Vintage glamour

Just enough time to post a photo

Your turn ...

I am totally obsessed at the moment looking for a new Saree to wear for a Bollywood ball, I have exhausted my self looking. I am now open for suggestions or any ideas. If you come across something please email it to me and I will post it up. So far I have found these. As you can possibly see I'm very much into lots of colour at the moment!

Three if these are by Satya Paul

Shwetika22@gmail.com

Bollywood dance flash mob London

I'm going! Does any one else fancy it? Show you interest by using the link

Xx



Sorry ... It's not a link yet....


http://flashmob.co.uk/index.php/site/page/bollywood_dancing_flashmob/

Post course henna

I learnt some shading techniques from the course and now I am mixing my own henna with some confidence :)

Last saree count 27!!!!!

Oak Creek Gurdwara Shooting

Henna Henna Mendhi Henna

I’m trying hard to remember where I first came across Henna. And my earliest memory has to be of that on the TV

A news presenter was wearing an excessive amount of bangles on her arm, which I thought to be a bit over the top. They jingled and rattled throughout her 10-minute slot, but at the end of it, it was made clear that she had just had her wedding. The 40 bangles on her arm were today on there for 40 days and 40 nights and underneath the bangles was the most beautiful design on her skin I have ever seen. It was faded but the beauty was still there. They then showed a few photos. This less that a one-minute show and tell was enough for me to get on Google and research weddings. Wedding customs, wedding Lengas, Mendhi, and I haven’t stopped.

One of my work colleges was kind enough to bring me to his home so his daughter in Law could do a Mendhi design on me and I have been working on my skills ever since. (Previous post details)

Being right handed my left arm has taken a bit of a beating with henna.

I try and not bring attention to it and try to keep it covered at work. When my henna is spotted I blush and burble, and some times lie, yes I went to a wedding. I was quite flatted once when a guy at work asked me if I had just got married, when I had to say, no I just like drawing on my self I was quite embarrassed.

Who draws on them self’s?

“Why don’t you get a real tattoo” people say

I hate that. The two art forms are totally different and should never been confused; they are both excellent in there own rights. The beauty of Henna that it will eventually fade and then you can try again. Some Tattoo artwork is amazing but there is only so much you can ink before you run out if skin completely.

Henna is becoming more and more popular as artists pitch up at festivals, fates & beaches. Sadly a lot of this is the black henna, which I do not entertain. Still little is known about the traditional Arabic and Indian Mendhi designs.

I now feel ready for some help with my Henna, so I have booked my self in to a course so any bad habits can be picked up and eradicated. I have found a local-ish course by a instructor who has kindly managed to accommodate me during the holy month of Ramadan, which has lead me to find out more about Ramadan, I’m really looking forward to the course and should be ready for some henna application for Eid.

Only recently I hennaed my first person that wasn’t me, or my boyfriend.

It was two young cousins of mine at a BBQ, I was so nervous I was shaking so much!! I must have done a good job as an Aunt and a family friend also wanted a go. Strangely I was not as nervous on the adults.

I’m not too sure if they were being kind but they said that they were more than happy with their designs. And everyone who was there said how awesome the henna way. My mum was there and she was the only one that didn’t say anything. Which only fuels this on going argument “Am I doing something wrong?” A rant on this may follow later.

I’m keen to start a Armature henna club in the area open to anyone who has an interest and would like to improve their skills or just turn up to be hennaed!

I will let you know how the course goes.

Coming out of the Hiding closet

Hello All

I’m sorry about my absence, for a long time now I have been too scared to look at my own blog! Totally irrational and very stupid as look at all the support I have been receiving! Thank you so much

I have been up and down and up again and down a bit more. All over the place and a lot has happened.

I have brought a house with my boy friend

I have got my Motorbike back

My cat died

I have been doing well at work

A close family member is fighting stomach cancer and is winning

I have another cat

And I have booked a Henna course and very much looking forward to it

So all is good.

