Fashion Panache

Krishna Jayanthi is a Hindu religious festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. All these years I didn't give much though to the festival at all, but now, with the birth of Atyudarini, Krishna Jayanthi has a new found interest from me!

Lord Krishna is the perfectly adorable God. I can understand if this doesn't make sense at all, if you're not familiar with Hinduism. To give you an idea - he's a God who was brought up in a village surrounded by forest, wore peacock feather on his head, loved butter and stole butter from the neighbourhood as a toddler, was one heck of a mischievous kid, was a shepherd in the growing up years and played flute, was kinda a playboy as a teenager, the perfect lover to his girlfriend as a youngster...... He's not the typical God you pray to, but the God that you could scold or fall in love with. As the poet Subrahmaniya Bharathi said 'Krishna, grow within me as a foetus!'.... So, you get the idea.

This is the first Krishna Jayanthi after Atyudarini was born. So, it is indeed special. Traditionally, kids are dressed up as Krishna or Radha (Krishna's love interest). Me, being so far away from home, I did a bit of DIY to dress up Atyudarini as Krishna. The jewelry are mine which I luckily had here. The dhoti (the draped pants) are a DIY out of her muslin blanket and the flute is the central tube of kitchen towel roll which I painted.

Crown: Irresistible me tiara (same as worn here)

Peacock feather (?): Sequinned earrings (same as worn here)
Dhoti: DIY using Cookie Dohar Blanket (same as featured here)
Flute: DIY using kitchen towel's cardboard tube
Peacock Jewelry: Paytm bazaar (same as worn here)
(The arm bands are the earrings with their stems broken!)
Bracelet: Its a Rakhi tied on Mr.V!
Namam (red streak) on forehead: MAC Lip Liner in Rubywoo

The most endearing aspect of Krishna Jayanthi, when there's a kid in the household is, making the kid walk from the door to the home altar making impression of the feet on the floor with rice paste. This signifies Lord Krishna coming into the house! Actual reason - the rice powder also serves as a food to ants & sparrows. I'm not expecting any ants & sparrows in my apartment in here though!

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Written by Bhushavali

If you've been following My Travelogue too, you'd know that the most colorful event of Brussels, just happened and its called Floralia Brussels. When I'm showing such colorful tulips for the first ever time, to Atyudarini, obviously I'll have wear her in an equally colorful & gorgeous babywearing!!! This time, it has several factors put together.....

Anyone whose been known me or following my blog or Instagram, would know my craze for rainbows. When I saw the Lisca Rainbow Meh-Dai at Didymos site, I was already falling in love with it. And then, the dates of the Brussels Tulip Festival was announced. I mean, it was like a sign, lolz! How could I not wear a Rainbow when standing in the midst of the tulips.....?????

On a totally different angle, I've used ringsling, wraps and buckle carriers, remaining main 3 were meh dai / bei dai, onbuhimo and podaegi. So instead of getting a wrap or ringsling or buckle carrier, I chose the meh dai! Meh Dai / Bei Dai is a Chinese way of baby wearing. Its a cross between a buckle carrier and a wrap. Its basically a squarish piece of cloth with 4 tails in 4 edges, with bottom 2 making the waist band and top 2 making the shoulder strap.

The final factor, apart from the event, color and style, is the longing for fancy finishes...... Well, Atyu is sitting without support now which means, I can back carry her safely. Back carrying means, I have a huge plethora of options on how to drape the tails in front - the fancy finishes!

Wrap Top: From an NGO that serves Tsunami affected women in India

Harem Pants: Thrifted from a Flea Market in Brussels

Babywearing: c/o Didymos Meh Dai

Bamboo Earrings: Handmade by artisans of Tamil Nadu

Beige Chelsea Boots: Primark

This fabric is called Lisca Rainbow White and is made of 100% organic cotton and woven with herringbone twill weave. As a textile designer, for me, this weave is such a joy! The pattern is a visual delight and this weave means, the fabric is pliable & doesn't require breaking in (for babywearing slings & wraps, the fabric has to get pliable).

The best part of Didymos Meh Dai is that it can be used from birth to toddler. There's a drawstring at the base of bodypanel which makes it wearable from newborn. Ofcourse newborn is to be front carried. None of the straps are padded, however drool pads are available to buy separately. It has a hood and the hood adjusting mechanism is pretty simple and interesting with drawstrings (refer pic 2).

