Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

This post is dedicated to (as promised) and inspired by Bhaswati- friend (the kinds you make 3:00 am confessions you can’t make to any one else), ex roomie (the kinds you wake up at 3:00 am to make the kind of confessions you can’t to anybody else), photographer and shoe fiend. While she is the go- to woman for all things fashionable in general, shoes are her special forte. When she is not buying them, gazing lovingly at them or generally daydreaming about them, she photographs them. (And boy is she good).
The better pictures in this post are from her personal album (and shoe closet. The two in her case are not always mutually exclusive).
Our fascination with shoes in general and heels in particular can be traced back to the earliest civilisations. And while it may seem counterintuitive, being utilitarian was not always as high in priority as aesthetic value. So we have murals with ancient Egyptians strutting around in heels. In the 15th century women of the nobility tottered around in chopines (wooden platform shoes) that could be as high as 50 cm.!

But for everyone who’s tried to go shoe shopping, buying the perfect pair of heels is never easy. Specially if you live in Pune. So imagine my surprise when I discovered these affordable pairs in a shoe store in Ambala Cantt. (Which even Bhashu agreed could almost rival Zara shoe). They even let me take pictures!

(Shoe Mantra store Ambala Cantt.)

(A bright pink pair of heels at the store. Photo edited by Bhash. )

(I bought this beautiful tan pair with pretty detailing)

(More shoes)

(Polka dot wedges)

(An original Bhaswati photograph!)

Footwear for the Monsoon

The monsoon seems to be here to stay. I left from Mumbai for my parents’ place in Ambala last Saturday, amidst cloudy skies and was greeted with a thunderstorm here yesterday. A much needed respite from a summer that seemed specially brutal this year (short lived though. We’re back to sunny skies and the highest humidity levels in 5 years).

Summer rains in Ambala. Notice the cloudy, grey skies at 12:00pm in the afternoon. A rare treat on a summer afternoon.
Footwear for the monsoons can be tricky. Your regular pumps, sandals and sports shoes just won’t do. For one you would ruin expensive footwear. Or worse run the risk of infections due to wet feet. Luckily there are inexpensive and very chic alternatives readily available. I picked up this pair of bright purple, plastic ballerinas from a Madame store in Ambala. They also had an interesting bubblegum pink pair, sure to add color to a gloomy, monsoon day. Also if you’re walking around on the streets in a downpour with seriously reduced visibility, the bright neon just might save your life as you cross treacherous roads. 😉

Sunglasses

What we now know as sunglasses (or shades or glares or other cool, expensive sounding names- but more on that later) had rather non glamorous origins. They first made their appearance in 17th century Europe as tinted spectacles considered beneficial to the eye or to conceal the eyes of the blind. In the 19th century early polar explorers and high altitude mountaineers felt the need to protect their eyes from the sun and snow glare giving rise to the first sunglasses. Tinted spectacles soon caught on with European and American explorers to the tropics.
But it was only in the 1880s that ‘sun glasses’ became popular among the general public when Europeans took to seaside holidays and bathing. Sea side vendors began selling cheap, tinted dark glasses and called them ‘sun glasses’. In the 1910s, with the invention of automobiles, motoring became a fashionable sport, and protective tinted goggles became popular among motoring enthusiasts.

(Leonardo Dicaprio as Jay Gatsby takes Toby Maguire’s character for a spin, sporting a cool pair of sunglasses. The Great Gatsby, the book and the 2013 movie, is a social commentary on the decadence of the 1920s post war American society.)
What really gave sunglasses their current, exalted status as the quintessential fashion accessory was Hollywood’s embrace in the early1930s. Sunglasses came to symbolize the glamour of Hollywood, with movie stars sporting them at public events (often in an attempt to remain incognito). Despite this, sunglasses of the period were fairly basic, with round, flat glass lenses with narrow, celluloid frames. Over the years sunglasses have continued to evolve both in design and utility.
Some of the popular styles include aviators, wayfarers, over size sunglasses and wrap arounds. I found this interesting website on trends in sunglasses for 2013.
http://fashionbombdaily.com/2013/04/02/spring-2013-shopping-10-must-have-high-fashion-sunglasses/

Oh and now for my favorite bit- popular names for sunglasses. Here are a few interesting ones.
-Shades: sunglasses are commonly called shades in North America
-Glares: commonly used in India specially if the glass is dark
-sun glass: a monocle version
And my absolute favorite. Got this out of Wikipedia, although I have never heard anyone use this.
-cooling glasses: a term used in South India, predominantly Kerela & also the Middle East.
(Source: Encyclopedia of Clothing & Fashion; Wikipedia)