial language and joined the supremes. Yes! I am talking about the word 'AIYOH!'

Last week, Oxford dictionary released its list of new September words and it featured new entries like Yogasana and our beloved Aiyoh! To be honest, it does not really matter much to the aam junta but to the Indian purists who swear by the Oxford dictionary like a holy scripture, this is a big moment. By adding this word to the official Oxford records, the word now stands to get more acceptance.

More than anything, I am afraid of the misuse that 'Aiyoh' will be put to from now on. It is going to be used a lot more by that pretentious group of people in a party who sip on cocktails named after tools and talk about boycotting Chinese products while taking selfies on an iPhone that was incidentally assembled in China. And the next time Chetan Bhagat0 gets picked on for writing shit in the name of literature, they will point us to that one paragraph in their books where they used 'Aiyoh' : even before the word got picked up by the Oxford dict. "I am a visionary" he will claim. And what a sad day for Indian literature that will be. Arnab Goswami will use it in the course of time, driving us up the wall. The innocence of the word will eventually get lost in the maddening frenzy and what was just an adorable way to express exasperation will boil down to being a word like any other.    

For us regular Lucys, there is just the one upside that comes out of this move from the Oxford dict. New word to make on the Scrabble board! Yay.

#TrendAlert : Chokers and How to style them!

Minimal Jewellery is the current accessorising trend right now. And an extension to this hot trend are chokers.

With all the trends from the 90's making a solid comeback, it is no surprise that chokers are so hot right now! Chokers are versatile, fashionably light and make a lasting statement. From the basic black chokers to elaborate layered pieces with gold and stone embellishments, there is one perfect choker for every outfit. 

Unlike what many think, accessorising with a choker need not necessarily make you look goth! Follow these basic style tips to make your choker look work for you:

1) Always keep the choker understated if you are wearing it in the day. They can be thinner, with probably an embellishment or two for the added glitz

2) Experiment with colourful chokers or chokers with a slight colour pop to wear on your monochrome outfit. Wearing an all black ensemble with a black choker will definitely not un-goth your look.

3) When in doubt, layer your solid coloured choker with dainty gold or silver chains. The choice of the metallic tone totally depends on your personal taste. 

4) I say it with love when I ask you to ditch the elastic chokers. They are too 'been there, done that'. It is time you moved on to chokers that are either lace or suede or just a satin strap.

5) If you do not own a bright and solid coloured choker for your outfit, the removable bra strap will make for the perfect choker. Added bonus? They are super soft on your skin!

Be it a dress or a pair of jeans or a traditional lehenga skirt that you are planning on wearing, there is a perfect choker necklace for you.

Dress : Choose lace and dainty metal chokers with floral embellishments

Jeans : Your standard black chokers, in all the variations you can imagine. Even if you choose colours, stick to solid colours and avoid prints and designs.

Traditional : Polki to the rescue! There are countless chokers made out of polki and pearls that will go best with a traditional outfit of your choice. If you are looking for silver toned chokers, go boho-chic!!!

You can shop the choker trend right here

You can also order these limited pieces by filling the order form right here. The prices and the choker styles are mentioned below :)

Layered Choker and Gold Necklace
Price - 250/-

Studded Black Choker
Price - 210/-

Basic Black Choker with Tassel (available colours Red and Black)
Price - 210/-

Layered Choker with Black Stone
Price - 250/-

Dreamcatcher Choker
Price - 250/-

Snake Chain Choker (available in Red)
Price - 250/-

Tie-around Choker
Price - 190/-

Circle Link Choker
Price - 210/-

Gold Collar Cuff
Price - 290/-

Shells and silver Choker
Price - 290/-

Rhinestone and Pearls Choker
Price - 320/-

Antique Silver Choker Necklace
Price - 390/-

Bring back in trend, the lost art of spelling correctly!

I missed publishing this post on Tuesday because it was my birthday and I was in an overly indulgent mood. So I quit working, planning or any activity in general and parked myself on the sofa with my phone and the television. Like I promised last week, I am continuing this week with talking about (and in this case, criticising) the hottest trend on the block. New Generation Grammar-less language.

First there was SMS. With it came a frightening trend. SMS lingo! Right became r8, hate became h8, happy brithday god bless you became 'hbd gbu'. At the time, this certain transition may have seemed the most logical thing to do as the keypads were alphanumeric and typing was, honestly, a pain in the ass. But what excuse does this generation have for typing words and making grammatical errors when there is spellcheck and a Qwerty keypad. What is worse that these very people talk in the same language they text in which is a disgrace. I have had younger people, meaning kids younger than me, come to me and blurt out incoherent sentences like 'I got swag bruh!'..... I mean, who talks like that. You text using this language and vocabulary because 1) in a textual exchange no one gets to hear you being an ass and 2) for some reason, it is cool to type like this.

