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An ideal hair style for a long day at work, is the one that looks neat, takes a minute to wear in the morning , contributes to your chic office image and looks same even at the end of the day. We believe that whatever be the nature of your job, the tiniest detail of your work attire makes a helluva difference. By neat we do not mean boring, your hair is the last thing you wish to pay attention to while at work, but at the same time you never want a bad hair moment. Accessorize your hair with simple hair bands, which reminds us of our previous post
 | | Neat and stylish | A hair style that definitely leaves a confident impression is the tight sleek ponytail one. If you have wavy hair, we suggest hair straitening . It is the picture perfect office look. And with proper care, it does not damage hair. It takes 5 seconds to set your straightened hair in the morning and remains the same at the end of day. The right hair cut is obviously the key. Please take a moment , analyze your face structure and then go for the cut. Get front or side flicks only if you are confident of carrying them off at work. They can sometimes be a complete mess. Indulge in clips to keep fringes, curls out of the way. You can also use sun protecting serums to avoid hair damage. Occasional hair treatments are a good idea. Pamper your hair with a hair spa session.
 | | Avoid this at work! | Avoid shabby hair styles , loose strands and locks of hair covering half your face. Two plaits or ponies is not the hair style you want to wear to work, even if you have long hair.  Wearing a big butterfly clip can be distracting to others. Strands of white jasmine or any other flower in hair is not an office look and should be reserved for other occasions. Please don’t bath your hair in oil and report at work, whatever be the nature of your job.  | | Cautiously select your hair colour | Big curly hair left open is more like a rockstar look and is obviously frowned upon in a corporate environment. Be very cautious before coloring hair , complete hair color or streaking few strands is OK till the time it is black or shades of brown, and not shades of pink or blue. Hair extensions are obviously a party look and you don’t want to be seen in a client meeting with an artificial pink strand.
There are never enough reasons to dress well to work. And when you pay so much attention to your perfect outfit, shoes , bag and makeup.. Why leave your hair behind?
A handbag is the most essential accessory of a woman’s attire and her wardrobe. She carries her own little world in it. It's not just a utility or a pretty sack, it's an iconography of her personality, so it should be chosen with utmost sincerity. A woman’s handbag typically contains everything she may need throughout the day. Most would never dream of leaving home without it. Such a vital carryall becomes a personal treasure. Everyday woman’s handbag should be elegant, unique & comfortable. For a woman a good sturdy work handbag is no less important than a good haircut or shoes. How to choose a bag? When we purchase, we first evaluate a bag on the appearance – model, size, color, quality material, and then check whether it is useful to us. Good quality handbags are the ones you will appreciate the moment you touch them. Choose bags that are convenient to handle, easy to use clasps, zippers, pockets, easy to put and get things. A good texture & quality handbag always adds that extra oomph and self-confidence. Ensure that the bag does not get you tired, and taking it in hands is a pleasure.
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| Hobo Bags |
Please avoid the super jazzy & 50 outer pocket bags at work. Also, a big no-no are those that have a giant bow or knot, attached to them. Keep the zebra & leopard print bags for other social events. Ensure that there is nothing flimsy or frilly hanging from your bag. Don’t’ be afraid to try a bag on at the store. Get a feel for how it sits and looks. Is it comfortable? Does it feel cramped under your arm? The size of the bag should also be in proportion to your figure. Hobo, tote or satchel types of bags are the most commonly used work bags.
Women often view their choice of bags as being every bit as important as the clothes they wear. For each outfit, there is a perfect companion in the form of bags. This being said, although trends come and go, a beloved bag can last a lifetime. Handbags are available in an excess of sizes, shapes and styles. Are you married to one bag? It is a good idea to change bags. Use a larger bag throughout the day and carry a smaller bag or purse for evening. If you go out to lunch while at work, leave the larger bag in your desk and take a smaller purse out so you're not carrying a lot of weight with you.
Handbags are fun and elegant, they should reflect your personal style and taste. So pick up the right one to help transform any outfit go from drab to fab!
Colors play a big part in the professional image. The colors of your fashion choices will speak volumes about your ability to do your job. If you are serious about your career, you'll be more concerned with looking professional than looking cute or trendy. A specific color code has never really been a part of our approved Indian wear at work. But it would really help to get it right.
When I look around I see an interesting mix of color choices in our office attire. There’s a fine line between a smart Indian wear and a slightly heavier Indian traditional look in corporate apparels. Wearing sequences, shimmery material & loud colors can be distracting to others and might not go down well with higher authorities.
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| Would you wear this to work? |
The subtlety lies in maintaining a certain sophistication and poise in the way we dress to work , and the right choice of colors can really bring that to our office wear. While considering color for business, conservative is best- especially when meeting a new client. Avoid white except for shirts and blouses for work. Beige and grey elicit a tailored and professional image . Choose a muted pastel as opposed to pinks, baby blues and yellow in corporate apparel . If you love yellow, try shades or tints of it such as gold or mustard.
Red, green and blue in assorted shades are suitable for all occasions, however straight green is not appropriate for work. Try olive,teal or sage. If you are timid or shy, wear red or strong colors and others will perceive you as more assertive while you are still being you. If you want to appear smaller , incorporate dark & cool textures. Some very slimming colors include black, charcoal grey, chocolate brown. If you want to appear taller, wear colors from the same color family such as blue, navy and teal.
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| Or would you rather go for this?! |
So next time when you go out shopping for your formal wear pay a little extra attention to the colors and feel the difference. Make the smarter choice!
