I'm scared. Butterflies in my stomach jittery. Honestly. About what? Fashion woes, what else?
The past few years, it's been a little nerve-wracking whenever I went back to India on vacation. It was odd that even my home city Chennai (whose heightened sense of fashion was somewhere close to stone age) had started changing rapidly. The dresses that I wore which were decently passable in the US, were getting scorned at and forcing deep sighs from all. Some sympathetic relatives even politely offered to buy some new clothes, if I could not afford them. Whoa, that did it. I'm usually not that bright, but something told me that my sense of style should take a huge hike and never come back. I decided that my passe clothes need to be burned right away before they continue to pollute Mother Earth. And, of course, the poor accessories had to be tossed in the bonfire too.
I started on a savvy shopping spree, with a burning passion to turn into tres chic. Brand names to buy, fashion faux pas to avoid - what dress goes with what shoes, what shoes go with what handbag, the latest hair styles, what's in and what's out the window - the kind of info that's crucial to a fashion newbie started sinking slowly into my head. End results were - ta da -actually it wasn't that great, but I felt like a student who has prepared her best for the final exams. On our last trip to India.....yipee.......no more nasty glares. Or pitiful looks. Phew. At last, I had managed to scrape through the fashion tests and got accepted as someone who hadn't hopped on a bus from a neathandral village.
This is when we end the story with a "happily ever after", kinda note right? Nope. I wish I had that kind of luck. Read on.
Fast forward to the present. The same butterflies who seem to have take a permanent housing unit in my stomach start working again. Why? Because this time, we're returning for good to India, to Bangalore. So what, you ask? Well, if I have to believe my reliable sources (aka people who insist on making my life miserable), say is 3x ultra-fashionable. It's way too trendy, they gasp, in between their shrieking and hysterical laughter.
&%^#@. Yeah, I did that, but what's next? After about 2 minutes of deep, insightful, solemn and serious thinking, I came to a conclusion. There was only one right thing to do. Can you hear my wallet screaming in the background? Yup, got to run now. Designer jeans, hip clothes, trendy sun glasses, cool shoes........deja vu. Here I come.
The past few years, it's been a little nerve-wracking whenever I went back to India on vacation. It was odd that even my home city Chennai (whose heightened sense of fashion was somewhere close to stone age) had started changing rapidly. The dresses that I wore which were decently passable in the US, were getting scorned at and forcing deep sighs from all. Some sympathetic relatives even politely offered to buy some new clothes, if I could not afford them. Whoa, that did it. I'm usually not that bright, but something told me that my sense of style should take a huge hike and never come back. I decided that my passe clothes need to be burned right away before they continue to pollute Mother Earth. And, of course, the poor accessories had to be tossed in the bonfire too.
I started on a savvy shopping spree, with a burning passion to turn into tres chic. Brand names to buy, fashion faux pas to avoid - what dress goes with what shoes, what shoes go with what handbag, the latest hair styles, what's in and what's out the window - the kind of info that's crucial to a fashion newbie started sinking slowly into my head. End results were - ta da -actually it wasn't that great, but I felt like a student who has prepared her best for the final exams. On our last trip to India.....yipee.......no more nasty glares. Or pitiful looks. Phew. At last, I had managed to scrape through the fashion tests and got accepted as someone who hadn't hopped on a bus from a neathandral village.
This is when we end the story with a "happily ever after", kinda note right? Nope. I wish I had that kind of luck. Read on.
Fast forward to the present. The same butterflies who seem to have take a permanent housing unit in my stomach start working again. Why? Because this time, we're returning for good to India, to Bangalore. So what, you ask? Well, if I have to believe my reliable sources (aka people who insist on making my life miserable), say is 3x ultra-fashionable. It's way too trendy, they gasp, in between their shrieking and hysterical laughter.
&%^#@. Yeah, I did that, but what's next? After about 2 minutes of deep, insightful, solemn and serious thinking, I came to a conclusion. There was only one right thing to do. Can you hear my wallet screaming in the background? Yup, got to run now. Designer jeans, hip clothes, trendy sun glasses, cool shoes........deja vu. Here I come.