Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to all!

Crazy thoughts and cold feet.

I fell asleep on the sofa last night and work up with a start and a rather ridiculous feeling about my saree madness. What on earth am I doing? I’m not Indian, I have no such connections, so why this obsession. If I channelled all this effort into Western clothes and fashion I would come across as rather vain I guess or loving myself, I will properly be parading about in a fur waist coat a big chunky knitted dress with leggings and Ugg boots with an enormous bag with lots of charms hanging off it. No thanks. I will stick to the sarees thank you!

Now I have decided that wearing the latest fur and feather trimmed trends with ridiculous boots is not for me however my feet have gone rather cold. Since deciding to wear a saree to work on Friday the 5^th of December I have suffered slightly with some anxiety and fear I just might pull out. The fairy lights which I have had PAT tested just for the occasion and so that I am not breaching any health and safety laws, they are still coming with me to work on Friday and so are the box of sweets I am ashamed to say the saree just may well stay in the closet for this day.

Let me explain a bit about the office I work in. There are approx 2500 employees scattered around 3 buildings. I am in one of the bigger buildings which is opened planned and I work on a floor down from the top floor. Where I sit I am on view to any one going up to or down from the top floor as well as anybody on my floor. I fear I will be on show to everyone and have a barrage of questions, the same questions thrown at me.

My obsession with saris is limited to around a handful of people I work with - they have offered some encouragement, one of them who normally is not present on Friday is coming in just for the occasion of seeing me in a saree but I feel this is because he is a pit perverted and I am well used to this sort of behaviour from him so it causes no offence.

Rather than sit here and stew over it by myself I’m putting my worries on this blog to get a feeling of what you think?

At this time my feelings towards saree Friday is

FOR

Celebrate the fist Day of Diwali by dressing in Saree

Come out of the Saree closet

White Girls can wear saris too

Bringing the saree in to Western fashion, it could well set a trend.

AGAINST

Lots of strange looks and questions

People still discussing it with me at the coffee machine months later

Attracting unwanted attention

Help!

Some photos

Here are a few photos of my more recent buys
Please note, allot of these I have just thrown on as soon as I have got home, desperate to see what it looks like. I'm sure you all understand!

This one was a fantastic purchase from ebay used. I wore it at the mela and was overloaded with complements It was my favorite until my "Black" silk saree turned up in the post

This is my super bargain £5 silk saree (I think) from ebay arrived yesterday. By the photos I thought it was black however its green and gold and I love it. This I hope to wear to work on Friday for Diwali.

This is my new white saree, brought just to see what the colour looks like on me...What do you think? Its not a great photo but hope to get some in the day light soon

This is the Purple and Gold two tone that I was a bit upset about, you can tell that it must be made of plastic by the way is shines and sticks out! Bit upset with this one but a bit of work I'm sure I can make it sit right!

This is my only lengha brought in London for far too much money. I wore this to Navratri and I'm glad I did rather than a saree. The amount of times I trod on it, if it had been a saree it would be on the floor

Spending Overload

I love ebay. Most of my purchasing is done on ebay. I am a big fan of used items, they are cheaper for a start, and I feel its my part to stop a land fill and giving a unwanted item a new home as well as giving the previous owner a bit of pocket money. A lot of my shopping is done in charity shops; there are enough of them where I live. My poor boy, at the moment knows no different, but his school shoes are carefully selected from ebay, so are his DS games, as are my shoes and odd nick knacks I require to get me though the year. I’m sure as he gets older he may dislike the idea of a second hand computer game, but I’m sure put into context what would he rather. One game with the bit of polyethylene wrap still on it or three games with no polyethylene wrap on them? As a single parent with a single income it is important to look after your outgoings I feel I do this quite well and can occasionally treat my self to a saree or Five!

I keep my eye on ebay all the time for a saree, it’s a great place for an experimental buy at the moment I really would like to add to my collection a cotton saree and a silk saree, as well as that all important white saree  (in good time of course and most defiantly a new purchase). I have gone though many Salwar Kameez both on ebay and in various shops around London and have sadly found that they just do not suit meL

I am quite tall but have wide hips and the Kameez does nothing for me, it’s a fantastically comfortable garment and I am often in one at home and I have worn one to a wedding reception but compared to what I look like in a saree there is no competition. Diwali is here and I have dug them out of the depths of the wardrobe and I intend to wear at least two of them to work this week. Sadly today, I have made little effort and in my usual black trousers, black vest and some random short sleeved cardigan.

The purchasing of the Salwar Kameez is well on hold for now until at least I next go to London and get someone to make one for me that will do my hips some justice or at least hide them abit. At this time I am working on my saree collection, it has recently grown with five new recent purchases.

Two of the new purchases are from ebay. One of them a purple and gold two tone, it looked like silk, the photos were amazing, however when it came though the door I could of cried. It was stiffer than my organza saree and just as puffy, it feels like plastic and it’s incredibly scratchy. So I have learnt - if it does not state silk it properly isn’t. Despite my initial disappointment my boyfriend managed to pleat the fall and sit it on my shoulder just right. The blouse it too big and needs to meet a sewing machine but since picking the row of wired sequins off the sleeves its feeling a bit more comfortable. The original owner paid £250 for it, if I had done so I would of extremely disappointed and would of felt rather ripped off. The thing is falling apart and leaves a trail of tiny purple sequins where ever you go with it. I’m half tempted to remove all of them, as I do not have the skill or patience to do it my self! I paid £50 for it and it is still a lot of saree for the money

It will be great for the Diwali show I am going to but I feel I will not be able to get the blouse down to size quick enough, plus the theatre where the show is being held just might sent me a cleaning bill for the mess it may leave behind. Despite being upset with it, it is still a saree and I still love it.