These 2 finishes here are called Cauliflower Finish by Tytti Tuomisto and Date Night / Goddess Finish. I'm just so smitten by these, esp with rainbow colors!!! I'm yet to get a hang of securing Atyu to the back, I still do it with Mr.V's help. Needs quite a bit of practice and then its time for more & more fancy finishes!

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Written by Bhushavali

Remember my last post on Christmas in Brussels with Atyudarini??? Well, as I said earlier, Brussels had come up this year with this awesome setup called #BrusselsLights where several key places have been decorated with exotic light setup.

I was roaming about enjoying the Christmas Vibe of the city and managed to click some shots at Christmas Tree at Sablon Notre Dame Cathedral and the Maze installation at Place de la Chapelle.

Dress: Thrifted from a Flea Market in Bangalore
Stockings & Beige Chelsea Boots: Primark
Red Ruffled Jacket: Rose Wholesale
Asymmetric Earrings: From a local store in Chennai
SSC Baby Carrier: c/o Soulslings

Well, over to the most important feature in this outfit - the babycarrier. Its the Neon Anoona by Soul Slings! Its an Indian brand based in Bengaluru aka Bangalore. They produce all types of babywearing including Soft Structured Carriers (SSC), Ring Slings, Meh Dais, Onbuhimo, Wraps etc. One of their recent innovation - a SSC called Anoona, a term which means 'the one without flaws'! Well, when your carrier can help you carry from you little one from birth to toddler-hood, with an adjustable body panel height & width, and included neck support for infants AND 5 different carry options its pretty much an apt name and an one-time investment that's totally worth it! The waist belt has a small pouch that I use to keep her pacifier! Unlike a ringsling, the weight is distributed among both shoulders and unlike a wrap, I don't have 5m of fabric to deal with! This is just so damn easy and comfortable!
The fabrics vary from linen to Jacquards, ikats, stripes & solids in cotton. The SSCs are priced between €66 to €138 (₹3750 to ₹8850). The packaging definitely needs a mention. They come in a cotton, open weave (low EPI PPI in textile terminology!), drawstring muslin bag. Guess what I use it for now? - as a laundry net for the PUL coated baby diaper covers in washing machine!

When it arrived, its Neon colors were the perfect break needed to cheer up the dull winters! Add some Red Jacket and asymmetric statement earrings (errrmmm... well, the pair of both these earrings broke!) to the look and I was all dressed to explore #plaisirsdhiver!

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Written by Bhushavali

When its Christmas around 2 months of your life and you live close to a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is set-up in all its glory, with light & sound show, what do you do? You go!

The UNESCO site I'm talking about is Grand Place in Brussels. Since the past couple years, around Christmas #BrusselsLights has been a huge thing here and growing in multitude year by year. The Gothic architecture, lit up multitudes of color with a huuuuge Christmas tree and Nativity scene set up, this is the best Christmas I've ever experienced. My Atyudarini will be 2 months old by Christmas and obviously this would be her first!!!

Very close to Grand Place is this very famous statue of Brussels - Manneken Pis! If you're here in Europe, do visit Brussels before Jan 7th to witness the most magical Christmas & New Years ever!!!

While taking Atyu here I wore a dull beige colored jacket! She too wore a dull beige onesie. When its festive why would we wear a dull color? Coz we have a super stunning, neon colored accessory to show off - our Soul Anoona Full Buckle Baby Carrier!!! More about this coming up soon in another post. Stay tuned!!! But before that, check them out right now, coz they have a 25% off till Dec 25th!

Beige Jacket: Primark
Brown Leggings: Chennai Silks
Brown knee high boots: From a Local Store in Brussels
Bamboo Earrings: Handmade by craftsperson in Auroville
Wooden Bangle: Handmade by craftspersons of Uttar Pradesh
Brown Handloom Day Bag: c/o Soulslings
SSC Baby Carrier: c/o Soulslings
On Atyudarini: Bear onesie from H&M

Winter in Brussels has been awesome at times & awful at times this year! It snowed here for the first time in 3 years which is awesome but freezing cold wind blowing on the face is awful! Will Atyu's first Christmas be a White Christmas? I really do hope so, let's see!