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Revive Style

fashion, design and old world charm

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15th September 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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my peppermint water and I having a good time 🌱 my peppermint water and I having a good time 🌱 pulled out this @adahbyleesha handblocked mulmul cape from a long forgotten abyss in one corner of my cupboard, it's the perfect day to have rediscovered it! Details: stacks of healing crystals of all kinds, the tasselled turquoise is from @mahamala_in, who make gorgeous healing jewellery with ahimsa silk tassels. I discovered them while wandering about a beautiful hotel in Goa where they had their own shop for guests! This bracelet is called the 'Krishna,' as far as I remember. It has lapis lazuli, turquoises and rudraksh beads. The rope is an assortment of crystal beads, along with the rudraksh beads I wear 24x7. These two are from local shops that sell precious stones and crystal jewellery.
stay in, and read this fun, lighthearted little re stay in, and read this fun, lighthearted little read on the blog ☕🌼 link in bio!
raw mango rubbed with nimboo, salt and kashmiri mi raw mango rubbed with nimboo, salt and kashmiri mirch. coconut water with gin. cozy afternoons with curtains drawn, the precious two hours of AC when the Indian summer sun is at it's glorious peak and you're slicing mangoes on your bed. afternoon siestas. chilled rose water soaks. cucumbers, melons, more mangoes. fresh-squeezing citrus juice with your headphones on. getting sunlight during golden hour. reading in that one corner of your house with dappled sunlight and just enough shade to feel comfortably outdoorsy at home. the playful shadows of dancing palms on your skin. more than one bath a day. khus in everything, from soaps to essential oils to face mists to handwoven chataai. the fragrant breeze that comes through wet plants that you just watered. peppermint tea. talking to your newly bloomed windowsill flowers. chilled dahi rice (thayir sadam) with a tadka and grated cucumber for lunch. fresh mint leaves in chaas and nimbu paani. happy flowers in vases. watermelon, mint and feta salad. homemade mango ice cream. wearing mulmuls. the cozy, cool comfort of a Jaipuri razai. crickets going feral in their nightly symphony. more spritzy, fruity gin. himalayan summer vacays. the happiest people I know all have this in common: they take the time to attune to, notice and honour the seasons with gentle shifts and rituals in their daily habits, routines, and relationship with nature. Doing those special 'things' that define that season for you in your personal tradition, upbringing or culture is such a grounding and happy-making practice. Eating and living as per the season - consciously and deliberately - is one of the first things taught in slow living and mindfulness training. It comes naturally for most humans, especially those who live in extreme climates. For city dwellers in temperate regions, sometimes it takes a nudge, a relearning, to be more aligned with the play of seasons. What's summer to you? Add to this list in comments 🌻Mine sounds like my life and joy circle around food, drink and sensory pleasures. Absolutely correct, they do 😂 Top: thrifted from an offline store that sells export rejects Pants: handprinted indigo from @fabindiaofficial
I wasn't quite done with this 🌷🌺🌻🌹this I wasn't quite done with this 🌷🌺🌻🌹this time sprinkled with gorgeous kundan and pearls, I loved the regal setting of stones in this high-necked @store.aarna choker. Such a lush, rich green glint on each one of them - if you let it catch the sunlight, you might just lure in a Jay Gatsby (if you do get the joke, ily) 🤭 #ReviveStyleWraps
'Persephone climbed into her husband’s lap as if 'Persephone climbed into her husband’s lap as if it were her throne, as if she never sat anywhere else. Hades, stiff and frightening to eyes of others, let the flower goddess run her fingers through his hair, like any love drunk young man tasting the nectar of a woman’s love for the first time. To the world he was an unyielding and merciless king, but for her he was vulnerable and tender.' “Sundown,” Chapter 11 Blooming kashidakari fleurs and delicate adornments of all manners, pulled from different moments in my phone gallery, because it's Spring and I'm feeling very Persephone today 🌺🌷🌹🌻 @me_meraki made my day for the rest of the season by sending over a little bag in full bloom, one of their stunning hand-painted papier mâché wooden box clutches. This one was made by upcycling waste printing press paper, and it's the most enchanting best-of-waste creation I ever saw. I'd hang it on my wall as decor when I'm not using it; the intricate, gilded flowers glow far too radiantly to be stowed away in a drawer. Made in collaboration with artisans in Kashmir - home to this hand-painting tradition and craft form - this is going to be one of my most cherished objets d'art in the wardrobe. It smells so beautiful, the wood and varnish, and I did a little happy dance when I unboxed it for I've wanted one of these babies for so long. Thank you for creating and conceptualizing this beautiful line, how joyful it is to witness artisanal design flourish the way it is right now with the work of brands that seamlessly integrate traditional with chic ✨ PS: I'm having quite the Hades & Persephone fanfic phase since January this year, if there's anyone else who's in the same boat, go on and send me recommendations 😍
