I Wear: Summer Shopaholic

So I went shopping with an old girlfriend. Summer is my favorite season after all. A time for friends, for dressing well and for fun. A day out with N is not a new thing but it’s always fun. Except more than a decade later, we’re doing this in a swanky airconditioned mall instead of dusty, crowded Linking Road or Fashion Street.

I’ve noticed my style is changing. Well, that happens, I am a creature of whim. But this is different. My dress sense is starting to mirror what I feel and think, which is that I’m not a girl, freshly out of adolescence any more. I don’t say that in a rueful tone. I am, in every way, a woman and I don’t feel upto dressing otherwise. So no more frilly, fussy peasant tops for me. Cutting back on the tee-shirts too, they feel too much like I got into my baby clothes by mistake. But when I spotted this piece with Native American prints, I knew I had to make an exception.

I know it is simple, even staid. And I am no longer the kind of skinny that horizontal stripes flatter. Yet, I like it. It doesn’t scream for attention, it doesn’t scratch or tug demanding that I’m constantly conscious I’m wearing it. I put it on and forget about it.

And now here’s something I stole from mum – a pretty, pretty shopping bag that I’ve decided doubles up as a super-sized handbag. I don’t know about you but I *HATE* handing over my bag to a bored security guard outside snooty stores. Brief interlude while I crib. Forcing a customer to dump their bags in a dirty cupboard manned by an indifferent guard is for the store’s convenience, not the customers. I’d rather they spend a little more training their personnel and getting better security measures (CCTVs? Baggage tags?) than harassing the customers with this. End of crib-interlude.

Coming back to the bag that I’m able to carry right in – it’s denim blue with rockstar art. It appeals to the tomboy in me, never mind being all grown-up. And I stop the look from being ‘Sandra-from-Bandra’ in its tracks with my icy-blue moccasins to match (SFBs would wear black heels, don’t you think?).

Jewellery and make-up are bad things to wear when you’re going shopping. After all, you may want to try on stuff. Taking off and putting on is a pain and in this summer heat, even the airconditioned comfort of a mall is just barely enough. So my bag is empty except for a Maybelline Fruit Jelly. I’ve decided I’m not going to buy any more junk jewellery so wearing gold (which I will NOT take off at a store) seems a sensible course.

Before I know it, the bag is full! And yet, it doesn’t bulge like a pillow or wear me down at the shoulders. N and I finish up with lunch and gossip. And in the night, I have a fashion show all by myself in front of the mirror. There’ll be plenty of I Wear posts coming up as I take my new summer wardrobe to town! (1, 2, 3)

I Wear:

• Native American print top: Rs.499, Shoppers Stop
• Red flared skirt: ~Rs.600, FabIndia
• Denim handbag/shopping bag: ~Rs.300, Max
• Icy-blue moccasins: ~800, Enroute

* Cross-posted to Divadom.