Top 10 boutiques in Kolkata

Kolkata is regarded as India's intellectual, artistic and cultural capital. It is India's second biggest city and a fashion hub too. In Kolkata one can find a variety of things. Kolkata is rich in it's food as well as fashion!

 Fashion is something that changes everyday. When it comes to dressing up, it becomes a competition for everyone to stand out in the crowd and look the best. To match up with such a lifestyle, Kolkata brings to you a number of designer stores for the ordinary as well as the elite crowd. Kolkata has given birth to a lot of able designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Anamika Khanna, Ritu Kumar, Shantanu Goenka etc.

The top 10 boutiques according to me are listed below:

1. Sabyasachi Mukherjee Bridal Boutique :

It is a home to a beautiful bridal collection. It also offers a collection of jaw-dropping sarees. After entering the store it becomes very difficult for an individual to stop herself from buying a stupendous piece of clothing. 

Contact : 033 4031-6000

Address: 80/2 Topsia Road South, Maruti Bagan- 700046

2. Anamika Khanna :

Anamika Khanna's collection is an art of presenting the rich crafts of India encapsulated in global contours. She is the first Indian designer to launch a global label. She is a designer with exquisite taste, who never gets it wrong!

Contact: 033 2281-4425 

Address: 2/1 Outram Street, Kolkata 700017

3. Ritu Kumar :

They say, if you do not own a Ritu Kumar own it now. Ritu Kumar is best known for modernising ethnic wear. If you want to try something new, now you know where to go!

Contact: 033 2283-7447

Address: 10/3 Elgin Road, Forum Mall, Shop No. 107 Kolkata 700020

4. Shantanu Goenka :

He has created a massive buzz for himself both nationally and internationally. He creates lavish pieces that makes one feel like a million bucks. A tinge of something different can be found in each of his designs. 

Contact : 9831061585

Address: 98, Christopher Road, Vrindavan Garden Building 21, 5th floor, Kolkata 700046

5. Toxic :

It is a boutique labelled with the designers Aashish and Neha Bagri. The speciality of this boutique is designer sarees, salwar, bridal wear and casual ethnic clothes. You can definitely drop in if you are searching for something this wedding season. 

Contact: 9831639308

Address: 57M, Ground Floor, Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata 700019

6. 85 Lansdowne :

Rated as Kolkata's star design destination by the Telegraph, 85 Lansdowne showcases arrangements from Manish Malhotra, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Shantanu Goenka, Dev R Nil, Nachiket Barve and Manish Gupta. It mainly deals with lehengas, sarees and ethnic suits. This place is a must visit for all the fashion buffs.

Contact : 033 4005-1585 

Address: 85, Sarat Bose Road, Dover Terrace, Kalighat, Kolkata 700026

7. Straavi :

Straavi is a celebration of you. You are your identity. You are your personality. You are your reflection. It is a house to a plethora of gowns, lehengas, sarees etc. It is a one stop shop for all your ethnic and Indo Western wear. 

Contact: 033 2290-0436

Address: 9 Elgin Road, Sreepally, Bhowanipore, Kolkata 700020

8. Simaaya :

It is an amazing designer boutique by the duo Mayanka Agarwal and Rachit. It is famous for it's bridal collection of different designers like Anjali Arjun, Harpreet Narula etc. It offers some of the creme pieces of the city in bridal as well as prėt collection. 

Contact : 033 2289-2871

Address: 10/4D Elgin Road, Kolkata 700020

9. Sasya :

It is a multi-designer boutique offering a wide collection of wedding lehengas, bridal sarees and a wide range of trousseaus for bride grooms as well. It displays works from designers like Anjali Arjun, Tarun Tahiliani, Sagar Mehta, Kapil and Monica and Harpreet Narula to name a few. 

Contact : 033 2289-2323

Address: Shakespeare Sarani Road, Kolkata

10. Onaya :

It is more involved in the whole sale and retail business but it offers a wide range of designer sarees. It caters to the high end fashion needs and offers exquisite ethnic collection. 