When I get down I get lazy, and tend not to do anything. I have learnt that if I just keep my self-busy I can get by. Thanks for your support

Sadly I do not have any saree adventures to talk about just yet. I have put on a little bit of weight and lack confidence in wearing one right now however, with one of my favourite festivals on its way Navratri. I am working on loosing some weight so there will be no excuse.

I have been busy experimenting with Henna, and have tried making my own. The first batch was good, my second not so. I’m looking forward to receiving some professional help and should be back talking about that in the near future. Also planning to start a Amateur Henna Club in my local area.

Back soon

Thanks all again

xxxx

Coming out of the depression closet, saree neatly folded

I apologise all for not keeping on top of my blog. I have kept a secret for far to long and its time I came out with it. I suffer with depression. My low are very long and extremely hard to get out of, though right now I do see some sort of light flickering at the end of the tunnel I hope to reach it soon.

One of the biggest symptoms of depression, apart of course being rather miserable and not at all easy to get along with is that you loose interest in what you like doing the best.

My sarees have gone rather neglected and many opportunities to wear them have come and gone and I am slowly coming out of this hole I’m in so I hope that they will have a dust off soon.

I have pin pointed the source of my depression and it will take some work to get over it and some time.

I hope to be a bit more entertaining in the near future.

Take care all

Im still here just.....Distracted

Hello all

Sorry
Work has introduced its self into my life once more and I have been very busy hope to catch up soon!

It not all sarees you know, there is also Henna

I am also quite fond of henna, I love looking at some of the Mehndi patterns and the flowing artwork. I have spent some time trying to create my own but with not a lot of luck, I cannot create my own flow and always end up having to copy something I’ve seen. There is also a distinct lack of people to practice on and there is only so much you can do on your self.

Early self applied henna

I apply henna on special occasions such as my birthday, Nivratri, Diwali and Christmas, but of a mixture I know, but why not! But a lot like my cooking the boyfriend has barged in, taken over and turns out to be a lot better at it than I am!

One of the boyfriends busy creations

So far I have been buying pre made henna already in the tube, it’s a bit hit and miss and I have not yet found a brand that I have got on with. There is some powder in the cupboard and its just waiting for me to mix it my self but I have not yet found the time or the courage to try and make my own tube!

My boyfriend allows me to practice on him but strictly no flowers which are not much help, but I am getting rather good at the Koi Carp!

I love the full on bridal henna and would love to have it up my arms and legs one day traditional on the inside of my arm and a more modern look on the outside. I love the idea of a Mehndi party one day.

One of my work colleges daughters kindly applied it to my arm one day and I have been in love with it ever since

Unemployment looms but there is always….

Well. If I am made unemployed this year I have got another job lined up in Candem market. There is a pitch for the saree workshop. A space you can enter. Be shown how to put on a saree, have a professional photo taken at a fee and the option to purchase/order one if you have caught the bug. It also provides me with an excellent opportunity to wear one every day all day. So Candem watch out!

Trip to the theater was with out saree, or Irregular choice shoes. I don't think Bill Bailey noticed.

The saree I would most like to buy this month is

Photo from http://www.sareez.com/

This is currently for sale for RS 21,366.90 which is $474 and in EUROS 363 approx £345
in other words VERY EXPENSIVE.


But look at it, isn't it wonderful! I love that huge red border along the bottom, and the smaller gold border running along the top of the saree. I love the contrast between the blue wrap and then the white coming across it.


My green and cream saree has this sort of affect and its very hard (for me) to get the part where it changes from cream to green in the right place. I would love to see how this saree is put together. i.e. where the blue stops and the white starts, especially if I was to spend this much on it.


What I love most about this saree is the blouse, the sleeves have a fabric that is not in the saree, its odd but it works, sorry the photo does not show it too well how ever If you click it it will take it to the web page.


It must be wonderful to have the money to spend on something so wonderful, sadly, that sort of money is more useful for keeping a roof over my head!


No harm in dreaming!


Many thanks to www.sareez.com to allow me to use their images if anyone owns this please tell me all about it!

I'm Alive!

Despite having a rotten cold over the Christmas period I still managed to have a great time.

