Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2011 | Anita Dongre and Anamika Khanna

Lakme Fashion Week is upon us! First up in my review are collections by two lovely ladies - Anamika Khanna and Anita Dongre.

Anamika Khanna's collection featured an eclectic mix of menswear with traditional Indian finery. The dominant colors were black, white, and gray, with punches of magenta and aubergine thrown in. I loved the combination of cropped dress shirts with flowing lehenga skirts, and also really liked the embellished jackets. {Source and Source}

Anita Dongre's Timeless Collection featured soft hues of cream, eggshell, white and dust pink, with gold and silver embellishments. I loved most of the pieces - they looked effortlessly feminine, summery, and very clean. There was just the right contrast between embellishments and plain-ness. 

{Source and Source}

Japan

Help Out!

UNICEF.

American Red Cross 
(funds allocated to International Disaster Relief Fund)

Save the Children.

Doctors Without Borders.

...

A lot of stuff is going on at the moment...including the earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. It seems wrong and almost cruel to post about fashion and other such frivolous things when so many people in another corner of the world have lost homes, jobs, lives, and loved ones. Nearly 500,000 people are homeless, and the threat of a nuclear meltdown is constantly looming, since the coolers in the nuclear reactors have lost power or have been damaged by the tsunami.

In addition to the damage already done, the aftershocks keep coming and officials are predicting another strong earthquake.Things are not getting any better, any time soon. So please, take a moment to read the news and pray for those who have lost so much in Japan.

xx
Undercover Diva

Maximum India!

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, has a gem for the month of March - an awesome showcase called Maximum India. From March 1st to 20th, the Kennedy Center will showcase India's jewelry, crafts, food, dance, music, movies, theatre, and tons more.
I'm super duper excited to be living super close to DC! This weekend, I am going to see a free performance by Kailash Kher, one of my favorite Indian singers.Tomorrow night, there is a performance by Madhavi Mudgal and Alarmel Valli that will features two Indian classical dance forms - Odissi and Bharatanatyam. 

Other stuff that I'm really excited about:

• Food tasting sessions by the area's best Indian chefs
• A literature panel on letters exchanged between Mahatman Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
• Indian culinary demos by chef Hemant Oberoi 
• Panels about the portrayal of women in Bollywood films with Nandita Das, the Last Mughal, and Bollywood (also with Nandita Das)

Exhibitions:  

Bharti Kher: I've Got Eyes at the Back of My Head (awesome bindi art!)

• Kaleidoscope: Mapping India's Crafts (traditional crafts from the sub-continent)

• Treasures of the Gem Palace (gorgeously crafted jewelry)

• SARI (a display of different types of Indian saris)  

• Craft Demonstrations: J. Niranjan, Satya Narayan Lal Karn, & Moti Karn (Craft demonstrations)

Check out the gorgeous brochure for the showcase here. ENJOY!

(Note: all images are from the official Kennedy Center website)

Musique Musique

These two songs are on repeat on my iPod. Love!