Monday, July 29, 2013

OUT THE SIDE OF A RICKSHAW

 

timid sneakings .
 
I still haven't built up the courage to ask people in the streets if I can take photographs of their clothing. I would feel strange treating them like THEY are the odd ones, when in fact, it is me that is different here. When walking in the streets, sometimes I feel like I have stepped into another world, or another age, like I have time travelled back a generation or two.
 
Today, I even tried to ask two well dressed girls, about twenty in age, if I could take their picture. The girls were wearing longer length dress style shirt, which hung to just below their knees, paired with loose fitting pants, which clung to their ankles. They look clean cut and sophisticated, and very modestly covered. My eyes met with the taller of the two, and I was stopped dead in my tracks. It was by the sheer terror in their eyes of me coming to speak to them, as well as a huge amount of embarrassment from my side as I remembered that I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. I wondered what they were thinking, and put myself in their shoes. I slinked away from they, shy and feeling guilty for having so much skin exposed compared to them.
 
So, while driving along the back roads in Juhu, I have taken some sneaky street shot images from the rickshaw, hiding between a waterproof curtain and the warm metal rod that holds me inside the vehicle.
Daily life to some, but just so completely alien to me.
 









I am still to decide on a general comment regarding the dress sense, as such, though there is such a way about it, it's like something out of a movie. Every character is dressed to the same theme, like they are awaiting a big scene to happen.

In the last picture, I had just walked on Juhu Beach, of Tara Road. I have been to many a dark place in Mumbai, and may dark places before this city, and never before have I felt this power of a location of street wear. This was not an experience for the faint of heart, closed in mind and soft in heart. After being totally bombarded by photographers, small children selling henna-print stamps, and the poorest of poor glaring at you, I managed to look passed this and see to the dressings of the beach-goers, though terrified into taking a photograph at the time. The colours were mutes and faded, darkened with dirty and stained with the lack of power that the people have. The Monsoon colours of deep pinks, and magentas, forest greens and blood reds, were dipped dyed in mud from the  constant rain, and some sari were completely destroyed along the hem lines. Though, through the depression that the beach holds in it's grey skies and littered waters, comes a calm. A calm that makes it seem almost familiar, just like a memory from a place you have been before. It's some what mesmerising to see, to be a part of, and to be constantly reminded that, for now, I have to learn that this is my home.
 
Everywhere I go, I see hundreds of colours blending together like a tie dye effect on silk, I see fabric flowing like ribbons in the warm, damp wind and it completely captivates me, drawing me in.
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

WONDERINGS & RAMBLINGS

 
a beginning, in pictures .
 
Walking the streets of the city, I have stumbled upon may unanswered questions regarding tradition dress sense, and style. But, between the language barrier and my poor understanding of their accent, I have had to turn to exploring myself.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


PICTURE ONE: A middle aged street woman, in Santa Cruz, in a  dirty sari .
PICTURE TWO: Western clothing on a mango seller, Bandra West. 
PICTURE THREE: Traveling in a Auto-Rickshaw, all drivers have uniform, Vile Parle East. 
PICTURE FOUR: An elderly woman in a sari,  location unknown.
PICTURE FIVE: non-Government pajama, sitting, Carter Road, Bandra.
PICTURE SIX: Street view from the Vile Parle Market.
PICTURE SEVEN: Woman, dress in a full burqa, riding on a motorbike, Andheri.
PICTURE EIGHT: And here I am,, standing outside Infinity Mall, One, in Andheri.

Coming to India, I wasn't sure what to expect. But every single day, I'm learning to expect the unexpected and keep an open mind.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

MONOCHROMATIC SKIES & TECHNICOLOURED UMBRELLAS


To learn another language is one thing, and to accept different religious beliefs can be another – but to accept another culture and live within another society can be high challenging.

I have been walking the streets of Mumbai for six weeks and I have been completely absorbed by what I have seen. It has been such an inspiration, and I want to learn everything that this country has to teach me. I have travelled fairly extensively within the city, and have already learned a lot of what the city has to offer, on all levels. SO now I want to put my knowledge learned here, and combine it with my education in the Industry to tract street style trends and hip fashion items worn by the locals and foreigners alike.

When it comes to shopping for style, Mumbai has every experience you can think of. From street shopping at markets and vendors, to back alley tailors and clothing chop-shops, to high fashion malls and fashion streets, to walls lined with sari on hangers and scarves on rods to the roof - The streets of Mumbai have every clothing option known to man, it just depends where you look and how much you are willing to pay.

I want to find out how the British rule still affects the casual day-to-day dress styles and how different religions, castes and cultures can be seen from a distance. I want to see how personality and original style can shine through tradition and how the different generations have changed the style of street/casual wear.


And why ''Monochromatic Skies && Technicoloured Umbrellas'' as the name of my street style story? I have been fighting with the monsoon and it's constant assault, and seeing those brightly coloured umbrellas all around town really can change your mood. They just give you that glimpse of hope to get through another rainy, dark day.

This is a street style story of one of the most interesting and in-depth cities n the plant.
New city, new rules . Mumbai .