I'm now blogging at www.clo26.com
Geometric
Konnichiwa!!! We're back from Japan and we had a blast! I'm still dreaming (day and night) about our experiences and just can't wait to go back again and this time for a more permanent vacay ;)
After 1 year 5 months of keeping my shopping to a bare minimum, I finally went shopping in Harajuku. Except for the bag and shoes, all the clothing I bought were second-hand.
Shot location is the Arashiyama bamboo forest and surrounding gardens in Kyoto.
What I'm Wearing:
After 1 year 5 months of keeping my shopping to a bare minimum, I finally went shopping in Harajuku. Except for the bag and shoes, all the clothing I bought were second-hand.
Shot location is the Arashiyama bamboo forest and surrounding gardens in Kyoto.
What I'm Wearing:
Shirt: ZIBtextiles from Etsy
Jacket (red/black): 100% cotton, second hand bought from Rag Tag Harajuku
Jacket (blue) : Borrowed from hubby
Slim belt: Vegan
Tights: 95% cotton bought in India
Shoes: Vegan and ethical from Cri de Coeur
Bag: Vegan by Issey Miyake Bao Bao Collection
Barcoded
Do you put away your summer clothes in winter? I don't. This way I have more items to play with and mix and match. I use light summery clothes to layer and to add print to my outfit (most of my summer clothes are printed). Here, I winterized my cotton jumpsuit by adding a bulky sweater and tights.
These geeky tights were love at first sight! I ripped four of my tights this winter and I was looking to replace them with some graphic tights. These have become a conversation starter as I've had many people ask me if I've scanned the barcode (and some even whipped their phone out to try and scan it!). Love 'em!
The bulky vintage nordic sweater replaced two 4-year old GAP sweaters. The GAP sweaters just got so visibly bobbly! Not cool.
What I'm Wearing:
Sweater: 100% acrylic; Vintage from ShopIndie
Jumpsuit: 100% cotton; Bought in India
White tights: Handprinted silkscreened tights made in NY from NylonJournal
Over the knee socks (worn short): 80% bamboo from SockDreams
Sandals: Vegan and ethical from Cri de Coeur
Vegan XO
Quite literally... it is xo for vegan couture!
Last Fall, I was on the lookout for a winter coat that was warm, sustainable, ethical and vegan. The search was going to be tedious, had it not been for Leanne from Vaute Couture. I met Leanne last year at Vegan FNO and fell in love with not just the coats she made, but her enthusiasm for cruelty free fashion. All the coats are made in New York City fashion district with 100% recyclable polyester fibers. The coat liner is 100% recycled and recyclable fibers. This tag makes me happy.
Anyhoo, I invested in a Vaute winter coat, that I see myself wearing for many winters to come; and I wore this winter coat to New York Fashion Week to support Leanne and Vaute. Some photos below. But before that -
Last Fall, I was on the lookout for a winter coat that was warm, sustainable, ethical and vegan. The search was going to be tedious, had it not been for Leanne from Vaute Couture. I met Leanne last year at Vegan FNO and fell in love with not just the coats she made, but her enthusiasm for cruelty free fashion. All the coats are made in New York City fashion district with 100% recyclable polyester fibers. The coat liner is 100% recycled and recyclable fibers. This tag makes me happy.
What I'm Wearing:
Jacket: Vaute Couture (Vegan, ethical, sustainable)
Collar: ZIBTextiles, Etsy
Shirt: Basic black from Uniqlo
Shrug: Bought at a crafts market, India
Skirt: Bought eons ago in India
Tights: ASOS.com
Socks: American Apparel
Shoes: Vivienne Westwood for Melissa (Vegan, Made of recycled plastic, 100% recyclable; Ethical company)
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| ...and they were rescue dogs on the runway, up for adoption! so cute, no? |
Clo.DIY: Neon.Shoe.Makeover
These sandals have been sitting in my closet for the past 2 years!! They are comfortable and I like how they look, but they just don't seem to pair up well with anything I own. Spring and Summer are around the corner and I want to sport open-toed colorful, bright shoes. So instead of spending on a new pair, I gave these shoes a new look. The makeover took less than an hour since I used materials I already had. See below for a before and after and the nitty-gritties. :)
The original look.
