sss: May 2013

July is almost here and in a month "Sage&Slingback" turns ONE!
Wow, what an amazing experience it has been. In a short span of one year I have touched many lives and have connected with many wonderful people . When people walk up to me and genuinely appreciate my work, it feels wonderful. It motivates me even more, I feel the effort and the time that I have invested on this is worth it. So thank you people from the bottom of my heart. Without your support & love this wouldn't have been possible!

It was a lazy Sunday morning and after my first round of coffee yesterday, I picked the phone and had a tete-te-tete with Neeta Rajendran ( owner of Sakhi). We both were thrilled to see the response for our latest post "THE GOLD RUSH". Readers loved Sakhi Kanjeevarams and Amrapali together. The comments were coming in till the last minute and it was time to draw the lucky winners name. Neeta & I agreed that SUNDARI would do the honors!

Raffle drawing by Sundari.

And the lucky winner ( THE GOLD RUSH post) is ....

Dr. Chaitra Rao from Chicago. Congratulations!!
You win a gift Voucher from Sakhi for an amount of Rs.5000 which could be used towards your later purchase at SAKHI.

Folks, remember the contests we had in the past....from the brands UDD and then SAKHI for Diwali? The winners have sent their pictures with their winning dupatta and saree. Here it is.....

Lovely Rupa Gadiraju ( who suggested the title UDD CHALI MEIN MANCHALI), a software engineer from the Copenhagen university, currently working & settled in Hyderabad. I got a chance to meet her this time during my India trip. What a great human being she is! We got along like a house on fire, talked nineteen to the dozen from fashion to food in that short span of 2 days. Thanks Rupa for coming into my life and spreading so much happiness.

Rupa Gadiraju in a UDD dupatta that she had won from the contest last year....

How can anyone forget Rekha Nair from our Diwali post "VASUDHARINI"? The impact she made on all of us with her "NEVER GIVE UP" spirit.....wow, I am having a goose-bump moment as I am typing this. She inspired many of us to stop sweating the small stuff and embrace life with open arms. I was in touch with her & recently she did write to me that she is completely Cancer free ( YAY!!) and had resumed work. More power to you Ms. Rekha!!

Dr Rekha Nair...happy & radiant!

In her winning SAKHI saree with her daughter...

Congratulations again... folks. As I sign off, I ask for your Continue support and love. "Sage& Slingback" is incomplete without YOU!!
Will be back in June with a colorful post... It's a promise!!

Hmmm.... where should I begin? I am super excited because I get to talk about all my favorite topics - clothes, make up, jewelry and Rekha, the bollywood Style diva, in one single post!

When I was styling a fashion show a couple of years ago, I clearly remember asking the models about their favorite Indian Style diva and most of them mentioned REKHA. I couldn't agree more. During my teen years, she was a huge influence on me. I would grab magazines like Cine- Blitz or Stardust just to get a glimpse of her red lipstick, gorgeous kanjeevarams, exquisite gold jewelry and mogra flowers. Starry eyed, I used to flip through the pages of these magazines and be fascinated by the way she posed for her favorite shutterbugs Askok Salian and Rakesh Shresta. Easily, she was the best Indian face when it came to still photography. And today, I attribute my love for kanjeevarams, gold jewelry and lipsticks to her - she made them look good and how!!

After my recent trip to India, I totally believe that the only place to shop for kanjeevarams in Bangalore is SAKHI. I walked in and out of many stores ( sari giants like Nalli, Kumarans, Deepam, Prasiddhi etc) in under 10 minutes as they didn't have anything that suited my taste and sensibilities. But SAKHI floored me. The colors and range they have to offer in terms of silk is unbelievable. From the traditional temple border, rising borders and the Mumbagam ( 3 parts), the concept weaves to partly pallu ( where the pleats are of a different color and pattern from the body), cutworks, Kalamkari & the Kundan work on Kanjeevarams – they have it all. This is my second feature on SAKHI and this time around, I would like to introduce its collaboration with the legendary jewelers from Jaipur, AMRAPALI . Sakhi unveils its new collection of saris inspired by antique jewelry motifs on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Thrithiya on May 13th.

