A Festive Extravaganza

Welcome winter with heaps of celebrations, weddings and festivities. The Bling in the dresses, the glowing lights and decorations and sparkling diamonds on the jewelry, all seem to be capturing the attention of our eyes.

To glam up these winters, “The house of Minawala”, a leading jewelry brand in India recently launched their extravagant collection of wedding jewels. Minawala celebrates the moment of togetherness with finely crafted designs. They are a brand known for their heritage, craftsmanship and as a connection between the tradition and modernity.

In their new range of wedding collection, one can find a range of opulent rubies, emeralds, pearls and polka diamonds in kundans/Jadau styles perfectly coordinated with each other. They are designed with a modernistic approach as in chokers, cocktail rings, chandelier earrings, marvelous cuffs. ‘A perfect marital bliss for the bride’- they quote for the launched wedding collection.

The launch event also organized a fashion show of their collection and other popular clothing brands such as Avirate, Rumour, Kimaya and many more. A sneak peek into the trending styles of festive wear – use of velvets, gold embroidery, loads of zari, brocades and the rich colors of the season.

An extravaganza is was! 

Cheers

Pranita

POSTCARDS FROM RAJASTHAN

From the hassles and tassels of the urbanized caricatures of Bangalore, I packed my bags to get some cultural shocks and heat waves into my head. The occasion was a cousin’s wedding in Rajasthan. The region of religions, colours, turbans, Rajputas and palaces and many other unique things.

The emcee of my trip was the displeasing temperature of 49 degrees that toasted my nose and put a bright red zit right in the centre of my face (:S). Yeah, that’s the only bad! Nevertheless, it was an exotic experience with a lot of déjà vu, colourful spying and buying couple of more shoes! ;)

Meeting cousins after almost a decade is the reason for the limited glimpses. ^_^

Katputlis and door hangings of birds in color bandhej

Musicians playing Shehnai and tabla in colorful turbans.

Ladies showing off their bright cholis

Rajasthani women adorned with jewels and colorful ghaghra choli in bandhej

The drape blows your sight off

Marigold and roses to make garlands

Typical arches in wooden gates

Decorated Elephant rides

A region of religions.

Milk being boiled in a large Kadaai. 

One of the old buildings- the curvy window- Khidki

Can never get enough of shoes. Beautiful Mojdis and Chappals from Rajasthan

Cheers

MATERIALISTIC ABOUT INDIA

“I may be mad, but I am materialistic. I want to possess so many things in life. Not just some clothes, shoes, bags, or perfumes. I have become more materialistic now. I want the whole of India.”

Yeah, no kidding! My recent visit to The Bombay store has given me some more ‘food for shop’. In my earlier post here, I mentioned about the products being a perfect blend of the traditional and contemporary style. Well, this time I am astonished by the assorted themes and inspirations from various subjects and periods and the variety of products the store keeps-  trying to give a whole new rejuvenated look of India still keeping threads of stories knotted to it.

The punch line of the store says- “Discover a new India”, which it eventually abides by.  Right from the visual merchandising and the current monsoon oriented window displays, the look is aesthetically appealing and the store is divided into sections such as apparels, artefacts, frames, bed linens and quilts, stationary, home decor, tableware, aromatic soaps, exotic tea flavours etc. letting you browse all the sections easily. 

PRODUCTS

“Let the Grandma walk out with a rich flavoured exotic tea pack, the lady with a brocade purse and the girl with a quirky set of stationary. And everyone stays happy ever after.”

Here, you may find the rarest of the pieces like an antique metallic colonial time wall clock to the newest of the pop art inspired colourful tray. There are heavily crafted artefacts made out of softstone, whitewood, resin, glass, brass etc. You will go nuts smelling the aromatic soaps and would definitely fall in for the cosy bed linens and those soft razais (quilts).

There is so much to talk about- stamp printed cushions, Kathputli inspired umbrellas, Banjara murals, rejuvenating incense sticks metallic modern style cufflinks...you could see an art displayed from almost each state of India in a totally new form of product. That’s the beauty of The Bombay Store.

Then, a separate variety of products by The Elephant Company was something elephantous. You would see motifs of an elephant on a tie, on a mug to tote bag, also as murals, cushions and so many other places.

I hope my pictorial collection explains much of it!

Thanks to Mr. Srinivas from the store and the whole team who took the pain to arrange the roll out session. 

A Quirky Story- The Bombay Store

Gone are those days for the love of brands when you dreamt of lying on a perfect tanned leather couch in a coco’s LBD wearing Jimmy Choo and patting your cat. After all, anyone can do that (an exaggerated version of thinking the straightway to a luxurious life)! What we need is creativity and freshness in life today. We need a story behind our possessions and a style ahead of our ancestors. These characteristics reflect our choices in products we buy.

Not only in Bombay, but you can call it a store representing the whole of India. It is a place where history blends into the urban expression. They call it ‘A Perfect blend of Traditional and Contemporary Style’.

Recently opened in Bangalore’s 1 MG mall, 'The Bombay Store' has its second location set in Bangalore. With a history of over 100 years now, The Bombay Store was renamed from 'The Bombay Swadeshi Store' in 1991 keeping in mind the fact of delivering rich Indian stories in a quirky urban cover, which people like and want both. In simple words, the store sells a variety of products with an Indian essence in a contemporary style.

I find this store like a permanent flea market with the concept of fast fashion as well as a retainer of the cultural identity. People have brought the fashion of flea markets at a different level today (here and here). They draw inspiration from legacies to justify their creative anticipation. The moral of the story is that they want new, quirky and innovative products. This is exactly what The Bombay store does!

Have a look at some of the products from the wide range of artifacts, fashion, home decor, stationary etc I am loving from the store. The best part is that these are available at affordable prices! Do visit their facebook page and website to for more updates.

Rajasthan inspired stole and flip-flops at The Bombay Store.

Indian Monuments inspired Tissue box to make your table look colorful by The Bombay Store.

Bollywood Actor Dev Anand inspired tie from The Bombay Store.

Brocade inspired evening Potli bags by The Bombay Store.

Indian motifs kites and birds inspiration for digital print on purse by The Bombay Store.

Elephant- the very Indian looking motif on a clutch by The Bombay Store.

Photos - The Bombay store

Cheers