That Working Weekend

I know. Even the title sounds depressing, but unfortunately that's how life's been lately. Overworked, and therefore bugged. Remind me why I'm working again?

Anyhow, I'm trying to look at the bright side of things and I came across the following quote:

Yes, that's the only bloody thing we can do- LOOK GOOD. So if you're working on a Saturday when you should be shopping instead or on a SUNDAY (I hope not) when you should be snoozing instead, you can make yourself feel better by dressing up! Maybe you catch up a movie or meet some friends afterwards- whatever it is, you will be dressed appropriately. And not only that, one must dress for themselves! Right?

I have worn the following outfits to work on Saturdays:

Points to note:

1) Denims which fit well and aren't too low waist

2) A casual yet loose t-shirt (not body hugging)

3) Comfortable shoes as always

4) An extra layer (jacket here) just in case

Don't forget that even though it's a Saturday you are going to work. The attire has to be apt as always. 

Here I'm just wearing a casual grey sleeveless polo-neck with a three-fourth sleeved sweater. The idea is to feel comfortable. And comfort mostly comes when you're wearing clothes according to the temperature, and since Delhi winters are oh-so-fabulous I wore a muffler to keep my neck extra warm (and also to add a little colour- mauve)

Lowers are again not very low waist semi-denims.

And if you're feeling a little more adventurous try coloured pants with a classic shirt. It can't go wrong. But yes, only if you feel comfortable. You don't have to sport RED pants but this light coral colour looks great on Eva Longoria.

Try it!!































Girls if you STILL feel frustrated or overworked or bugged or feel like screaming some weird abuses, I can only suggest one simple thing:

Haha, just kidding ;)

xox
CGC

Underrated Yellow

Hello there :)

I know it's been a little too long, but I've just been a bit busy with work and stuff at home. You know how Diwali time is, right? Renovation and painting work going on at home is taking up some of my time!

Speaking of Diwali.. One of the many colours we associate it with is yellow; Diyas are yellow, flowers are yellow, Rangoli has yellow. This is the festival of lights. Therefore, once again I decided to write a colour post (Refer post: I'm going green!)

Personally I feel yellow is the most underrated colour. By underrated I mean, it's not the first colour which will pop into your head when someone talks about a dress, shirt or even a kurta. We just don't assume/imagine things to be yellow. I know we all have that one colour we feel really confident and comfortable in- for some it's the power of red, for some it's black to make things sexy, for some it's the classic white. You will rarely meet people who will claim their favourite colour to be yellow. Ha ha, no I'm not one of those people. 

Yellow is not really my favourite colour, but yes, occasionally- that is more of than many other colours, my hands do tend to pick a yellow instead of an orange or a purple. 

I just love these shoes- brown heels from Charles & Keith
and my beige sweater is from Vero Moda

A plain yellow t-shirt or shirt with a cardigan to go with is not very out of the blue or out of the ordinary. Above, I have teamed up a simple yellow t-shirt with a beige cardigan to go with brown pants and brown heels.

But instead, you could even pair it up with a matching brown/beige scarf, like I did on the left.

If you want to wear a yellow kurta to work, that's a good idea too. I possess one plain yellow kurta which I usually wear with either a printed yellow & green patiala or a plain white chudidaar, depending on my mood :P

 

The other kurta I have is shown right at the top. It's white with a yellow border. It has the most beautiful yellow dupatta- with pink and green on the corners. It's not very flashy, which is why I love it.


The secret to wearing yellow is really simple:-

1) Don't overdo it- If you're wearing a yellow shirt, don't wear matching nailpaint or clips or even shoes (although this maybe an exception if your outfit has very little or negligible yellow).
2) No yellow pants to work- Ha ha. This goes without saying.
3) Be confident- Let the colour make you feel happy!


Lastly, I just HAD TO post the picture below. It shows how so many people around us and on television wear yellow so chic-ly. :D
I hope this Diwali season you wear yellow to work too. Please send me your pictures so that I can share them on the blog and on facebook. If you want, you can send them anonymously.









