I Wear: Brown Girl In The Rain

This delightful young lady was in town recently. Not surprisingly, she had a hajaar things to do but she did manage to squeeze in a coffee date with me. Rather unfortunately, this happened to be last Monday when the skies opened up and poured out the kind of rains that this city sees at least a couple of times every monsoon (never mind that the sanitation department, safety authorities, public transport controllers and emergency services still haven’t figured out a way to deal with it). I also had a movie date in town a little later but I was meeting her in High Street Phoenix before that.

Frantic scrabble through wardrobe to find something that would be:

1. Suitable to meet self-possessed, smart, younger former-colleague-turned-friend from hip London
2. Not stick out like sore thumb in ‘oh, those ‘burbies’ (accompanied by sneer) townside mall
3. Dry easily without creasing, sticking to body or in general, making instant sauna for person wearing
4. Be warm enough when inside the over air-conditioned movie theater
5. Be comfortable to walk about in dirty puddle-infested roads in case of public transport breakdown

Here’s what I came up with:

A plaid skirt with a waterproof lining which I used to wear to work with a fully buttoned up shirt. Very power dressing in that avatar, very meh for streetwear on account of its beige-brown colour. I cracked that severe demeanor with a navy blue stretch denim tee-shirt/blouse that I’ve had for years and years and is still lovely (also worn here).

I have a sensitive throat that catches every cold virus floating about so I draped a long silk scarf that’s been lying hidden in my closet on account of its (again!) brown colour. My handbag would have to be the handy (pun, sorry!) red Baggit (also worn here) because of its waterproof nature, its just-right size and generally because I needed a dash of my favorite colour to carry me through a brown ensemble. Even with all that, though, my outfit felt too dreary and sober. In (what I thought was) a radical move, I junked my sandals for this sunny yellow pair of moccasins (also worn here).No other accessories except my handy steel watch and these very ladylike (and hence not used often by me) rose earrings. As an afterthought, I added a string of turquoise beads around my wrist like a bracelet, which is what I think saved this outfit. The blue and the yellow both match the swirls on my scarf.

As it turned out, I got to the mall before she did, hopping from home to autorickshaw to taxi. I made it in dry, then had my shoes soaked in the water flowing out of the mall, got soaked by the rain dripping off (well, pouring off) the roof and eventually squished my way in. Happily, I was almost dry in 20 minutes. And after coffee, I went through the ordeal again to get to town for the movie. Again, the outfit dried and kept me snug as a bug and happily watching Harry Potter’s last ride through our screens.

I Wear:

• Navy blue stretch denim top: Now non-existent shop on Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai
• Beige-brown plaid skirt: Van Heusen
• Brown silk scarf with blue & yellow swirls: Cottage Emporium, Connaught Place, New Delhi
• Yellow moccasins: Catwalk
• Red tote: Baggit
• Enamel rose earrings: counter on third floor, Mega Mall, Oshiwara, Mumbai
• Turquoise beads: Roadside stall, Elephanta caves, Mumbai

* The photographs were shot by Sveccha, my crazy date.

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See more on the usage of scarves in Scarfing It Up.
Meet my Native American with my red Baggit in Flourishing Feathers.
Walk my yellow Catwalk moccasins into The Boheme At Kala Ghoda.
See another place that navy and brown make magic at Coffee And Sunshine.