The silk sari that was being held hostage for Christmas is wonderful. Thick, heavy and so smooth, and very hard to pleat. I used four large pleats and that seamed to work very well.

No photo yet however will post as soon as I get one taken, It may even get an outing to see Bill Baily Dandilion mind in London this weekend

Season’s greetings from the UK

I feel like a pompous, ignorant, uneducated fool.

At least I can comfort my self that yes; I did know that England at one point ruled India. Why, when and how is the bit I am not too sure on.

It is easy to throw my anger at my school, why did I not have a decent history lesson or a decent any lesson for that matter. Why was every class dominated by unruly pupils, the worst culprit being now quite big in the porn industry and the other culprits riding the benefit systems.

Its easy to blame the school and then I could blame the TV maybe they should stop running all these documentaries about forensic evidence of Christ and how a tennis racket is made and run something that might educate us Brits in something that happened not so long ago.

Exactly what did I learn in History? I cannot think of a single thing not one, vague recollections of medieval torture. I remember the great British plague and the great British fire every thing in history seams to be the Great British something. But what about the great British reign of India?

There have been hints of it as I grew up I guess, Mary Poppins for example, how the British economy was built on the East India Trading Company, Pirates of the Caribbean and also spotting Indian fabrics in stately homes.

I have a theory. Maybe what I did learn in history disturbed me so much I just blotted it out of my mind to protect my self from the cruelty of early Britain. I mean if having a king who killed his wife’s and divided religion even more wasn’t bad enough. But the truth is I have not had any formal lessons in any thing to do with the British Empire.

Recently a friend in India stated that that the Indians have a soft spot for the English because of the reign. It made me think. Why the soft spot? What on earth did we do except exploit recourses, labour and divide and rule with some devastating consequences. And of course shoot men, women children and tigers.

I guess there are always the trains, science and languages and it certainly made the stuffed animal collection grow in the Natural History museum, but really, was it worth it? To me it looks like the English came, wrecked, hung on for far too long and ran away with their tail between their legs.

I have not yet studied it fully and I know it will not be a pleasant learning, and what I have so far have found has made me feel uncomfortable being a Brit who is enjoying learning about Indian culture to find that possibly a late ancestor was overseas pinching ivory and exploiting the land and its people. Not a nice feeling.

My boyfriend is constantly reminding me of the fact that I am not Indian; I have never understood that until now, “of course I know I’m not Indian! what do you mean?” I ask him.

The rose tinted glasses have not slipped from my Indian closet, they are not firmly on my nose either, and however they have fallen off at my English one. And it has certainly stirred up some horrid memories from my school days!

My blog is being made more public thanks to a cross-dressing site.

I was browsing the Internet when I suddenly found my blog in a cross dressers website!

At first I was a bit horrified, do I look like a man? In certain photos, I guess I do! I’m female! Honest, I know, I have given birth after all!

However my horror did not last long as I began to think about it a bit more. After all, I have made use of the term “coming out of the closet” which in some cultures states that you are reviling your secrets and mostly in the UK states you are opening up about your homosexuality, which at this point I would like to point out that not all cross dressers are homosexual.

Putting my self in another set of shoes I thought, there is not a lot of difference between me and a cross dresser. There’s this obsession, that’s not quite the norm, which you find hard to talk about hard, and hard to find people with similar interests and always at the back of your mind what everyone else thinks.

It must take some courage trying to tell your family that as their son you like noting better than getting a nice dress on, stiletto heels and hitting the town armed with a handbag and lipstick.

