A job you love...

Some days, you just love what you do. In my case, I make it a point to mostly do what I love. While researching French cuisine for a magazine article, the husband and I went food tasting across various restaurants offering French cuisine in Mumbai. Did I mention I am a food-lover through and through? So off we went to "Chez Moi" for dinner. The cozy, France inspired interiors at once put us in the mood for some good food and long conversations. I ordered a spinach and walnut soup, and we ordered a grilled lamb starter. I wanted a traditional French Fish recipe for dinner, but that wasn't available, so I ordered a chicken in black bean sauce, which really was just about okay, apart from the fact that there is nothing French about it. Husband ordered a chicken in caramelized sauce, which was miles ahead of my main course in terms of taste, even though the two dishes looked like long lost twins. The high point of the evening was a honey and ginger tea that came in a tall glass, served hot! On Sunday then, I went to my favorite pastry shop, in the name of "research" to dig into Le15 Patisserie's divine macarons and cupcakes. You have to experience this lovely pastry shop's delectable treats to know what they can do to waistlines like mine. Let's just say that diet wise this weekend was a major failure, though I fed my soul. The relaxed and happy state of mind my food journey got me into, left me with an urge to cook, cook and cook some more. So I came home and made some pizzas from scratch. I am not thinking about the weighing scales yet. That bit of worry and regret is for some other day. Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Ink Me Up, Scottie- An Interview with artist Manvee Singh

Doing a post after a really long time. I wanted to break the hiatus with a special blog post. In fact, having decided to steer this blog into a meaningful direction, I wanted to do a post about someone who is stylish, inspiring and interesting. And when I did find my subject, I could not wait to write about her!
She rides a bike, owns a rescued dog, is a tattoo artist, and loves to paint. The girl is as cool as they come. Manvee Singh, Delhi based artist is fun, vivacious, and expresses herself with stunning paintings, rich in details and color. From inking people, to painting canvas, Manvee finds that art gives her wings into world unexplored, and thoughts unspoken. In an interview with Shotcouture, the young, talented artist shares with us what keeps her ticking and makes her work so vibrant and interesting.





Describe yourself in one word.
Fun

Tell me three things that make the world beautiful for you.
Shucks! Just three? Ummm… I guess, colours for sure… What would the world be without color?
Emotions... Raw emotion is beautiful… and I love to capture that...
Animals, because nowhere else do you see such purity of emotions. Basically nature. Plants, fishes, animals... nature never fails in inspiring me.

What got you started? Did you ever consider conventional careers?
I can never stick to one thing. I was appearing for medicals when just for fun, I sat for the NIFT (National Institute Of Fashion Technology) entrance test and got through. So I am a fashion designer by education, but a tattoo artist and interior decorator by profession. I started painting about a year back when somebody challenged me to but I had always loved sketching.

Who inspires you? What inspires you? Where does your muse lie?
Eyes...that’s what inspired me to start sketching... I love capturing different expressions reflected in eyes. To me, eyes speak volumes! Apart from that, my art is a mix of ideas, observations, and experiences. The world is my muse.


Tell me your favorite music, your favorite colors... all the stuff that makes you tick.
I have no particular choice of music but love songs are always a hit for me. I am hopelessly romantic at heart. Red is my favourite colour, but colours in general can brighten up my mood any day.


Do you dance?
I dance occasionally at parties and nothing can stop me from dancing in rains! Rains, dance and paintings are an awesome mix for me!

Have you been in love? Do you believe in love? Does love reflect in your art?
You bet! I am always in love! What else can make you feel so good about yourself! It’s the most beautiful feeling ever and of course it’s prominent in my work. I love painting couples... sometimes sensual and sometime just sweet gentle love. Besides couples, I see love everywhere and like to portray it in my art.


What makes you interesting and fun, and inspiring?
I don’t know if I am all that. I am just a curious girl who loves to learn and experiment with new things. I get bored of routine, but unlike most people, I have this inbuilt need to challenge myself and I guess that qualifies as interesting.


You can find Manvee's work showcased on her website www.manveesingh.com

You can also find her on facebook HERE

Here comes the bride...