As a Mangalorean, it amazes me to see how my home town is fast growing to be a "City of Gold". The first things that welcome you as you step out of the Mangalore airport are huge billboards from various Jewelry brands.

If Aishwarya and Amitabh say "Kalyan Jewelry" is the best, Mohanlal and Hema Malini want us to try "Malabar gold" and our kannada super heroes are roped in too to represent other jewelry brands. Sultan, Alukkas, Bhima’s, Khazana, Abharana, Swarna, Laxmidas, S.L.Shet... the list is endless and it surely makes an interesting drive from the airport to home as you get a glimpse of the brand wars and the dazzling jewelry.

"Akshaya" means infinite or endless. Most Hindus consider "Akshaya Thrithiya" a good occasion to start something new because as per the belief, any new undertaking on this auspicious day is bound to prosper. So as a part of the tradition, in many parts of India people tend to buy gold and clothes on this day. I was in Mangalore many years ago to witness this madness on the day of Akshaya Thrithiya. The jewelry stores were decorated like wedding halls and people flocked into the stores to buy gold. What an experience that was!

For this post, I have chosen 3 off-white Kanjeevaram silk-tissue sarees from Sakhi and have paired it with some stunning gold jewelry from my personal Amrapali collection. This is my humble attempt to impersonate REKHA and I am sure that my favorite shutterbug and dear friend Vandana has done justice to the pictures by bringing out the right feel and the mood.

LOOK 1: (Images by Vandana Rao, Jewelry images by Jayashree Rao)

Off white gold tissue Kanjeevaram from SAKHI with narrow gold temple border and gold floral buttas.

Emerald kada and ear-rings from AMRAPALI.

Jadau- leaf motif dull gold neck piece.

LOOK2:

Off white Kanjeevaram from SAKHI with triangular border in the hues of dull blue and pink worn with an off white cut work blouse ( the cut work blouse comes in many colors and is a versatile piece that can be worn with a lot of sarees)

Dull gold Kerala neck piece from AMRAPALI.

The dangly ear-rings.

LOOK3:

Off white Kanjeevram silk from SAKHI with tissue gold border and mogul gold motifs on the body.

Navaratan Antique finish Kada from AMRAPALI:

Dull gold Navaratan Jhumkas.

"BEDAZZLED COLLECTION" by SAKHI for Akshaya Thritiya:

SAKHI is a niche boutique run by the mother daughter duo Chandra and Neeta. They have 3 branches in Bangalore and one in Hyderabad. Their collection ranges from timeless concept kanjeevarams to breezy chiffons, light tussars to elegant pure silks involving traditional techniques of embroidery and modern cut work.

As a part of the unveiling of their new collection "Bedazzled", they had organized a fashion show in their Indiranagar store on May 3rd and Sage & Slingback has the first hand pictures.

The models here are wearing saris from SAKHI's new collection along with stunning 22k gold, Jadau, uncut diamond and Kundan jewelry from AMRAPALI.

The motifs are inspired by Jhumkas, Maangtikas, Earrings and Malas.

The new clothing collection and the jewelry are for purchase and to place your order, please contact Neeta Rajendran.

Contact Info:

Neeta Rajendran – CEO SakhiFashions, Sakhi by Chandras: #305, 6th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore - 560038

Ph: +91 9880003636 Ph: +91 80 6570 3388

Email:Neeta@SakhiFashions.com. Website:www.SakhiFashions.com

Sakhi Boutiques located at Bangalore: Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Sadashivnagar.

GIVE AWAY DETAILS:

On this auspicious occasion of "Akshaya Thrithiya" we have a giveaway for our readers:

1. Leave behind a comment here, telling us how you liked the post. Don’t forget to write your name.

2. On May 25th, a raffle will be drawn and one lucky winner will get a gift voucher of Rs 5000/= from SAKHI, that can be used for any purchase at their store.

3. Like SAKHI & Sage&Slingback on FB.

THE COLLECTION:

Kanjeevaram Half & Half, where one half is plain and other half has Jewelry motifs. It comes in many color combinations and the "BEDAZZLED" collection is priced from Rs 4,500 to Rs.36,000.