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Revive Style

fashion, design and old world charm

18

21st October 2016

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Oorja Makkad

Blogger | Designer
Millennial Sareephile
Indian Textile Aficionado

Musing on fashion, handicraft, sustainability narratives, cruelty-free beauty and eclectically homegrown design. Find me on Instagram @oorja.revivestyle.

#HANDCRAFTEDISBEAUTIFUL

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snow white handloom frosted with little silver tri snow white handloom frosted with little silver trinkets 🌼 I'm definitely becoming an Indian handcrafted silver with Western clothing person and there's no going back!

An ear clip-on, something I never even knew was a thing one could wear, in silver with a hint of turquoise and rice pearls. A simple pearl stud to accompany it, and a contemporary silver kadha. @store.aarna thanks for making me discover this cute clip-on and teaching me how to wear it hahaha

Bangle and ear clip: @store.aarna 
Handloom linen silk top: @vilayaaclothing
Denims: @levis_in
artisanal-minimal is a most exquisite outfit mood: artisanal-minimal is a most exquisite outfit mood: handloom ikat (Telangana), handloom kala cotton (Kutch), silver adornment from @store.aarna with intricate engravings in chitai work (Rajasthan) 🖤 the best Indian ensemble, to me, is an ensemble wherein traditional artisanal elements from several states come together, each representing a part of our vaaaast, diverse handicraft and handloom varieties in this country. Isn't that the most meaningful, significant way to acknowledge our rich textile heritage? Finding beauty and aesthetics in not just the visual look of the outfit but what each part of it signifies - the story it tells of the land it comes from, of the generations of artists that keep that fabric or that jewellery alive!
vintage hand-me-down blouse, glistening handwoven vintage hand-me-down blouse, glistening handwoven Chanderi with a scalloped madhkan border, layers of jade and blue apatite crystal beads 💙  this was the first time I purchased and wore a tissue Chanderi, from @diariesofnomad. I'd still go buy more in every colour! It was soft, being cotton-silk, and glamorous all at once. Love the scalloped 'marhkan' on the border. Sometimes a cut of blouse, a textile, a certain bead of neckpiece or a pallu over the shoulder, the smallest thing just hits the visual association spot somewhere in your head and suddenly you're feeling like a queen. It shows in your stride, and we all deserve these slivers of self-love! It's moments like that which pull you to wearing sarees more, from one to next ✨
Kota dorias are such a beautiful summer handloom. Kota dorias are such a beautiful summer handloom. Handwoven as a tradition of Rajasthan, they have that quintessential checkered pattern (each square is called a khat), and are immersed in rice and onion paste to strengthen the yarns. There's something about how a kota doria can be both regally stiff, and cloudy soft at once. Well worn kotas are diaphanous and clingy as a dream, freshly starched kotas are elegantly structured and breezy. I guess wearing handloom and having the blues is two things I'm really good at 💙😆 These are very happy blues though, like Sade and a glass of bubbly by the sea!

Crystal encrusted, intricately crafted mornis on my neck from @store.aarna - I love how those lush blue crystals drip down the neck in the way this piece is set. A handblocked, handwoven kota doria dupatta and kota doria kurta.
handcrafted textiles teach us this: pursue wholene handcrafted textiles teach us this: pursue wholeness, not perfection ✨

silver and glass earrings: @store.aarna 
dupatta: that stunning surface texture is arashi shibori - an intricate and meticulous tie-dye technique in which the fabric is hand stitched and tied up very tightly and closely before immersing in dye to obtain the resultant color effect as well as the artistically crinkled 3D texture. A touch of Ajrakh handblock printing on the borders. Gajji silk, from Kutch!
an overdose of saree selfies 🖤 an overdose of saree selfies 🖤
a vintage silk, an English-Rajasthani choker 🌼 a vintage silk, an English-Rajasthani choker 🌼 
This saree has the most darling motifs, of little huts, birds and trees. Many, many years ago, when online shopping was not a thing, a sweet Bengali neighbour brought this back for my mom from her hometown. The blouse is a hand-me-down crêpe silk. 

@store.aarna's freshwater pearls and Rajasthani glass cutwork is a stunner as always, but what really had my heart about this is a detail both creators and consumers tend to overlook or not notice in a lot of jewellery - the aesthetics of the parts that don't meet the spectator's eye. That little trinket of silver beads where the clasp shuts behind your neck is a mark of jewellery made by a creator with an impeccable eye for detail - someone who's not making it with only a quick sale in mind, but for the whole experience the wearer would have with it and most importantly, for the joy of creating as an act of worship 🌼 I've spoken of this in posts about my jewellery collection - whether heirloom, borrowed or purchased - quite a few times before. When little things like the invisible clasp are also paid attention to and made beautiful, it's a mark of finesse. A secret between the object of art and it's wearer to behold and enjoy regardless of whether it meets the gaze of the audience ✨
vintage crewel embroidered chiffon, dripping navar vintage crewel embroidered chiffon, dripping navaratan crystals 🖤 my mom's saree from 25+ years ago, still preserved lovingly. Something about this design, the colors and the way the motifs are laid out has that accurate vintage saree charm - a subdued glamour, a perfect balance of eclectic and feminine at once. @store.aarna's handcrafted silver choker with multi-faceted polkis, intricate silver beads and just the right touch of clustered pearls inspired this drape to be aired! They look made for each other ✨
I think right now is the first time in Revive.Styl I think right now is the first time in Revive.Style's history that pictures for the 'gram aren't doggo bombed anymore 🐾❤️ You can't find any shoot in my Gallery that doesn't have at least one instance of Dodo frolicking around and butting in. He's really judging my wine drunk at 2am sandals splurge  in the second picture isn't he haha
'Here is love And there is fragrance There the man 'Here is love
And there is fragrance
There the mangoes are in bloom
Here kokilas
Are singing in the pancham
The season is ripe.
Bees float in the air
Inhaling pollen
Sucking honey.
The god of love
Is secretly setting 
Flower arrows to his bow.'