I think the reason we feel drawn to vintage portra I think the reason we feel drawn to vintage portraiture and historical archives, the reason why those grainy, dreamy, serene maharanis fascinate our inner style eye in their elegant timelessness is this - look closely, the approach to sareeing evident in these pictures is minimalist and treats adornment like art, like a composition. An ethereal set of diamonds catching light at every movement. Dazzling, as they rest upon the warm silk of skin, in the quiet, feminine and delicate way they do. It demands to be the subject of the whole canvas your outfit is. Our ancestral maharanis, captured in royal archives, always had this going: a demure, solid chiffon, organza or Kota Doria with but the slenderest Gota-edged border or floral motif; add imposing, stately, royal gems cascading down their skin. The tiniest bindi, bare face, a wine mouth. Beauty in simplicity. I spent a long time browsing through @shoptarinika, a house of costume jewelry, overwhelmed by too many beautiful options until we zeroed in on 'Ayan' for it's delicate, pretty flours. These are zirconia diamonds, affordably gorgeous. Their work is a delightful mix of contemporary, traditional and classical. Like a matching saree blouse is a timeless, always on-point mood in a mix-and-match world, as is a jewelry set, undeniably charming! Every lady before us, through space and time, wore them and swore by them. Tasteful jewellery, made the star by pairing with monochrome, handwoven Indian slow fashion is my peak elegant outfit mood. A formula I'd always preach, my signature style. Jewelry is but art, and I like my gems to be the centre that my outfit orbits around. Wearing elegant gems inspires dressing up timeless, this ensemble is an ode to the beauty of sparkling diamonds on skin. A vision that has excited our senses for millennia. How many lovers quarrels and confessions invariably involved a beautiful piece of sparkling bijoux? Countless; as literature, theatre and paintings tell. A handloom Kota Doria, not too different from golden Indian skin, fits that ode perfectly. An Indian textile, some glittering dainty gems- always foolproof and eternally glamorous 🍷
found this most aesthetic pic of brown hues ever 🐾
we're telling future generations this is how I sta we're telling future generations this is how I stayed in and summered in the early 20s lockdown (and not in the cat-with-a-hat tee I'm wearing rn for the second day in a row) 🌺 delicate, ruby hued kundan mangoes with pearl drops, dripping from a precious silver chain. The gorgeous work of @store.aarna. A wispy organza hand-painted saree, borrowed from my mom. A maharani-esque shoot was necessary for my mental health this month 👸 It's been too long since I indulged my aesthetic fancies to the fullest. I hope you enjoy the coming together of delicate silver, hand-painted fleurs, pearls and kundan seen through a gauzy gaze with this lighter-than-air saree 🤍
shubho noboborsho to the Bengali side of my IG - w shubho noboborsho to the Bengali side of my IG - which is, for some reason, basically 80-90% majority of my most engaged followers here. I do be taking the predominant audience demographic of a tasteful, textile-rich, artistically gifted community as a compliment to my work on this blog ❤️🌼 my first and cherished laal paar shada from @somas_creations, with a dainty set of mother's pearls - danglers, chain and bracelet - that are so beautifully vintage, interspersed with little hints of pure coral and gold beads. Layered with a choker from @fabindiaofficial #ReviveStyleWraps 🌯 I need to stop using that burrito emoji every time lol
everything sucks, everything's still blooming 🌷 everything sucks, everything's still blooming 🌷 handcarved flower butis, lush clusters of little silver buds, this neckpiece is a touché representation of my fav silver jewellery aesthetic when I'm in a boho mood. There's something so visually wholesome about little ghungroos of silver clustered together, I can't explain why but it's just strangely satisfying! Went together perfectly with a crewel-embroidered kashidakari spring garden 🌺 Jewellery: precious silver, from @store.aarna Kurta: purchased directly from an artisan at a craft exhibition, stitched locally by our wonderful tailor
it's a day for too much food, too much napping, to it's a day for too much food, too much napping, too many pictures ✨🌼 Saree: handloom Kasavu with stripes of both silver and gold, like sunshine and moonbeams in one! From @roukabysreejithjeevan Jewellery: Choker from @store.aarna Appliqué blouse: @tilohri.india
kadappa cotton, à la Claude Monet 🌻 A humble, kadappa cotton, à la Claude Monet 🌻 A humble, sartorial, pastel-bright weave of Andhra Pradesh that I first discovered due to (and sourced from) @chenethaandhraweaves. There's so many elegant, underrated, minimalist gems dotting the textile landscape of our country. I only now discovered and learnt of Bobbili cotton sarees, for example! @eeshitajoneja in that yellow Bobbili is just imprinted on my mind 🌺 As always, @afsarnama's Instagram themes are eye-opening, gorgeous and educational pathways to discovering textiles and sarees - from how they are made, how they should be priced, to everything aesthetic and insightful. I only have the most cliché weave - Pochampally ikat - and these two kadappas to flaunt from the Andhra side of my saree wardrobe, but I'm loving to learn about so many more sarees from this state under her hashtag theme! #andamloandhra
