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Revive Style

fashion, design and old world charm

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29th August 2017

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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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oorja.revivestyle
mood mood
me in 2019: "I sold off all my school books, surel me in 2019: "I sold off all my school books, surely I'm too old to re-read Twilight lol" me in 2021 after surviving a pandemic: "I am, in fact, not too old for the nostalgic childhood comfort of Twilight and I never, ever will be." 🖤❤️ Thank you @sakshidotcom for helping me re-acquire these and so many more from your collection haha! Who else got swept in by the #twilightrenaissance that bloomed in the pandemic? 😂
brunching in handcrafted 🌼 wearing things from brunching in handcrafted 🌼 wearing things from beautiful female-led brands 🤍 handloom, gota embellished cotton kediya top and pyjama set: Somwrita's ethical slow fashion label @vilayaaclothing diamond polki ring and studs: The 'Vanya' and 'Maanika' from Kalyani's artisanal jewellery label @aarna.store
A new self, blooming quietly and softly, upon an A new self, blooming quietly and softly, upon and alongside an old self ready to be shed, over and over, all throughout this life 🍂🌱
🤍 I love that Black Friday (which was hardly a 🤍 I love that Black Friday (which was hardly a thing in India) gives the opportunity to fulfill needs at a discount. People on a tight budget in the West wait for this so they can save money for more important things. If you're a negative person who wants to project their subjective personal issues onto a thought-provoking Instagram quote by calling it 'elitist' or whatever else, pls note, these words aren't saying "don't do Black Friday." It's simply saying, think. Are you buying something you need? That you'll use for a long time? That, hopefully, can be discarded or passed on sustainably? Happy Black Friday to you! Are you buying something because it's cheap anyway and you created an artificial need for it in your mind the second you saw the discount? Do you truly need it? When it comes to fashion and beauty, these are questions we should keep asking ourselves all year. That's sustainable fashion step one. Yesterday someone DMed me that I 'shout about sustainable fashion' but what about people who can't afford sustainable, the increased GST, and should they choose fashion over food? A very dramatic, important question. A little basic-level research into sustainability will reveal that sustainable fashion doesn't begin & end at "go buy a 3k silk top from a slow fashion designer and boycott everyone else." Sustainability isn't just in what you buy, something most eco-bloggers including myself repeatedly reinstate (if one is receptive). It's in how you consume. Pre-globalization, even the humblest Indian masses practiced mindful consumption, mending, upcycling, making things last, thrifting, handing down, and SO much else that defined sustainable fashion. We are only now re-learning from their legacy. They were truly sustainable, maybe more than the richest handloom wearing set of 2021. Yesterday I clicked a "10 Ways To Make The Holidays More Memorable" link, it was ten products to buy. Just like our Diwali narrative. Buy, buy, buy. Is it a festival or a shopping festival? 😂 Are we realising how every second that we walk this earth, someone is telling us to go buy something? Do you see how insidious it is? Is everything about the next thing you gotta buy?
A relaxed, easy and beautiful closet sale ✨ Wait A relaxed, easy and beautiful closet sale ✨ Wait for it!
Persephone 🌸 Selene 🌚 Aphrodite ❤️ Hecat Persephone 🌸 Selene 🌚 Aphrodite ❤️ Hecate 🗡️ Day 25: Greek Mythology, a special throwback post to draped moments in sarees that fit Greek goddess energy. Today's is my favourite prompt in all of #Drapember2021
People who participated in #Drapember2021 this yea People who participated in #Drapember2021 this year gave it life, beauty and wholesomeness in a way that I never could all by myself. I am so grateful for each of you for that, witnessing you deeply engaging your energy with this little festival of my digital world made me truly feel like Im part of a real, fulfilling, loving community. I feel supported and appreciated so much more than I envisioned I would on IG 🤗 I am signing off from #Drapember2021 early this year, because I've realised that I truly, madly, deeply need a break from constantly showing up on social media for this theme. Of course, this is my baby and I find it difficult to not see it thru till its last day. But, I want to prioritise my commitment to my own healing and creative rest more than my commitment to a hashtag at this moment. I need distance from Instagram for a bit before my business commitments to my wonderful collaborators begin once again in a few days. I'd hate to not show up fully (or, show up tired and crabby) for the awesome collaborations coming in December on Revive.Style. With regards to #Drapember2021, I spoke to Oorja and she said, "go off and take all the time you need" ;) 🌻 By all means, please continue posting and tagging any and all prompts you enjoy up until the end of this month. I will watch out for your posts. #Drapember2021 belongs to you even more than it does me, all your posts have made it the joy it is ✨ Thank you for making it so fun so far this year! Artwork: Raja Ravi Varma
#Drapember2021 Day 23: Heirloom | A kashmiri sozni #Drapember2021 Day 23: Heirloom | A kashmiri sozni on silk and a rope of pearls, both handed down 🤍🌼
We're very lune-y here, always #Drapember2021 Day We're very lune-y here, always #Drapember2021 Day 22: Moon 🤍🌚
🍸drunk on the idea that love, only love... 🍸drunk on the idea that love, only love...
I am ready to be romantically injured I am ready to be romantically injured
cats really walk the earth like "i am a god. I was cats really walk the earth like "i am a god. I was born to simply chill & vibe. i will do nothing else. that is my divine purpose. i am a blessing. these humans serve me. im the cutest. this is my world. u just exist in it. i do what pleases me. all of u can fuck off." and it is deeply, truly inspiring 🤌