- Vidyapati (1352-1448)

A happy yellow throwback for Vasant Panchami 🌻Saree: Handloom Cotton Silk with weft figuring motifs in copper hued zari, from @pink_paisely
pov: I'd rather be on a beach resort rn but I'm ju pov: I'd rather be on a beach resort rn but I'm just here listening to construction drilling instead of waves crashing on the shore 🥺

playing dress-up with an intricate stunner, precious turquoise and blooming clusters of pearls, from @store.aarna. Worn in resort mode with a hand-me-down shirt and my first ever (and very recent) white trouser buy 🌼 

these handcrafted, indian silver choker sets are usually typecast as something to wear on a saree day, but I think they can do really well with western clothing even - from glamorous silk slips to laid back monochrome outfits ✨
all kinds of flowers, for it's a day of love (like all kinds of flowers, for it's a day of love (like everyday is) ❤️ silver blooms: @store.aarna, red blooms: the neighborhood garden
RIP my sweet doggo 🖤 30/1/04 - 13/02/21 RIP my sweet doggo 🖤 30/1/04 - 13/02/21
Seeking Simon. Family jewels unnecessary (but fami Seeking Simon. Family jewels unnecessary (but family shawls are quite welcome) 💎
Once, some one who had terribly loved him had writ Once, some one who had terribly loved him had written to him a mad letter, ending with these idolatrous words: “The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history.” The phrases came back to his memory, and he repeated them over and over to himself. 

- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

#SOTD - Layering textures with lustre over lustre in velvet, wrapped in a handwoven silk wisp of gold. Adorned with touches of precious silver - cut glass  in a crescent moon chandbali, clustered buds for the wrists. I think this is an outfit that went maximalist and minimalist at the same time ✨🖤 Handcrafted Silver from @store.aarna.
🍇🌺 being a blueberry in kota doria from @bou 🍇🌺 being a blueberry in kota doria from @boutiqueshakuns and a reversible choli from @suta_bombay for some print-on-print sareeing. It's that time of the year when @eeshitajoneja and @sangys_sareeaffair - gorgeous saree queens with the most beautiful sense of style - kick off their #SixYardsOfRougeAndRoses theme that I love so much. Wearing a saree that's pink, red and everything in that colour spectrum always hits different ❤️ I'm glad you two came up with this simple, elegant, easy and romantic series! I have the perfect excuse to air my reds and pinks all week. I think it's the only Valentines-y thing I'm going to get to do hahaha

Textiles & Crafts: Choli, handblock printed on one face and a solid red on the other face. It's reversible quality is its most sustainable aspect!

Saree, a handwoven kota doria with handprinted Dhabu mud resist patterning. The weave and the printing are both crafts of Rajasthan.
Indian Wedding Style Hack: There is always a "this Indian Wedding Style Hack: There is always a "this is too traditional" and "this is too Western" struggle when women decide their outfits for all the functions 😂 Here's a way to avoid buying new clothes for cocktail nights, bachelorette parties, or any of those shenanigans that are part of a wedding but not a function that you want to be very "traditional" in a lehenga, suit or saree at ⬇️ 

Style your fav Western party wear pieces with statement Indian jewellery. The maharani-meets-glam fusion aesthetic looks pretty, interesting and unique. It's contemporary and chic enough for those nights of debauchery when you want to drink, dance and be merry, but at the same time has the touch of desi! It wouldn't feel like a wedding if you go too Western, we all wait for weddings and festivals to air our traditional accessories anyway ✨

The best part is, you don't have to go out and buy something new just for that one function . The past month, I've given this advice to three friends who were almost about to go buy something new for a cocktail, reception or some kind of side-party because they weren't sure of going full-Western for an Indian wedding. It saves your money, gives a longer life to those fast fashion NYE dresses you've bought, and it's always sustainable to restyle!

Tagging this post for #RestylingWithPenaaz @drapeastory because we can't talk enough about experimenting with what you already have in new ways ❤️
a happy Sunday 👀 Artwork: A PRINCE AND HIS CON a happy Sunday 👀

Artwork: A PRINCE AND HIS CONSORT ON AN OUTDOOR TERRACE
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper
image: 6 3/4 by 4 1/4 in., 17.2 by 10.9 cm
folio: 14 1/4 by 10 3/4 in., 36.2 by 27.3 cm
INDIA, DELHI, 19TH CENTURY
Source: Sotheby's
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Revive Style

fashion, design and old world charm

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