The other ebay purchase has not come though yet, it did state silk but I won it for £5. We shall see when It gets here. The white one, you know about from a previous blog.

The remaining two I ordered weeks and weeks ago from Utsav sarees. If you google Complaints board and Utsav you will see that there is an awful amount of bad press. One of them is even mine! I feel a second chance is in order. Here I have ordered a saree for next years Navratri and a Contemporary vampire black saree for my woks black tie Christmas party at the end of November.

http://www.utsavsarees.com/store/sarees-large.aspx?Icode=SLSCN475

http://www.utsavsarees.com/store/sarees-large.aspx?Icode=SLSRT787B

That’s a lot of sarees to buy just over three weeks or so, all that is left on the list is a cotton saree and that all important white one. But for now its time to calm down and enjoy what I have for now.

Autumn in the UK is a wonderful time, the tress are turning some fantastic colors as they loose their leaves in preparation for the winter. I am hoping to put some of my new purchases on and take some photos to post. Of course, I need it to stop raining first!

What every girl secretly dreams of….?

When you buy an item just to see what the colour looks like on you. You either have;

A) More money than sense

B) You have lost the plot.

Mine is defiantly the latter

Ever since I got introduced to the saree (which buy the way I still can’t pin point) I have often wondered what it would look like in white and on my wedding day.

I was not very good as a girl growing up; I was always a bit of a tomboy. I never understood dolls, or why I should have a lot of pink things. I had two brothers and four boy cousins and no other girls in the family to grow up with. I loved Lego and Mechano and Transformers. I’m sure when I discovered the saree I also discovered that all this time I was female and I started to fantasise about my wedding. The fact that I was not even engaged or not remotely dating did not come in to the equation back then. All I could think about is me in a white saree.

So as you have guessed, the item I brought just to see what the colour looks like on me was in-fact a white saree. Well Ivory cream at least. It was an inexpensive saree from a UK based mail order catalogue. I was not expecting a masterpiece though the door and it was a little crudely put together however a lot more detailed than the picture that decided my order.

The blouse was very tight and I was upset to see that it had rust marks on it around the fastenings and a random rust spot on the neckline. There was even a smudge of grease on the sleeve. Most upset as being cream IT DOES NOTICE!

Desperate to see what it looks like on me I threw it on and when I said before, I wasn’t good at being a girl, girls say Oh my Good all the time at the moment. That word left my lips for the first time. Despite my big red nose and my pale patchy skin, grease and rust marks it looked stunning.

The boyfriend who kindly picked this item up for me from the post office knew it was something cheeky I ordered and that, sorry, he could never see it on me or never know what, why or when. He quite understood about my secrecy, but I was so impressed with it and how it looked I HAD TO SHOW SOMEONE.

Though a crack in the bedroom door I explained that I am just exterminating with colours and not to be upset with me or assume that I am waiting for him to pop the question. He saw it and loved it and did not run from the house screaming with his hands in the air! Which was a result.

The white saree is traditionally worn by a widow, but if you google images white saree you will find that at Bollywood parties they are very much in. There are saree blogs plastered with white sarees. These I never like too much as they never state where I can buy them from! For at least 3 years now I have been looking for the perfect white saree, I have it in my mind what I want but I just cannot find it. But now they are coming more fashionable I just might get lucky.

(That was just 1 of 5 recent purchases.)

A quick Thank you

Just a quick note to say thank you for all your kind comments. My overtime from my time working away has come in and I have gone mad with saree buying. I shall update you later!!

Thanks again

Shopping on the Internet is Dangerous!

Shopping on the Internet is dangerous!

With Diwali fast approaching its time to treat my self to a new saree, or
two. After attending Navratri again on the 9th night I wore my Bollywood
saree to the temple. I call it Bollywood because it is simply outrageous. It
is heavy with sequins arranged in a flower design and its bright, bright
green. It was one of my first on line purchases, my second saree, and I got
it pre stitched. What a disaster.

The ad told me that it was olive green, not Florissant green, the colour
disclaimer was inwardly digested and I did not have a leg to stand on.

With it being Pre stitched there is nothing I can do about the length of the
saree, I can make it shorter, which is great, however I can't get it longer.
Since last trying this item on I must of grown 2 inches as the backs of my
ankles were showing! It was touching the floor at the front, so I fear that
my rear must have gotten bigger!

So with my feet showing and the bright colour clashing against my pale skin
I braved the stick dance once more!

The important thing it stayed on, and even came home with some sequins still
left on it, and I'm sure it would be great if I had a bit of a tan.

There is a huge choice of sarees on the internet, overwhelming in fact. I
love looking but every now and then I have to clear out my wish list! I have
ordered 3! One of them a very cheep one just to see what that colour looks
on me before I make the biggest buy of my life (can't go into too much
detail there I'm afraid) and the other two are serious buys. One of them the
boyfriends choose it's very bright and busy and will be fantastic for next
years Navratri. The other one a bit of a contemporary design, more of an
evening dress, and if it gets here in time I should be wearing it to the
companies Christmas dinner. Can't wait!



(please note that I do not lay around in a saree like this at home....Only in my PJ's!)