Serena and Blair wearing yellow at the same time (how often does that happen?,
Sonam Kapoor in a gorgeous yellow dress by Victoria Beckham, Priyanka in happy
yellow and the yellow Zara wardrobe.

 Happy dressing! :)

xox
CGC

From work to a party

First of all, Happy Dussehra my girls! Hope you had fun watching good triumph over evil today. I received a really funny text saying: "Today is a gentle reminder of the consequences of fooling around with someone else's wife." Ha ha, I thought that was hilarious.

Since today was a holiday, I had some free time to finally finish a super important post I had been working on. So here goes..

  

Are you like me and think you JUST don't have enough time to do everything you want during the day? Are you usually running around from one place to another? Well, let me put it like this..

Your best friend's birthday party is tonight but your boss had told you clearly yesterday that today will be a long day in the office to finish the work in hand. You crib. You cry. You curse your life. But it doesn't have to be that way. All you need to do is have a rough idea of when exactly will you be free.

To go straight to a party from work you will need a certain level of determination and a fair amount of make up. I have come up with three looks, try what works best for you...

Look One

You will need the following:

• Usual office pants and shoes
• A sexy black top which is covered from the front
• A big scarf
• A well fitted stylish coloured blazer
• A pair of high heels
• A pair of high waist shorts which match the blazer

Dress like you always do for work. Just make sure the blazer and the scarf hide the top well enough. And a good precaution: do not forget that you CAN NOT take off the blazer while you're working. Ha ha.

Keep a pair of shorts, high heels, some jewellery and cosmetics of course in your bag in the morning. Make sure you fold the shorts in a way that they can't get crinkled.

What I'm wearing: Pants from Pantaloons and scarf from an exhibition.

Now now, it's almost time for the party, your work is finally over. You wave goodbye to your boss and he leaves. Once it's safe to go change in the office washroom, rush to seize that opportunity.

Take off those pants and put on the high waist shorts. Shorts and blazers together are the new trend. Open that blazer button, take off your scarf and sport on your best heels.

You could even put some red lipstick to zing up the look.

You must be thinking, oh crap what about the hair? Well, the best suggestion I can give is to possibly iron your hair in the morning so that they stay that way by the evening. Don't tie your hair during the day and the office Air Conditioner won't let it get ruined. All you'll have to do is just brush them once before leaving..

What I'm wearing: A black top with a strappy back from Zara, Shorts and Blazer that I got from Bangkok. A ring from Forever New. And black pumps from Charles & Keith.

Look Two

You will need the following:

• Usual office clothes: pants, scarf, ballerinas, a shirt
• A pair of high heels
• A skirt/ shorts which match the shirt

The same procedure as mentioned above. Just this time you don't need a blazer but just a really well fitted and classy shirt to match the skirt/ shorts you decide to team it up with.

What I'm wearing: Black shirt from Tommy Hilfiger, scarf from Van Heusen and blue pants from Forever 21.

And again, replace the pants with a funky pair of shorts- mine are from Forever 21. They are red in colour and a short, so perfect for a dance party too. 

OR

A fitted skirt with the shirt would look great too. This is from Forever 21 too. :)

Look Three

This look is for all the Diwali parties coming up. You may not have too much time to go home to get dressed in your best designer suits. So this is the best what one can do

You will need the following:

• A formal silk suit with a plain chudidaar/ salwaar and a plain dupatta
• High heels (either gold or silver) to match the formal suit
• A plain informal kurta you usually wear to work
• Kolapuris to wear to work

What I'm wearing: Red silk chudidaar with a matching dupatta. For work, I wore a simple white kurta I usually wear with a colourful cotton patiala salwar. The kurta is from Fab India. Golden coloured kolapuris from Sarojini Nagar.

And when work is over, all you have to do is replace the plain boring office kurta with a sexy kurta instead. And and not to forget high high heels and some bangles to match.