Contact : 033 2281-7077

Address: 8/2 Loudon Manor, Loudon Street, 1st floor, Kolkata 700017

I hope this post would help you shop better in Kolkata now! 

Until Next Time 

Slay Everyday

Rashi Kajaria 

(The Fashion Eater)

Ideal Outfit For A Friend's Wedding

Weddings are an extravagant and intricate affair especially in India. Weddings are treated more like a festival in our country. Although with today's wedding fashion changing so rapidly, picking the right dress to wear at your friend's wedding can be a tricky task. With all that competition near you, you can not look anything less than perfect.
Being a part of the Bride gang one has to attend all the functions. The main three functions are the Sangeet, Mehendi and the wedding.
Here are three outfits that I think are ideal for the three functions I just mentioned.

OUTFIT 1 : MEHENDI OUTFIT

I usually do not prefer wearing the colour green but this Ananrkali is an exception. It starts as an olive green top portion, followed by a charteuse flare which ends in an ombre of olive green. The Chiffon dupatta has light embroidery to balance the plainness of the neckline. Towards the hemline is a beautiful, delicate, sequence pattern which is the essence of the outfit. I have worn a golden single bracelet with chunky designs of gold and white at intervals along with the perfect chaand bali.
I loved moving around the Mehendi party and dancing to the tunes of typical wedding songs in my flairy yet light mehendi outfit. An anarkali is a must if you are tall and slim. It highlights your features and makes you feel good about yourself.

OUTFIT 2: SANGEET OUTFIT 

For the Sangeet Function, I decided to keep my outfit simple yet trendy. I wore a Pink gown with flowers embroidered. This cap sleeved gown had sequence on it's sleeves and the hem. It was a floor touching gown in Gold and Rouge. I wore golden pencil heels with it. 

OUTFIT 3 : WEDDING OUTFIT 

When "the day" arrived, all I could think of wearing was a lehenga. After all what is an Indian Wedding without you wearing that pretty lehenga that you have been stacking up for such a long time. Here I have worn a Red And Golden Lehenga and accessorised it well with a maangteeka and big golden Jhumkaaas. To keep the look modern I have draped the dupatta in a different way instead of draping it in a traditional saree way. The best part about this look is that, it makes me look elegant and definitely a part of team bride. 

That's how I styled my outfits for my friend's wedding. Do let me know how you dressed up for your friend's wedding by tagging me on instagram with hashtag thefashioneater0. 

Until Next Time

Slay Everday

The Fashion Eater 

(Rashi Kajaria)

My Sunday Fashion

What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'Sunday'? I would definitely say that Sunday is a day when I can relax and shrug off all my worries in life, just for that one day. We spend one third of our life working, whether it be office, household work, studies etc. But Sunday is a day to relax and replenish your energy. Given that you have worked so hard it's not a crime to relax.
Personally on Sundays, I feel extremely lazy and love wearing something comfortable which will also protect me from the winter chill. Sometimes an oversized t-shirt and baggy pants work best for me. I opt for tracks or pyjamas, cute sweatshirts and to feel that I am still dressed up, I sometimes add a scarf. Tying my hair up in a bun and drinking a cup of hot chocolate while watching a chick flick makes my Sunday perfect. Since winters are here, I love wearing socks to keep myself warm.  Depending on where you live, the winter can be seriously brutal, and usually involves having to sacrifice your hair in order to pop on a hat and keep your head and ears warm. In that case I prefer wearing a beanie. It gives you a cute look. Beanies are nothing new for the style set, but they continue to be all the rage now that the weather has gotten cold. There is a fun fact about Beanies! It can make a person look cute on occasions and also a tomboy on some other occasion. It depends on how you style it.
In my look, I have worn a striped sweatshirt with ripped joggers and have worn a scarf of the same colour. I like keeping my Sunday fashion mono chromed, simple and the most important, comfortable. Yet I like to look fashionable even at home. This look does exactly that. I have worn printed white socks and a grey woollen beanie to compliment my winter look. I have also worn a cute pair of white unicorn slippers which gives me the princess-ey feel.
In case I need to curl out of bed and go to meet someone, I can easily restyle my hair, wear sneakers, get into a pair of jeans and I'm all set. Instead of wearing sneakers, wearing boots is also a good option. It has the tendency to give your outfit a swank look. Carrying a small bag or a clutch makes the outfit complete.