A quick post on what I wore for our post wedding reception. The very beautiful saree that I wore is a gift from my friend Ritika Mittal, Founder and Designer of MORA, a brand that has redefined femininity and creativity for me and many proud MORA owners across the world. Ritika styled me for the wedding, and the accessories are hers. The look was a hit with friends and family alike, who are used to conventional Indian brides with tons of makeup and jewellery. I wanted a slightly more contemporary look, and chose to go without makeup. With just kohl lined eyes, and a smile, the saree worked its magic. Hope you like what the bride wore.

I Do...

I have been missing for a while. Been busy with the wedding preparations. My fiancé, now my husband, and I had decided to go in for a Registered Civil wedding, followed by two wedding receptions; one for friends and one for the family. The Civil wedding took place on the 10th February. We left late for the Court, and panic ensued as we kept getting caught in traffic. But finally, everything went off well, and my decision to wear my mother’s sari to my own wedding was well-received by everyone.

I accessorized the Sari with just a pair of pearl earrings, and chose not to wear any make-up. My beautiful friend Ritika, Founder and Designer for MORA, took some memorable pictures of the ceremony. My brother Prashant, Mushfiq’s siter, Shahana, and one of his best buds, Jayesh, were witnesses. Post the Civil wedding, we took our friends out for a quick lunch at a Thali Restaurant. Mushfiq wore a simple cotton kurta with jeans, while my sister-in-law, Mala wore a silk sari and looked lovely as ever. I will do an elaborate post with the wedding pictures later. For now, I am leaving you with a handful of pictures from the Civil ceremony. I am currently busy with adjusting to a new life, in a new home. I have shifted to my husband’s home, and it’s a wonderful feeling, starting my life afresh.

I have been missing blogging and all you lovely ladies and your blogs. Please give me time to catch up with all of you. This is a busy time in my life.

Such a wonderful day...

I have been blogging for a while now, and boy how it has changed! Professional bloggers, celebrity bloggers, newbies... it's a whole new world out there. For me, blogging has been an extension of my desire to write and connect, and in that I have had much success. I started Shotcouture a few years back with a focus on street style, and over the years, it has become a part of who I am. My visual voice has changed. My style of writing has changed. The blog itself has had a makeover.

But nothing has changed more than my life. In just a few years, I became a writer, a blogger, a divorcee, a designer, an aspiring chef, a lover, a wanderer, an orphan, a lonely crusader for sanity and happiness, and now, I am soon going to add one more description to my name. I am going to marry the love of my life.

This is perhaps, one of the most exciting times of my life. Though the wedding, scheduled for February, is an extremely low key affair, I am thrilled about starting the rest of my life with someone who has helped me heal, and has helped me become the woman I always thought I could be.

These past few months have been hectic, and I have not been able to post as often as possible. The content on Shotcouture is undergoing change. I have been working on Bandagi, my own line of accessories. I have a lot going on. But blogging keeps me sane. It helps me stay on track, and not lose sight of my dreams, my aspirations.

The next few posts will be about the very rushed, very tight-scheduled wedding preparations. From the "Girls' Nite Out", to the post-wedding dinner, my not so fat Indian wedding will be the focus of this blog's posts. This weekend, I shop for my post-wedding dinner dress.

For now, I am leaving you with one of my favorite recent looks. The skirt is from Goa, made my these really talented, quirky ex-hippies, who happen to be my favorite designers. More on the wedding soon.

Hello Twenty Twelve - Keep thy promise!!!

I know I have started this year a bit late. But a lot has been happening, and a few announcements are in order. First of all, Bandagi- Bling Worship, my own line of accessories did very well in its first exhibition. Thank you all for your beautiful and kind words of encouragement. Secondly, I am poised for one of my life's biggest events. Will let you know more soon. Very soon!

2011 was a year of mixed blessings. It began badly enough with me losing my dad on 15th January, 2011. I cannot believe that it's almost a year now. On a positive note, I finally started finding my little spot of sunshine on the planet. As a blogger and as a designer, I learned a lot and have the blogosphere to thank for the inspiration I found here. Each one of you, a reader and a commenter on this blog, you are really really special to me. You give me a reason to look beyond my day job, and do something different, all for myself. You are beautiful, inspiring and special to me. Thank you for being in my life.

