Harking back to the days of yore in the quaint old Havelis ofNorth Kolkata where ladies draped their Dhakai Jamdanisin"Shabeki" or traditional Bengali style , accompanied with full or three-quartered sleeve ruffled blouses and ornate gold jewellery. Today, through my post here I am just trying to humbly represent that era; that era when the novels ofTagore or Sarat Chandra Chattopadhay were brimming with strong and liberated women, who brought inthe first ray offeminism, and were considered as the most emancipated in their society.
Poila Baishak or Durga Puja away from home feels morbid, feels wrong, very very disheartening, depressing and aberrant. Only someone who lives far away from his/her family would truly understand what it means to be with them during times of celebrations.
While I will be stuck here, sitting on my butt all day doing nothing, probably crying and screaming my heart out all alone in this house and cursing my life even more seeing you all upload pictures of your Poila Baishaklooks and yummy poila boishak special dishes.
But no, as I write this, I promise myself not to waste the day and put my best Bong fashion foot forward and roam about on the streets of Varanasi.
Sounds paradoxical? Great…Let it be! This is what I’ll be looking like and will probably be happy.
But no, as I write this, I promise myself not to waste the day and put my best Bong fashion foot forward and roam about on the streets of Varanasi.
Sounds paradoxical? Great…Let it be! This is what I’ll be looking like and will probably be happy.
For the look on Poila Baishak I couln’t think of anything else other than a saree, other than a Dhakai Jamdani saree. I gave the traditional Bengali ‘white and red’ saree a break and instead went for a sea green Dhakai jamdanisareewith white and light yellow thread-work paired with a lightyellow ruffled blouse. There are two reasons for choosing this saree, firstly, the color combination is very soothing and apt for the sultry hot weather; and secondly, this is the only saree I have with me right now.
SAREE:-
The traditional way of wearing ‘Atpoure’ saree is without pleats, where the saree is wrapped around in an anti-clockwise direction around the waist and then a second time from the other direction. The loose end is a lot longer and that goes around the body over the left shoulder and then the end on the right. There is also enough cloth left to cover the head. But today I went for pleats, simply because the traditional ‘atpoure’ style isn’t my cup of tea and I only know how to don the ‘atpoure’ style with pleats.
SAREE:-
The traditional way of wearing ‘Atpoure’ saree is without pleats, where the saree is wrapped around in an anti-clockwise direction around the waist and then a second time from the other direction. The loose end is a lot longer and that goes around the body over the left shoulder and then the end on the right. There is also enough cloth left to cover the head. But today I went for pleats, simply because the traditional ‘atpoure’ style isn’t my cup of tea and I only know how to don the ‘atpoure’ style with pleats.
To nail that perfect Bengali look, I went for a quarter-sleeved yellow blouse with white laced frills. It was made by my mother-in-law in half a day. I wish I had a fraction of the talent that my two mothers have. I have never worn a ruffle blouse and now I regret why!
MAKEUP:-
My makeup here is uber simple. I went for a neutral makeup which is glamorous without being too dramatic, polished yet not made up.
I have just applied a moisturiser and a BB cream as the base. Skipped concealing (hence the panda eyes). You can go for foundation as per your choice and do correcting and concealing as well. As this is a day look and I am in a weird hot and sultry place with sudden rains, I skipped them. I just lightly dusted my Ben Nye Fair Powder on my T-zone.
For eyes, on my lids I applied a shimmery champagne color which had hints of rose gold and spread it really well with fingers. Now on a fluffy brush, took some brown and patted on the outer corners and went to and fro on the crease. With a black liquid liner I lined my upper lash line, winging it at the corners. Applied kohl on the waterline and using the same liquid liner, following my eye shape, I drew a line just below the kohl. This is weird, but gives a stunning bold, sharp look. I have tried doing this with gel liners, but could never achieve the intensity.
Light pink blush on cheeks and a peachy nude color on lips. Blush is from Ben Nye palette and lipcolor is The Body Shop Nairobi Camilla.
ACCESSORIES:-
I opted for minimal accessories. The earrings are exclusive handcrafted composite turquoise gemstone earrings with pearl drops. I received this as a PR product and I am so in love with it.
I opted for minimal accessories. The earrings are exclusive handcrafted composite turquoise gemstone earrings with pearl drops. I received this as a PR product and I am so in love with it.
The bangle on my right hand is a simple gold one, a gift from darling mother-in-law. Ohh!! A kamarbandh too just to keep the saree from acting weird.
NAILS:-
I did my mani keeping the saree in mind. I perky yellow nail polish on all the nails except the ring finger and on that one a pastel turquoise blue to go with the saree.
I did my mani keeping the saree in mind. I perky yellow nail polish on all the nails except the ring finger and on that one a pastel turquoise blue to go with the saree.
This completes my look for the upcoming event. Hope you all like it.... :)
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| Behind the sceness ;) |
Wishing you all love, health and peace in this New Year.
Subho Noboborsher pretti o subhecha sobaike :)
Subho Noboborsher pretti o subhecha sobaike :)