My Outfit 

Those Unicorn Slippers are my absolute favourite 

This is how I dress myself on a chilly Sunday. Do let me know how you like dressing up on Sundays through #thefashioneater0 on instagram.

Until Next Time, 

Slay Everyday,

Rashi

Things I Need In My Wardrobe

" Playing dress-up begins at age five and truly never ends."

-Kate Spade

I strongly believe in the quote I mentioned above. In fact we all do! Who doesn't like to dress up and look their best? But don't you always feel like you don't have anything to wear after a lifetime of shopping and fail to find the particular pieces when you need them ? Because I feel the same!

Here's what I own in my wardrobe which might help you when you go for shopping next. 

1.Basics: Basics are things that you know you can fall back on when you fail to choose anything for the occasion. If styled well, basics can be pretty versatile. I can wear my basic tees during summers as well as in the winters with the perfect coat to keep it chic. Ive built a strong foundation with a strategic selection of basics that will mix with almost everything in my closet. Who doesnt own their staple pair of jeans? Again they are very versatile but I experiment in many other types of bottoms like palazzos,skorts,etc. I own a pair of plain white palazzos and one floral print skort, which I like to style in different ways.

2. Party Wear: I love going to parties and want to look so spectacular that all eyes are on me but I scramble through my wardrobe for hours and end up wearing the same thing with a different crowd. The basics for party wear that I own are: 

    (i)Dresses: One thing I absolutely need are dresses. At least one LBD is necessary but my wardrobe is full of them! Along with LBD, it is essential to own a plain versatile dress and a printed one. A printed dress is my go to for a pool party or a sundowner where my LBD probably wont work, but the plain dress sure will!

  (ii) Tops & Bottoms: With so many new styles available now, it can be difficult to try to limit on the shopping but try to find a few staples. For me they are shimmery tops, cold and off shoulders and crop/tank tops. Here I try to choose either dark or eye catching colours which makes me stand out.  My favourite party wear bottoms are shorts and skirts. High waisted jeans look amazing for parties. Pencil and skater skirts are also one of my favourites and go with almost everything. Not a variety, but I own at least one of each type of these. 

3. Accessories & Shoes: All outfits are incomplete without accessories no matter how good your selection of clothes are. I need a chunky neckpiece, a choker or locket, a few unique cuffs and studs as staples. Scarves are very in especially during winters and are the most versatile accessories. Hats and caps can be worn in the summers. I prefer black ones which go with everything. Beanies are required in the winters, especially in severely cold places and I find them cute too! Shoes are a given. I personally feel that we do not need to own a closet of only shoes. I can suffice with a pair pencil heels/stilettos, sneakers and different types of flats of which one of them needs to be of a nude shade.

Hope you liked my post and that it will be of help to you. 

Until Next Time,

Slay Everyday,

Rashi

What does fashion mean to me?

                                “Fashion means diversity, variety and creativity.” 

                                                                    – Nuala

I strongly believe in the quote I mentioned above and by the end of this post I'm sure you will also start believing in the actuality of it. 
 Fashion means diversity because it is something which includes everyone. Each person should be able to see themselves represented in some way, shape, or form. Fashion is a glimpse into someone's personality, it is an art form. It is an individual's statement of self expression. If you had this misconception that fashion is for the slim and trim, then think again because the clothing industry has also now realised that a perfect body is not what everyone possesses. Fashion covers all domains. Whether a person is dusky or fair, slim or healthy. There are millions of combinations that equal beautiful because women around the globe are, in fact, beautiful.