What I'm wearing: A plain red sleeveless silk kurta. This was stitched by my tailor. I love how he makes all my clothes exactly like I tell him to! I hope all you ladies have one such tailor you can blindly rely on.. 'Cause you know one can't buy designer suits all the time.

Ladies, you are ready to balance work and play.

Voila! You're a Corporate Cinderalla!

xox
CGC

I'm going green!

The colour green stands for youth, freshness, springtime, life and hope. It is also used to show prosperity. It is the colour which can make you feel bright and it certainly makes me feel alive. It is without a doubt one of my favourite colours.

When was the last time you wore something green to work?

If it's hard to remember, it was too long ago.

I think it's time to change that.

Green will go with black pants, a white skirt, brown high-waist trousers and even a grey-ish blazer. It doesn't hurt the eye and at the same time will make you stand out.

Here's how I play with this colour:





Plain dark green
tshirt with a thin
brown blazer and a tiny
scarf tied on the belt loop



Printed green scarf from Zingrin



Kurta from Fab India



Everything green! Clips, earrings and belt from GK market
 and ring from Khan Market

Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada looks
absolutely chic in green!

And hence, like they say, "think green!"

Send me pictures of yourselves in your favourite green clothes to feature them on this blog post.

xox
CGC

A Country of Colours

Hola girls!

L.o.v.i.n.g. L.i.f.e.

There's just something about October.. Diwali is almost around the corner, the weather is getting better, the days shorter, card parties have started and work is lighter. It's without a doubt my favourite time of the year.

India as we know, is a country of festivals. We have a major festival almost every two months- I guess we just need an excuse to celebrate. But as this year's Diwali season is setting in, it's making me realize that more than anything else we all love colour. We are not the ones to wear blacks, greys or browns for a prolonged period of time. It just doesn't work for us. We need a red or a pink or a bright blue to make us feel churpy.

Even if you walk down a road, you will mostly see women wearing a red saree, or a pink suit or a purple top with jeans. The latest trend being- the red lipstick to perk up any outfit. Sometimes I actually wish I could sport red lipstick to work, haha, but boo-hoo that's a big no-no. You don't want people to think you're here to party and not work.

My point being: don't make your corporate wardrobe drab by just wearing blacks and greys to work. Agreed, they are the basic essentials one must possess, but make sure to team them up with a bright pink shirt or a yellow scarf or a big blue bag. 

My future posts will contain details of specific colours and how to carry them off. But, I also thought I'd share the following pictures I found on google just to make us all remember that we live in "A Country of Colours":

To conclude: Don't hide that Indian inside you at work. :D

xox
CGC

The power of pastels.

The classic colours: white and beige. Simple. Slick. Elegant.

Never underestimate the power of a white shirt. It's a classic. Team it up with a pair of beige pants or skirt (or even vice versa- beige shirt and white pants), and you've got yourself a winner.
Check out what your favourite brands have to offer:





Van Heusen Beige Skirt



Wills Lifestyle



Zara White Shirt

Zara Beige Trousers





 This is what I wore to work the other day:

Pants: Polo Beverly Hills

Ballerinas: Comfy yet stylish.



You can never go wrong with a white shirt. It's a must have in every girl's wardrobe.

Whenever you are confused on what to wear on a particular day and are not really in the mood for any colours, pastels is the way to go. And hell yes, Burberry agrees with me!





xox

CGC

Shubh Aarambh

A big hello to anyone/ everyone reading this. 

I have been wanting to start writing a blog since a really long time now, and have finally come up with a brilliant idea. Inspired by other blogs on fashion and dressing up, I wondered if there was a page or website on the internet which could suggest ways to dress up for work. Yes, I found some which were incredible (I will share them later) but they did not particularly cater to the Indian workforce- since we in India have a different way to dress up altogether.

Andddd therefore, this blog is aimed to discuss the way corporate women in India dress/ can dress/ should dress.

So let's do a shubh aarambh to this, like everything in our country, and make it fun. Inputs from all readers would be wonderful. :)