Got rid of the embellishments.
Cut a piece of felt and played around with size, shape and scale until I liked what I saw.
In-progress shot.
Took a neon yellow thread and stitched the felt pieces to the sandal strap.
Viola!
Ho.Handmade: Cushion Covers
As many of you know, we moved to a new apartment a few months back and ever since then, I have been trying to design it project by project. The first (and fairly easy) project was finding/making some bright cushion covers for my two sofas. After window shopping for a bit, I could not find designs I liked or stuff I liked was way too expensive (almost always the case!). So I started hunting for fabric with one design idea in mind: the covers should be up-down; front back and left-right flip-able, so I could play with them as I fancied. For this concept to work, I would need a variety of fabric.
My first (and last) destination was Purl Soho. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that shop. It's like walking into wonderland! My brain kicks into high gear every time I go here. I found this lovely pre-cut fabric bundle (18"x 24"). I fell for the colors and patterns and I had the "this is it!!!" moment! :)
I also bought smaller pre-cut fabric bundles for accents and other projects.
After a few hours, this happened:
Flip up, flip down; front the back or back the front; go right or left; play till your heart's contentClo.Outfit: Handmade Multi-Way Shrug
I'm sooooo excited to show y'all this shrug! It is the first garment I designed and made*! I kept it simple in terms of cut and finishing (as I'm not all that good at it, yet). This fabric has great fall and I wanted to portray that quality through design - hence the long billowing sleeves. Almost gives it an ethereal feel.
I love designs that are versatile and can be worn in many ways. On the front, I can leave it open (as in the pic above), or overlap the panels, or tie a front knot or wear it as a halter. The sleeves can also be draped in multiple ways: leave them as is, tie them at the end and give it that peasant sleeve look, wrap it around my arm, or tie them short...the possibilities are endless.
I'm loving it! :)
* With help from my mum (a fashion design professor). She used to sew most of my dresses until high school. Now I want to make my own clothes whenever possible, so I asked her to teach me drafting and pattern making.
Notice the exposed darts? How cute are those!
What I'm Wearing:
Jacket: Kenneth Cole (Vegan)
Shrug: Handmade
Dress: French Connection
Tights: Eco-friendly; 80% bamboo fiber (sockdreams.com)
Shoes: Vivienne Westwood for Melissa (Vegan, Made of recycled plastic, 100% recyclable; Ethical company)
Foo.Review: Dirt Candy
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| The menu: short, easy to choose. Everything can be made vegan, just ask. |
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| No complicated names here. Do you want to have carrot or cauliflower? |
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| The Starters. On the left is warm bread with olive oil and to the right - Jalapeno Hush Puppies served with maple butter |
Alright, so those hush puppies were the most amazing fried snack I've had in recent years. They reminded me of "pulibongaralu" from Telugu cuisine.
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| K's appetizer - Pepper. Smoky red pepper mousse, yellow pepper soup and jalapeno chips |
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| The pepper soup comes in a separate beaker. You pour it in yourself. |
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| Almost there... |
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| Now, it's ready to eat. |
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| K's entree: Chard; Again, a great combination of flavors and textures. Each bite had a minimum of three textures and you could distinctly taste each ingredient that went into it. Yumm! |
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| My entree: Cauliflower. I could easily taste each and every ingredient on the plate. I like! I also discovered that horse radish and arugula make an awesome combo. |
Dessert. You'll have to excuse me for not presenting you with a picture of the dessert. After eating all those above dishes we were so blown over that we were waiting like hungry kids for the dessert and when it was served, it did not even occur to me to take a picture (I had been telling myself that I should take a pic before digging in). Anywhoo, we ordered Chocolate Beet Cake. The chocolate was warm and when we cut into it, warm oozy beet/pear lather oozed out and the combo was unbelievably awesome. Home run!
Overall,
- Simple vegetarian/vegan food with focus on the veggies. No extra frills and pretentious dishes
- Subtle ambiance
- The place gets very full, reserve in advance
- The place is lively with conversation
- Perfect for dates/smaller groups
- Good service; friendly and smiling wait staff
Must try? YES
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