Fashion means variety because it is a range of things of the same general class that are distinct in character or quality. Men and women differ in their features and appearances. As I mentioned above beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Therefore to have something for everyone the fashion industry has a wide variety of clothing, accessories, shoes, bags etc. As time is passing by virgin goods are ruling the ballgame. 

Fashion means creativity because it is a form of expression. Fashion is an expression of oneself, a way to signify who you are, where you come from and what you believe in. Have you seen me? No. Therefore you will judge me not by my looks but how creatively I dress myself up and how I carry myself. Being creative means taking risks, ignoring doubt and facing fears. Fashion is feeling good about yourself. It is like taking inspiration from different places and people and putting them together to make something of your own, something that you are proud of and enjoyed creating.

What fashion means to one person will be completely different than the next. Fashion is very hard to be put into words. Fashion plays an important role in transformation and development as human beings. Fashion is a snapshot of what you like or how you feel at a particular time. It gives you confidence to approach everyday challenges. You can convey a different look every single day. It is not boring and it is something that everyone has to partake in, whether they like it or not. Fashion determines your mood. It is the way of introducing yourself without saying a word. 

Fashion also means a way of expressing your feelings. If I am feeling classy I would wear stilettos with a formal top and pants and a pair of big dangling earrings. The days I want to party I pull out my Little Black Dress with high heels. During summers, to look different I had teamed up my shorts with a black crop and a front open denim dress which I converted into a topcoat. When I feel sporty and I convince myself to workout I wear activewear. I love floral prints and colourful clothing but there are times when I get obsessed with black. It all depends upon my mood. Therefore mood plays a major role in my dressing. 

Fashion does not always mean that you have to wear what others wear. You can make your own style statement. Trends come and go but if you make your own style statement, who knows, you could be a trendsetter too!

Here are a few pictures of some of the trends that I had tried :

                                                                                                                   Until next time

                                                                                                                   Slay Everyday

                                                                                                                   Rashi Kajaria

                                                                                                               (The Fashion Eater)

                                                                                                                       

My Ideal Fashion Guru

       "Who is a fashion guru?" 

A guru is a person who some people regard as an expert or leader. People look up to them. They set an example which are followed by many. Hence, a "fashion" guru can be defined as a person who is great with fashion and always talks about it. A fashion guru is an person from whom people can take protracted fashion advice. Their trend is superseded by many. 

Fashion is a strange, fickle beast. It changes with the seasons, following new styles and the hottest celebrities' latest looks. What's cool now could be dorky next week. But this can get easier if you follow your fashion guru. Different people have different tastes and preferences and it's according to these that they idealise their fashion gurus. A Fashion Guru acts as a mentor and guide and he/she is the solution to all of your problems. Whenever I find myself in a fashion fix I end up going through the styles of my "ideal fashion guru."

"Who is my ideal fashion guru?"

My guru is known for her Grecian gowns, chunky neck pieces and high heels. Any guesses? 

Yes, I am talking about Sonam Kapoor, who has stamped her place as Bollywood's fashionista. This 5'9" beauty has featured on the cover pages of many Indian magazines and walked the ramp for famous designers like Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra and Anamika Khanna.  But what bewilders and amazes me is the fact that she is her own stylist. For Sonam designing is an art and she is constantly reinventing her style. Sonam says it is because of her mom that she possesses such talents. Her mother, Sunita Kapoor was a full-fledged designers and got visitors like Bollywood actresses and fashion models. Sonam even got to notice the kaarigars (workers) that worked on creating fine pieces of embroidery. And that led to her interest in garments. Sonam's sister Rhea is also a well known designer. 