If I’m honest, where my family are concerned I am well and truly still in the closet when it comes to coming out with my saree obsession. My dad sort of knows about the fact I like sarees, and I think he likes it because India had a huge influence on the Beatles, my dad is Beatles mad, and of course, I think my dad is a closet hippy. My mum draws a blank on the subject, when I told her I wanted to wear a saree to my brothers wedding resulted in the finger waving and “If you ever….” (Words of disownment followed as it does overtime I do something that mother does not approve of)

When you do not have the support behind you from your own mother, I feel that you are made to feel slightly outcast from what you feel is, and should be a part of you. I have the disapproval of my mother sat on my shoulder like a little red daemon, the sort you used to see in the old cartoons nagging at me saying that I shouldn’t be wrapping that saree, I should be wearing things that are more ordinary. (Apparently)

So I call my self a cultural cross dresser, who favours the Asian fashion, sarees in particular. When I do venture out in a saree I get a lot of complements, I just wish my mum could hear them I’m sure she will suddenly find herself proud of her tom boy daughter all of a sudden and encourage the wearing. The odd thing is, if my mum was out and about and happened across a man in a dress, she would be singing his praises and be full of complements, of course, if he looked good!

As said before I have the support of my readers, those on twitter and those that complement me when I’m out and about in the saree so thank you.

I wrote on their blog

“Hello, Thank you for supporting my blog! I’m having a lot of fun writing it. I am a self confessed cultural cross dresser and sort of nearly almost just slightly in some ways face the same issues some of your more shy members may suffer with whilst expressing their individuality. Keep up the good work”

Non Indians in Sarees

Angelina-Jolie has forgot to put on her blouse. In all fairness I think it was for a movie

Anna Kournikova, wow, its a shame she did not wear it when she plays tennis I love the shoes!

Ashley Judd wonderful saree. Stunning

Lady Kingsley, thanks for trying but I feel you may of needed some help!

This is Camron Diaz, the saree is wasted in this pose, I would love to see what it looks like upright!

Julia Roberts in the film eat love pray, I would love to know what saree she would choose with out a wardrobe team choosing it for her

JR again

Jessica, where has your petticoat gone?

The late Lady Di not in a saree, but in a slawar, just a bit of name dropping but I brought a saree off Geeta Sarin a designer who designed a salwar for Lady Di..Not this salwar mind

Liz Hurley and son. It was Liz's destiny to wear sarees, doesn't she look great!

Liz Hurley again, the right way to wear a saree thank you

Madonna, I wonder what it would of looked like if the flash was not so harsh

Pamela Anderson. No Never again, please no, a more modest blouse even with that size chest and it could of looked allot better

Patricia Arquette Love it

Dear Pussy cat dolls. Thank you for bringing the saree to the uk teenage public attention. Next time don't make them look so trashy

Victora Beckhams tiny frame is lost under all that heavy material. Still stunning.

Alyssa milano.....What are you doing to that poor saree


 

Helen Mirren. If this photo does not make you want to wear a saree, nothing will. Save the best till last I say. I love it such a brilliant choice and she wears it so well.

I do not follow what the celebs do....However....

Just seen on facebook that brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie will tie the knot in Jodhpur and there is a poll out on if she is going to wear a Lhenga or saree. I just wanted to point out, what when I wear a saree on my wedding day (if I have a wedding day of course) it was not because Angelina did!! I thought of it first! I am already cringing with the thought of people saying “oh- just like A.J” Save me.

On one hand it would be great if she did get married in Indian attire, it will really open everyone’s eyes to wonderful world of Asian wedding fashion. I just would not like anyone associating me with what the celebrities do. I’m wearing a saree because I want to and not because of some fat lipped actress!

www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/IndianSarees

My re-homing obsession

As you all are aware, I have a very special relationship with ebay and sarees

Here is a picture of a blouse I have recently brought

It is very detailed with gold spun wire thread and black sequins, and it is very heavy. I was keeping my eye out for a plain black chiffon saree for it . However....

I found this on ebay and I have a day to decide to bid for it or not. They are asking allot of money for it it looks soft and silky and looks like it may go with the blouse. What do you think?

Also beginning to wonder...When will I stop buying?!? I will always go for a bargain however anything more than £5 I do put some thought into before I buy!

Below are some photos of those I have not brought, but wanted to, just to show I do exercise some self restraint!

However I am seriously thinking about these two

I fancy owning a blue one at the moment. But Im sure this obsession will not stop until I get married in one! And that could be some time comming!