Excting News!

Hello hello!
I am still alive, after all!

It's been a crazy wild ride over these past months. After a lot of deliberations, I've decided to move the blog over to Tumblr, where I already maintain a blog for my photography. I figured that since I regularly update my photo-blog as I branch out in my photography, it would be much easier to keep up with this blog too. Most unfortunately, I can't import posts from here into Tumblr, but fear not, the Tumblr will be full of the same stuff that you guys get from me on this blog!

So - check it out!

Confessions of an Undercover Diva! 

Cheers,
Undercover Diva 

Updates

Hello readers!

Oh the weather outside is frightful....and winter is upon us! Hard to believe that I last posted in August!

My life has been stressful for the past three months, to stay the least. I started grad school for my PhD, and I'm still adjusting to a new city, new school, new friends, and living independently. The last three months have been constant repeat of class, lab, study, eat, study, study study, sleep and repeat. And thus, my poor blog has gone completely ignored.

But fear not, I am still alive (somehow) and I will update the blog! Very soon! Ok, maybe not so soon...but I will try!

Thank you all for sticking around :)

Stay warm!
~Undercover Diva 

Lakme Fashion Week, Continued

Here's are some more of my favorite looks from Lakme Fashion Week. Enjoy!

 I quite liked Archana Kocchar's digital print saris. Very easy breezy!

Debarun's collection took inspiration from the crafts of the Turkish town of Iznik. I loved the clean color palate - indigo, turquoise, deep cream with bursts of bright orange and black. 

 Meera and Rohit Aggarwal kept things traditional but simple with classic silhouettes, bold colors and tasteful embroidery. My favorites were the black saris! 

Neeta Lulla presented a collection entitled Radha. Here bold colors and classic Indian silhouettes dominated. I liked the more restrained collection, the mix of subtle prints, and the festive color combinations. The pseudo-Bengali sari drape (first photo, right) stood out in a good way, as did the showstopper ensemble - a simple white lehenga with an embroidered choli. I want it, now! 

In contrast to her mom's bright collection (and her own previous, festive collection!), Nishka Lulla presented a highly restrained show with loosely tailored garments and soft colors. It's definitely very different, but in a good way. Less is more! 

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Lakme Fashion Week | Deepika Govind and Anita Dongre (Indian Textile Day)

It's pretty obvious by now - I loved Indian Textile Day at Lakme Fashion Week. It was great to see a new spin on Indian prints, cloth and embroidery techniques. Here are two more collections from that day!

First up, Deepika Govind's collection Pop Patola took a modern spin on traditional Gujarati weaves. The cuts were clean and the colors wonderfully bold. I loved it! My favorite pieces were: the black and yellow kurta/jacket (middle, first row), and the print blocked dress on the left in the second row. Also loved the pops of yellow in the bottom row's pieces! 

Next up, Anita Dongre's Urban Goddess took bright Indian fabrics and turned them into easy to wear pants, skirts, blouses and dresses. It was quite a pleasant surprise and a departure from her usual stuff. I like! 

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Lakme Fashion Week | Gaurang (Indian Textile Day)

Next up - another favorite collection of mine from LFW, is Gaurang Shah. This is my very first encounter with the designer, and it was love at first sight! The collection was richly detailed and very colorful, and used an amalgam of different textiles to create a very vivid presentation. The clothes reminded me a little of my beloved Sabyasachi, especially the printed blouses, but the similarities ended there, since Gaurang has a very different aesthetic than Sabyasachi.

I'm a lover of anything traditional (if it has a little twist, even better!), so naturally the brightly hued silk saris, lehengas, and salwars/churidars and kurtas had me sighing all over the place. Think deep peach, magenta, fiery orange, deep red, bright yellow, with gold embellishments and little peeks of green, combined with printed textiles in the form of blouses, shawls, and skirts. It sounds like a lot, but the presentation was perfectly restrained and never over-the-top. Needless to say, Indian Textile Day is definitely my favorite at LFW, and I will be on the lookout for Gaurang Shah's future work for sure!

Take a look! (And be sure to behold the beautiful Kirron Kher, who was the showstopper!)

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