I hope that 2012 will be a year full of happiness and blessings for all of us. I promise to be more regular with posts and make the content of shotcouture engaging and worth your time.

I am posting some pictures of the Bandagi Collection here. Am now working on the next collection for the Brand - Mon Tresor! It will all be about, Love, Hope and life's irreplaceable treasures. Hope it will be a huge success too.

















We shot the above pictures at my Office's Christmas celebration. I am wearing one of my own hairbands. It was such a fun party, with Christmas Carols, plum cake and wine!

And now for the winner of the beautiful Art Meets Fashion bag!!! The lovely hand painted bag made by the young and talented designer Aarti Verma goes to the lovely Cecile!

Congrats Cecile!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. Will see you on the other side of this beautiful Sunday.

Bandagi Launch and a New Year Giveaway!

This Saturday was one of the most significant days in my life. I launched my own line of accessories. The brand is called BANDAGI – Bling Worship. Bandagi means Worship, and I see the brand as a bit of a rebel, a free-spirit out to explore and discover. My first collection was only hair accessories, as I feel the Hair can transform a woman. Also, we have an extremely emotional association with our hair. So I had a small launch event this weekend which did very well. What had started out as a personal passion is reaching out to many women and I cannot even begin to describe this feeling!

To celebrate the successful Launch of Bandagi, I wanted to have a Giveaway. This also gave me an opportunity to get to know one extremely talented lady, Aarti Verma, of ART MEETS FASHION. Art meets fashion is an independent label which deals with Handpainted and Handcrafted Fashion and Home decor Accessories. Every Product is a unique piece of art. Its founder and designer Aarti has done an Art Teacher Diploma from Sir JJ School Of Arts, and then pursued a crash course in fashion Designing. After teaching as an Arts Teacher for a year, she sought to do something more concrete with her inclination to blend art and fashion, and that was how her label was born.
Aarti believes that Art and Fashion have been the twin passions of her life, and every day she grows as a designer, absorbing new inspirations, rendering them into her colorful designs.

She launched Art Meets Fashion just about a year back with just a few handpainted totes, and already the label does tunics, sling clutches, and ceramic jewellery pieces. But Aarti does not want to get into mass production, and likes to keep her designs unique and rare.



For her designs, Aarti is drawn to Tribal Elements, and prefers doing human figures, very bold, Indian yet contemporary. She loves to fuse two opposite elements, whether in the colors, form or even fabric. While she loves color in general, her preferred colors are earthy tones, with brown and black being her favorites. She is also drawn to reds and greens, depending on her mood.



Aarti’s online presence poses the biggest challenge faced by all independent designers: Plagiarism. She continually tries to refresh and renew her designs in order to combat that, but laments the lack of control over theft of her designs.

While Aarti redefines the style platform for others, her own style is pretty eclectic. She loves to mix trends and isn’t afraid to experiment. In her closet, one would find chunky silver jewellery, skirts of all lengths, and a lovely little black dress! When not working, the young designer loves to travel, take pictures of her world, and gorge on Chinese food.

Currently, Art Meets Fashion is available at the unique multidesigner store, Bliss in Mumbai and Pune. The designs can also be ordered at stainedcanvas@gmail.com

Aarti has given a beautiful, hand-painted bag as a Giveaway gift just for the Shotcouture readers.


To win this lovely Art Meets Fashion bag, you have to…
1. Be a follower of Shotcouture on GFC.
2. LIKE Art Meets Fashion Page On facebook

Once you have done that, just leave a message on this post with your name and valid email id. The Giveaway is open to international readers and will end on Friday, 6http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifth January, 2012!

I can relate to Aarti on so many levels. Having just started my own line of accessories, my constant fears and challenges follow the same progression as her. I will be posting more about my label and accessories on my Facebook Bandagi Page. You can see the key pieces from the collection HERE.

Also, a special mention of my Design Da Paura, inspired by the lovely Rachel, of Capturingitaly. The design is crafted from a delicate fabric flower, and is available in two colors, black and purple.



I am so excited about the launch and keeping my fingers crossed that it would do well. Christmas this year has been memorable. I do hope to hear from lots of you on your plans for the New Year. And yes, don’t forget to take part in the Art Meets Fashion Giveaway! The beautiful, hand-painted bag could be yours!