Some of the Sonam Kapoor tips that i follow are:

1. Wear really high heels. Heels add the look to an outfit. Sonam's favourite being a pair from Dior.

2. The best options for a party are a tiny black sequenced dress or a silver sequenced dress with a red clutch.

3. Black tights are in this season and the next and the season after that. They are the most easily available clothing therefore you can easily team them up with a bright coloured tunic and funky pumps for a perfect party outfit. 

4. Layering is one of the safest options for dressing up for a party. A purple jacket or a chic black one is perfect to make heads turn at the party.

5. Attitude is the best accessory one can wear.

Some of the Sonam Kapoor's styles that I absolutely adore are :

Look 1 

This is what she wore on the fifth day of the 65th Cannes International Film Festival. 

Look 2

When she pulled off a saree very elegantly.

Look 3

Power dressing and pant suits go hand in hand.

Look 4 

A jacket draped over your shoulders is always on point.

Look 5

Stay away from herd mentality

Look 6

Embrace your inner geek.

Classy, elegant, fierce and bold. All words that define her style and personality.  Sonam is inspired for her love for clothes, designers and her taste for good life. She has made a connection with her fans through her style and it speaks volumes. What sets her apart from others is that she takes pride in what she wears and she has fun with fashion. 

I idealise Sonam Kapoor, who do you idealise? Do let me know! 

              

                                                                                                                                         Until Next time,

                                                                                                                                                        Slay  Everyday                                                                                                                                                        Lots of Love 

                                                                                                                                       The  Fashion Eater 

                                                                                                                                    Rashi Kajaria

CHECKS? CHECKED! ✅

"Fashion says 'me too', style says 'only me'."

Hello guys! 

You  must've noticed that I haven't been posting quite frequently. So to make up for my long term absence I have brought to you a very interesting post!

This post will make you realise the actuality of the quote I mentioned above!

You know one of the days when you feel like wearing a shirt but still want to give a feminine touch to it? Well, I am here to help you with exactly that.

We all own an oversized shirt. I picked out mine from the wardrobe and wore it differently not only so that people don't realise that its a repeated outfit, but also, to suit my mood.

In the first look, I've worn it as a simple tuck in with shorts to maintain the tomboy vibe. This look is perfect for when you are running late. It is a perfect go to look, which everyone can pull!

In the second look, I've worn it as an off shoulder top, again tucked in, with shorts.

Steps to wear an oversized shirt as an off shoulder top:

1. Put your shirt on like a jacket.

2. Close only the buttons from third or fourth from the top(depending on how low you want the off shoulder to be/ depending on how it fits)

3. Then lift the top from the first close button upwards and drop down the shoulders.

4. Tuck in or let it be as you want!

And there you have a perfect off shoulder top for a day out with friends! 

Regrettably, I do not have pictures of me in the third look, I can assure you that it looks as good as the others, even better.

In the third look, you can wear your oversized shirt as a tube top. In this, it is absolutely necessary for it to be oversized.

Steps to wear an oversized shirt as a tube top:
1. Take the shirt and wear the shirt by securing the button which fits just above the chest. Secure the rest of the buttons as well. Do not put your arms in the sleeves.
2. Once you have performed step one, take the dangling sleeves and double knot them at the back or front as you like.
There you have your tube top for a casual day with your girls. You can, like all the above looks, where it with jeans/shorts. This look also looks good with a plain skirt.

I have teamed my black shorts and red sneakers with these looks. You can wear any sneaker shoes with them and can also pull of heels or platforms with the tube top!

LOOK 2

LOOK 1

WITH MY STYLIST!

Oversized shirt: Hollister

Shorts: Vero Moda

Shoes: U.S.P.A

Hope you guys liked the different ways to wear an oversized shirt. Let me know how these looks look on you by uploading a picture on Instagram or Facebook. Tag me on Instagram with  #thefashioneater0 as well as on Facebook! 

Also give me your feedback on how useful these were to you!

Until Next Time,

Rashi

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