All this while we had been talking & researching about what the Indian woman is wearing to work. We explored the different options she has to select from when shopping for the daily office wear. We also did a small scale research and prepared a grilling questionnaire to understand what really clicks for them when it comes to dressing for work. And the results were astonishing.
The need is to find that one perfect outfit that would suit all the activities of a busy day at office, which includes:
- An unexpected ‘Oh so important’ client visit.
- The ‘I need to leave a serious impression’ team meeting.
- A light, casual & fun lunch with colleagues & friends.
- Those long work days.
And after all of the above scenarios, special moments with dear ones on a sweet, intimate dinner. The Indian woman needs to be ready emotionally & physically to face such a day, full of challenges & memorable moments. We believe that the way she dresses is how she would feel. It would define her confidence and enable her to take things in her stride.
We have been on this hunt for a long time. So , as always have decided to take things in our hands and are ready to launch a nationwide apparel design contest called ‘The Corporate Snip’. This is a serious search of a new design to complement all her needs of a busy day.
Please visit the website for further details
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| Ready made"Bow " head band |
Latest fashion accessory to hit the market is the giant “Bow ed” head band. It is available in funky colors and really cute prints. You can wear it for your date on that pretty short dress. Or you can even get away with a “bad hair day”, or you can just team it with ur daily workwear. So, I decided to get myself one and set out to my fav. store. And there it was hanging at the stands, waiting for me to pick it up. I loved it soo much that I just didn't bother to check the damage it would do to my bank account and rushed straight to the billing counter. I was completely shocked when I got to know the cost of my precious head band. In spite of my undying love for the accessory , I had to let it go cos it simply was out of my budget.
Completely disoriented , I started cursing the big fashion labels and needed a way to vent out this helpless feeling. Totally preoccupied with these thoughts, I said to myself, why not make one on my own!! Inspired by the head band styles showed in the movie "Aisha", I decided to try my hand at it. Something more attractive and stylish than the ones I saw in the store. So I got down to making one and am delighted to share the process of making it with you and would sincerely suggest you to give it a try.
 I used a satin ribbon, to make the band and the bow. For the bow, all you need to do is fold it the way shown in the snapshots, at the last stage you have to stitch the end as shown. You can take it to your local tailor or use the stitching machine at home. Finally stitch the bow to the satin ribbon and join the ends with a small elastic, for sizing and keeping the band tight. You can accesorize further with buttons or flowers.
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| Follow these easy steps :) |
 And finally i am proud to present to you my very first home made, head band. I am super excited and cannot wait to try different colors and sequences. And the best part, it almost comes free of cost. So please give it a try and let me know what you think of it.
Have you noticed that even the most fashion conscious women don't really do much to their wardrobe, during monsoon . All that gets added (or left out) is an umbrella and the rest suffices. Or does it, really?
I have heard people complain about rains and how they spoil perfectly good clothing and footwear. Most people opt out of wearing their favourite clothes on an overcast morning. And why not? There is a good chance that by the time you get home, your pretty kurtas, shirts, and trousers are branded all over by the Indian monsoon. The worst hit of course is your footwear. I believe that a car or no car, white kurta or black shirt, footwear remains the most vital part of our monsoon dressing. And that is why selecting the right, albeit stylish, footwear becomes so important to get us through the messy rains without having to don sneakers and floaters with formal wear.
So what are the options we have?
Jazzy flat chappals and slip ons - They don't really make a practical choice - imagine crossing those puddles, a big bag in hand, and the foot ankle deep in water.
High end heels - Risky, we say. Slippery roads, autos splashing. And to top it, the fancy heels!
And that brings me to my personal favourite - Boots! And I wonder if there is some kind of shortage in the market for this single most stylish monsoon footwear, because I just don't see anyone wearing them. Aren't boots just the perfect answer to beat the monsoon footwear blues? Is it the lack of choices in clothing that go perfectly with boots? The first option that flashes in my mind is skirts. Or even long shirts with leggings and boots. We think it is a delightful combination - not jazzy to the point of being loud, and not unnoticeable either. Add to that some practicality, and you have got your perfect monsoon office wear.
What do you think?
My work place is a great case study for understanding the latest fashion taste of the urban Indian Nari. Almost every day I witness an attempt to break away from the usual and boring formal wear into something stylishly ‘different’.
Somehow, there is still a far less percentage of women wearing western formals to work even today. I really wanted to know the reason behind this and got an interesting insight.
Western formals are not designed for the body structure of Indian women. There are almost no size zeros around. Our body is more voluptuous and we are not comfortable with the tucked in “body shirt” look. Skirts are still considered too bold a fashion choice and is somehow linked to the ‘Air hostess’ look, which, women fear, may not cause them to not being taken seriously at the workplace.
If one observes the trend , our office wear is dominated by the ‘Salwar-Kamiz’, which is now getting replaced by the hipper short kurti and chudidar(legging) . Dupattas are being thrown out of the window and are only considered a hindrance.
Not so surprisingly, there are a few fashion statements which do not fall in any of the aforementioned closed-set definitions and cannot be found in any of the branded stores in the market. Many of us are trying to find a balance between the west and the Indian wear. I can slowly notice the short kurti looking more like a longer formal shirt with bright colors and bold prints, accessorized with a thin waist belt and a soft scarf. Sometimes, I even see a short frock being worn over a chudidar. Well, the path breaker does get a few raised eyebrows, but I think it is a step forward - a positive shot at being creative with the limited fashion choices we have.
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