The male models stand about, their tight waists folded in deep white towels and over that, barrel chests exploding huge. They’re short but that’s ok. We just need close up shots. They stand quietly until they’re called upon to perform for the lens.

The photographer adjusts his lenses and frowns as he realizes the dark background is absorbing his subject. He needs light. Anyhow. Whether it is by putting chart paper in the background, that he will suitably blur. And a splash of green. Helpers! Bring green. From anywhere. Pots of plants or branches to hold.

Small issues like light he plug doesn’t fit extension board irritates one and all. Whose responsibility was it? Creativity is so subject to technical soundness.
.
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(Oh wow… great revelation. Duh…)

Spontaneous and eclectic. A shop called DIR 69 in Hauz Khas village, Delhi. Tanu Bagai brings together prettiness, vintage flavour, European pastels, glam bling and edgy leather to create a truly unique collection of bags. It's not just the bags; her shop offers a different mood altogether with its battered cabinet, whisky & lace lamp and artificial tree showing off bags on its bare limbs.

Tanu revels in purely heart-gladdening design. Apart from bags, she designs a small collection of clothes as well. "They come to me asking for party clothes. What's PARTY clothes now..?" she asks indignantly as her stuff just doesn't stick to clichéd definitions. The bags start at Rs 1000. The avg price is Rs 3000. Just remember, don’t dress to match the bags!

The Skirt Bag >>>

The Pillow Bag>>>

Gleam-Toaster Bag >>>

Lady's Luggage >>>

69 Bling >>>

Vintage pvc printed layered bag with wooden handles >>>

Quilted Black Bag >>>

Bridal pastry Bag >>>

Lover's Tiffin Bag >>>

The Bag Bureau >>>

And Tanu!

Tanu Bag-Ai
Marathi: Mother of bags
Japanese: Bag-love

Contact DIR69 @

50, F/F, Hauz Khas village, New Delhi-30

Ph: 91 9810176178

The shop is far down the road near the entrance of Hauz Khas monument.

Sporty >> For parkour
Street >> For casual strutting
Hippie
Rock n Tattoo
Sophisticated >> with best quality detailing and accessories
Cold and Inflexible and Starchy
Uniform >> Napolean style jacket or military apparel
Romantic >> Knots and bows and fluid lines
FabIndia
Resort-wear >> Ample breathing space and whites
Irreverent >> Formal suit with red shoes. Tough to carry off.
Color >> The enjoyment of one color block like an orange kurta or solid color trapeze dress.
Quirky >> With odd pouchy pockets, lurex on the collar or simply mixed laces
Utter glam >> Black tube dress with a large satin hood. And gorgeous gorgeous shoes.

What else..? And what for summer?

Want to do the beach look.. bronzed shoulders.. stringy neck-thing.. and sand specks.. all the clichés.. heh

Need Papaya orange muffler. Not the snuggly-wuggly-woozly thick type. Not the mean narrow strip. Just the usual. Strong color. Genuine. For when I don't want my black overcoat to be impersonal.

Minimalism mixes with a need for elaborate expression. Roses heap on dresses; but its grey on dull blue.

Rajesh Pratap Singh.

Embellishments and fabrics of ghagras squeezed into bustiers and mini-skirts. The lingering romance of stringy backs and elaborately embroidered necklines. Surily Goel.

Floral Girly Summer whites with breathe-easy transparency. Maybe a touch of Japanese hues in an Indian Indian summer.

Flounces and Ruffles

A defiant creature in trailing robes

A fashionable urchin

Peach Sap Green and WHITE

Abraham and Thakore

Tussar silk… red textured with gold disturbances. A culture to run your hand over, crush as you recline in gorgeous array.

Gaurav Gupta

Detailed motifs like Persian illustrations or just repetitive bee-hive hexagons printed, reprinted all over to create an intricate medium.

Cue

Malini Ramani. The JP Gaultier of India going nuts with larvae metamorphosing into birds across a tunic, aliens that landed in Egypt and latex stockings worn with the most traditionally woven garb. Eccentric would be an understatement. It's also becoming a cliché.

Classic black with gold embroidery. Could be a curtain, sofa or dress. Velvet dress. Old-world beauty sewn in every seam, every patch of the garment.

Elegance so delicate it may evaporate, fashion mixing with oil paintings, the regal long kurtas on flared pants – so reminiscent of early Indian fashion. The 90s. Muzaffar and Meera Ali.

Those typical peach dresses in chiffon, the gold blingy sheer dresses. Tiered skirts in beige. All that you already seen but may still have an eye on.

Manish Malhotra.

Inspirations from the floral whites of Mediterranean vineyard festivities, from the blue and gold silk of Bharatnatyam costumes.

White embroidery on white, pleats and pin tucks and patchwork that don’t stand out due to a universal neutral shade, but build a richness nevertheless. Rohit Bal.

The typical silver jewellery, undecided between its tribal Indian origins and contemporary air.

Sabyasachi. Liberal. Authentic. Disputably understated. Picking from fabrics worn around the house, glamorizing them with a dash of gold and then negating it with an unflattering shape. Grandmother’s trunk to pull rags and riches out of.

Handbags and sandals, their bling exaggerated by placing them along dry wooden barks. Clutches. Fat bands of rings, even ear-rings with mineral-ore like stones set in them.  Nature to be sported on your ear-lobes and neck, accentuating the dull gold or self-effacing black of your dress.

yeaahha..

Silk shorts with golden stilettos! (With margin for second thoughts)

While I was darning something this Sunday afternoon, I looked at the cotton spool I held in my hand. Light dusty tired blue and a golden beige ribbon, B’ful combo….. Cud be a dress.

And I want a fitted short shapely matte leather jacket quilted and structured at shoulders, elbows. Nice lapels or an experimental collar of some sort. Not grunge but almost there. Not biker but a lil there. Very very chic. The kind that I can wear with jeans or fling over a dress to make it edgy. I want it even before summer /monsoon is out.

Photograph by Cédric Labourdette. Paris.