swipe to unbox gold heirlooms over an earthy silk swipe to unbox gold heirlooms over an earthy silk kota doria✨ Announcing a summer theme on Revive.Style - #AGlamKotaSummer - that's a celebration of Rajasthan's traditional handwoven, lighter- than-air checkered textile. Kota doria can go from stiff, stately matriarch to soft, sensual, romantic cloud depending on how you treat it. It's breezy and delicate, and yet it has a mind of it's own in the way it falls when you drape it. This theme is inspired by and celebrating a summer textile tradition that was a favourite of the erstwhile Indian maharanis of this royal state and is a favourite of mine too! The fun here lies in juxtaposing a humble, earthy handwoven textile of the western desert - starched in onion juice and rice paste, woven with checks, something you'd easily see your school Principal wear - and infusing it with your touch of glamour. What to post? - Grab your fav handloom Kota Doria saree or dupatta - Make it glam, in whatever way feels most 'glamorous' to you - whether you'd like it to come through make up, jewellery, hair, blouse, shoes, whatever you fancy. Let all the self indulgence, extra-ness and movie star fantasies come out and play with the Kota doria you wear. Hint: for me, I love the vibe of Sabyasachi's 2017 vintagesque photoshoot with Indrani Dasgupta's maharani mood - dripping in Sabya diamonds, wine lipstick, dark sunglasses, hanging about vintage cars and palaces! - The overarching styling theme is dressing up and expressing Kota doria style in the most glamorous avatars, which will be a joyful styling exercise given how inherently elegant this textile is. I'm kicking this off with pretty, dainty and very old family gold heirlooms borrowed from my mother, paired with a dhabu handprinted silk kota doria I purchased on a textile research trip to Rajasthan. You're invited to contribute to this hashtag all summer using the tag #AGlamKotaSummer, I'm keeping this theme on until the first monsoon shower arrives! 🌧️
announcing Revive.Style's summer # theme in a bit, announcing Revive.Style's summer # theme in a bit, you can already guess the textile star of it 🌺
what part of 'I love tea, wine, the moon, books, m what part of 'I love tea, wine, the moon, books, movies, songs, cats and dogs more than human beings' tells you that I am mentally stable? 🖤 Some more #VintageSareeEdit in my favourite saree. About 11-12 years old this one, it's almost halfway to being correctly 'vintage.' @deepthi_ramkrishna and @ime_andmyself, all of our inner narcissuses on the saree side of IG are extra indulged this week, living out fantasies from vintage and royal Pinterest boards thanks to the glorious excuse of your theme! Thank you for that hehehe ✨
switchin' up from southernmost in the morning to n switchin' up from southernmost in the morning to northernmost in the evening for @deepthi_ramkrishna and @ime_andmyself's #VintageSareeEdit. Let's call this kashidakari saree a future vintage, I fully intend to make it reach that mark along with all my other textile indulgences! 🌹I do have a vintage silk sozni stowed away that I hope I can air before your beautiful series ends. Like @stylistatravels, this post is an irresistible urge to pass the vibe check hehehe.
Kerala's kasavu, the only sari I associate with a Kerala's kasavu, the only sari I associate with a 'mininalist' traditional Indian textile. It does have heavily gold-patterned bridal and festive variants, but to me the lower priced spectrum with nothing but borders is darling. In 2018, I was obsessed with finding a silver kasavu. I couldn't afford a handloom, and I managed to score this one in picture from a Kerala based small business that was selling on Amazon. To reinstate my views about the handloom/powerloom tussle here - choosing to buy a powerloom kasavu is not evil, unethical or bad, if you cannot currently invest in handloom. A lot of times, the same weaver association/brand/enterprise manufactures both handloom and powerloom to cater to customers of all budgets. It's rather snobbish to be judgemental about this when it comes to textiles that are open and transparent about whether they are powerloom/handloom, and where the artisan makers are themselves offering both options. You are still supporting that organisation of weavers regardless of what you're buying from them - their handloom wares or their powerloom. Of course, you are supporting them more strongly and preserving a heritage if you can choose to support handloom. But the narrative that powerloom is BAD and handloom is GOOD, is very flawed and naive. What's wrong is powerloom being sold as handloom with an intention to con customers. Most traditional kasavu sellers - who now have a good online presence - transparently list on their website whether the saree is powerloom or handloom and it shows in the pricing. This year, I could finally invest in my first handloom Kasavu saree along with a handloom kasavu dupatta! (not the saree in picture, it's yet to arrive). I made it my one major shopping investment of the month, since Vishu is around the corner and we wear new that day. When I was a kid, I'd splurge on fast fashion for Vishu 😂 Today, I feel like supporting handloom and creators of the state of Kerala is the best Vishu shopping there could be. I got a contemporary, designer-meets-craftsman confluence saree from a Kerala based label I've been following and admiring for a long time. Excited to reveal it here when the time comes!
🤭 a riddle: spot the odd one out in the last pi 🤭 a riddle: spot the odd one out in the last pic! also, how much of my hand + rings is too much?
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