Are you one of the people who equate a saree blous Are you one of the people who equate a saree blouse to 'appropriate'-ness? If a woman were seen wearing a saree without a blouse, would you be one among many who jump to call her outfit vulgar and leave lewd remarks? Once upon a time, foreign rulers decided and decreed that our unstitched indigenous drapes were vulgar for lack of having a blouse. Today, we call their opinion our "Indian culture" and erase our diverse traditional drape heritage on their behalf all by ourselves 🙃 The subject of saree blouses, the 'morality' story we have created around them and their place in Indian fashion history is what I'm thinking about today! #Drapember2021 Day 14: Fashion History
a bouquet of six pomegranates, a skillfully crafte a bouquet of six pomegranates, a skillfully crafted black obsidian dagger, a note that says in elegant script, "would you eat these and be condemned to be mine forever?" - that's the ideal marriage proposal and nothing else 🖤 #Drapember2021 Day 13: Fruit | predictably, I'm pomegranates 🍷 Saree 1: A handblocked, pre-owned saree. The saree is from the brand @chhapa_gj8 Saree 2: A linen from @pink_paisely, a thrifted crop top blouse All the silver jewellery with Ruby like gems just like an anaar: @aarna.store
(contd) I don't *remember* this because I didn't e (contd) I don't *remember* this because I didn't exist, but I've been told of ancestors who survived in - and fled - the Partition on one side and ancestors who left behind quiet, idyllic hometowns on another. One thing led to another, and I had the privilege to be born and raised in Mumbai, the city of dreams. I remember stories of those who couldn't follow their dreams; but somehow, synchronicity and deliberate termination of generational patterns led to me being able to follow mine. One human becomes self-aware, one consciousness is elevated, and an entire line is altered. A butterfly flaps it's wings and a thunderstorm is created. I remember countless moments of hesitation that were wiped away by the kindness of strangers that message me on here to tell me that something I created, did or shared made a difference to their life. I remember countless random conversations with friends that sparked inspiration, or simply helped me feel supported enough to keep going. Although, the words 'self made' are most definitely a strong, aspirational ideal, I feel like they are also isolating and individualistic sometimes. We are indeed ancestor-made, community-made, heartbreak-made, laughter-made, support-made, trauma-made, friendship-made, relationship-made, interconnectedness-made, Universe-made, in so many ways. In a world and society that already feels excessively isolated and individualised, I don't think I want to try to come off as 'self made' again. I don't want to push away help and force myself to do everything on my own for ego. I don't think I wish for anybody to be silently scrolling Instagram and thinking "Oh, she's self made" and feeling a sense of lack in their own journey of be-ing. It takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to build a brand. A hundred hands bring me to anything I'm able to do, ever. We are always unfolding, and always growing in a community with everyone else who walks the earth with us, follows us, buys from us, manufactures for us, picks up couriers for us, feeds us, or tells their neighbour about our shop. We are so much more interconnected than we ever realise ✨
I've been seeing this pop up a lot everywhere, and I've been seeing this pop up a lot everywhere, and I wondered, what is self made? I remember a coffee shop with my parents, still in college, telling them that I want to launch my label and have my first exhibition, and my mother immediately being excited for fabric shopping like it's her own I remember my father teaching me about website development, online payments and hosting my own WordPress, from then until now, everyday I remember my father steam ironing all my garments with me the morning we opened our stall I remember my brother standing up on a chair to hang my display and later whining about how he missed the moment when Genelia D'Souza walked in I remember my aunt being my very first customer and buying the most expensive garment on my rack (for my nervous newbie designer brain, a 5k garment was very expensive lol) I remember my college friends showing up all the way to south bombay from western bombay after a hectic day in college - their heavy bags in tow - just to support me, and ended up helping us dismantle the stall I see my college best friend still explicitly explaining to me how much she appreciates my work even though she doesn't have to, she instinctively knows my self-doubt moments I remember a wonderful boyfriend who showed up every single day to drive me out to a pretty street and click my blog photos when I was still figuring out how to use Instagram as a 'blogger' with 800 followers and no tripod I remember a beautiful teacher in college who taught me to love sarees and textiles, who recommended me to an inspiring sustainable fashion internship that solidified what I really wanted to do with my life I remember a sister who gifted me tailoring scissors, I remember my godmother's help to travel for my collection or for when I first hosted a sari workshop I remember not owning a single sari in 2016 but growing up watching my mom drape a saree to work everyday, my first many blog posts were her sarees. I remember my 100th saree worn being my grandmother's. I see mother still helping me fold sarees after a long collaboration shoot day even today 'self made' just doesn't cut it, does it? 🌼 (to be contd)
#Drapember2021 Day 12: Home | vintage silk & pearl #Drapember2021 Day 12: Home | vintage silk & pearls, this heirloom saree has darling woven motifs of a cute cottage I wish I could go live in 🏡 How I would love a cosy cottage in nature as a home 😍 Saree & Blouse, both hand-me-downs and over twenty years old. Choker: @aarna.store
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fashion, design and old world charm

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