I beg to differ.

Both in person and virtually, if someone uses SWAG in a sound conversation, I will legit punch them in the face. I cringe when someone types HBD to wish me on my birthday. Seriously, what good comes off those two seconds that you saved by not typing the two word HAPPY BIRTHDAY phrase. Then there are those who still have not left behind the alphanumeric keypad. Thanks to their immense and wide mental prowess, they replace the word TO with 2, the letter O with a zero and GREAT with gr8. The worst kind of people are the ones who actually say LOL instead of the conventional ha-ha. Oh wait, how do I forget the largest congregation of vocabulary defaulters! Those who have forgotten how to spell basic words like 'like' and 'this'.

Riddle me this, in this era of super intelligent computers and smart phones, how does one even fall prey to such unabashed foolishness. Why? To sound cool? Or to be a peer favourite. News flash!!! Talking or texting like this does not make anyone sound cooler. In fact, you are being judged heavily. People like me who like their sentences framed correctly with the least grammatical errors possible: we will not take you seriously. And with the internet being a wide open stage, two years down the line when you are applying for your dream job at a top firm, your poorly word-constructed tweets from the past will come biting you in the backside. So there is that.

Let me give you a simple example.
When we, grammar lovers, read a sentence that goes:

''I am lyk dis nly, luv me 0r h8 me, dis is mah lyf''

In our minds, it gets translated to:

''F*** ***!"

Don't complain later that no one tried to warn you about this.

P.S. I understand that there is a possibility that there may be grammatical errors in this post. Feel free to let me know in the comments section. I will not hate you. I swear. It will only make me like you more.

How to style traditional jewellery in off-beat ways

Starting this week, every Tuesday, I will introduce to you, a trend. Be it lifestyle or fashion related or a newer style in jewellery or just a random habit gaining a lot of mobility with the people at the time. You see the upside of playing loosely with the term Trend!!!

Kicking off the series is my favourite! Traditional Indian Jewellery!

Being a plus size woman, experimenting with clothes comes rather difficultly to me because of the limited options in stores. Naturally, my need to over accessorise with jewellery and over the top makeup (read red lips and winged liners). Hence, my obsessive love for all things jewellery. I even considered a serious career in jewellery designer but turns out to be a designer of any sort, you need to be good with the pencil and my drawing skills are as amateur as a 5 year old. As can be easily deduced from my personality by now, I am a jewellery hoarder. Anything particularly stylish or classic, I must have it. This goes for both Indian traditional and Contemporary statement jewellery. Of late, I have taken it upon myself to experiment with styles and not limit wearing Indian jewels only with ethnic-wear.

Now to why I am writing this!
How to style traditional jewellery in off-beat ways.

Limiting yourself to wearing your handpicked ethnic jewellery pieces only with Indian clothes is a thing of the past. Since a lot of traditional and contemporary styles of jewellery overlap is style and form, using them to complete outfits of a different style family is the new fashion fad. Here are some ways you can use your heavy traditional jewellery in off-beat ways to style your outfit.

1. Choker style necklaces
Most traditional necklaces come in choker variations today and because of that they can be worn with western dresses and tops that have a slight dip in the neckline.

Source : Pinterest

2. Heavy Golden Jhumkas
Whip out that solid coloured dress and accessorise them with the jhumkas or replicate the Sonam Kapoor look when she sported heavy gold jhumkas with her powder blue evening gown in Cannes. It cannot go wrong!

Source : Polka Cafe

3. Anything Polki
How many times have you wanted to wear that royal polki necklace but could not because the dress would not allow it. Not anymore! Take cue from style divas of our time and rock a super heavy polki necklace with a fitted bodycon dress.

Source : Quora

4. Gemstones Jewellery
Precious stone jewellery is a risky thing! Not only they need to be worn with a particular colour palette but they also have to be balanced out to the T. Solve all those problems by donning your coloured precious stones necklace with the classic LBD.

Source : Pinterest

5. Silver Jewellery and Bangles

Spruce up your boring office outfit with a pop of silver. Picture a white shirt with a pair of Kutchi earrings or a contemporary kurta accessorised with a beaten silver necklace. You can also layer your look with different bangles thrown on together but avoid the noisy ones in a workplace. 

Source : Myntra

There you go! 5 unusual ways to incorporate traditional Indian jewellery in your looks. Think you can add anything more to this? Do tell. I would love to keep adding to the list above because there can never be an excess of good things. 

Want to own some striking traditional jewels yourself? Head over to this page and take a look at their exclusive bi-weekly preview of Indian Traditional Jewels.