My Latest Obsession: A Forever 21 Necklace

While I was not exactly impressed with the clothing collection of Forever 21, their accessories collection was interesting. Some were junky while some were sleek and pretty. And most importantly they were mostly under $10.

I bought this cute necklace from one of their stores! Loved the two-layered design and the fake 'diamonds' :). And the style was such that it would go with both closed and deep necks! There were 2 colors - purple and silver. I chose the silver one as it would go well with almost all colors!

After wearing it for the first day I left it on my table and it had got tangled. In my desperate effort to untangle it, I ended up tangling it further. Two-layered and long chains are bad in this regard. Eventually a salesgirl helped me in getting this back in shape after working on it for almost an hour!! She was an angel. And ever since, I wore it for almost everyday and totally fell in love with it!! My trip pictures provide a perfect evidence!

Are you wondering how much did I pay for it that I loved it soo much.. Well it was rather cheap, yet pretty :)

Here are some pictures from the Forever 21 website itself.

Forever 21: Sneak Peek into an NYC store, and a Few Things They Could do Better!

The fact that I keep talking about Forever 21 obviously means the brand holds a special place in my heart. We all love the brand because if makes fashion very affordable. A few days back I was looking at their site and found almost 200 items under $5!! Though I always felt the quality of the clothes was not the best, but they were worth the money and trendy, I had a slightly different experience this time during my trip to NYC.

There are quite a few stores in the city and surprisingly have different collections. The one at the 34th street, though is very big, did not have a great collection this time!  All I wanted was a casual skirt, and there were almost none to even try. I did not like anything! The quality of the clothes were a bit disappointing, you could find better stuff at Sarojini street shops. Nothing against SN since it used to be one of my favorite shopping destinations during college days, but you'd expect better in a NY store. The not-fitting and asymmetric seems to be the in-style these days! The store was flooded with them. But I am not a fan!

The Union Square is a better one. I found a nice $10 skirt there, which on trial turned out to be a little too tight and sexy ;). I picked up a very pretty necklace though. The best Forever 21 store however is the one at Times Square! First of all it stays open till 2am!! It is also quite huge and has the best collection. It is very organized too.

All said and done, I still can't not visit this store if I'm visiting NYC! The Delhi store hasn't impressed me much as they charge very high prices compared to the US stores! I have a soft corner for this store, and I hope I can find something nice I visit them the next time! For the same price, H&M offers some more sophisticated stuff. Forever 21 still is a very popular brand for college kids, 70% of the collection meant to woo them.. but it would be fabulous if they could bring out some classier and chic clothes for us, the office goers too!

Another thing I wish F 21 could change was their exchange policy. Most stores allow you to return the products in the US. This only gives you a store credit so that you can exchange it!

How has your latest Forever 21 experience been?

Here are some photos from the 34th Street store. It was such a nice feeling to be able to take photographs freely inside a store, unlike here in India where you're always prohibited!!

Time for a 'Shorts' Break

Pictures Compiled from the Internet

 There are very few things I like about summers, and one of them happens to be 'SHORTS'! Watermelon is another one :)


Come summers, come shorts! A girls wardrobe is incomplete without some cute/ sexy shorts. In fact the other day I felt so overdressed during my visit to Select City since almost everyone was in shorts and poor me in traditional jeans :(

These days, there are plenty to chose from. You can go for denim shorts, cotton shorts, hot pants, leather shorts, patterned shorts and even velvet shorts! Honestly I have not dared to venture into anything besides the first three and denim shorts are my favorites! I have one from Forever 21. If you're planning to buy a few pairs, here's what to do.

Where to buy Shorts from?

1. Old pair of Jeans
You don't need to spend money here. In case you've got bored of your jeans, you don't have to throw them away! You can create a brand new item of them by simply cutting the legs!! I have done it since college and I just love 'em.

2. Street Shopping
Just drop in at any of the popular street shopping ventures be it Sarojini, GK M Block or Janpath, you will find fabulous stuff for great prices. Trendy, cute, colorful shorts for just Rs 200!! In case you're a starter, you might wanna start from here. But take a sample along as you wouldn't get a trial room there!

3. Mall Shopping
I can't think of any brand that doesn't sell shorts in summers! Walk into any store and you would find loads of shorts lying around. However, in case you just wanna see what's available I have compiled some pictures from place where I have bought shorts from and loved them!  I will do some OOTDs in those some time. For now take a look at pictures from the calalogues.

And the funny thing is that though they are all shorts at they end of the day, they still have been given different names!! Take a look at those too!

Shorts from United Colors of Benetton

 Pictures Compiled from Benetton Lookbook (Spring Summer 2011) 

Shorts from Zara

 Here's more from Zara! I love beige shorts, perfect for summers.

Pictures Compiled from http://www.zara.com/ 

Shorts from Forever 21

 Pictures Compiled from http://www.zara.com/

So, which ones do you like and where do you buy your shorts from?

Where to Shop in New York!

It's not like I don't enjoy shopping here in India, but shopping in New York City is a different experience altogether. Be it electronics or clothing or make up, they are all much cheaper there, not to forget the variety that you get. This is where a shopaholic can attain nirvana! In fact when I went there for the first time, I had shopped so much that I had to slide in some stuff in my colleague's luggage :) They still laugh at me for this!!

The city has so much in it that you cannot get bored even if you're all by yourself. And when it comes to my shopping, it usually has a lot of shop hopping :) So I prefer going alone and indulge myself in the world of fashion, makeup and trends!

So what are my favorite shopping hangouts there? This is going to be a slightly long post. So I will break it into may be 2-3 posts. My favorites are:

***Forever 21 and H&M***

Forever 21: I have already talked about my love for this store in my earlier blog: Forever 21 is a Favourite Forever. I had also promised some more snaps. Here they are.

• The style is dominated by teenage and casual, but there is something for everyone. You cannot come out empty handed.
• Reasonably priced. You will get lots of cool, trendy, sexy stuff in even $15-$20.
• Fabric Quality: Not all of them are amazing. In fact some of them even remind you of Sarojini Nagar and Janpath of Delhi or Gariahat of Kolkata! But lasts long. I still have stuff purchased in 2007 in good shape. Of course, it tells a lot about how well I take care of my clothes :)
• It feels as if everything they have, has been tailor-made for you! The clothes fit perfectly.
• It's a complete store for women. They have everything - apparel, accessories, shoes, lingerie and even cosmetics!!

H&M: I have been familiar with this brand for a long time. Back in my hostel days, I stayed in a PG and my roommate worked with H&M. Lucky she was, used to come home everyday with a 'damaged' piece. But I always thought they were all perfect. Infact she got a couple of them for me as well!!

H&M makes a lot of their stuff in India, but unfortunately they do not sell here! In fact sometimes it really pains to pay for 'Made in India' goods in dollars :(

Like Forever 21, H&M also have HUGE multistoreyed stores.

• They have a good mix of trendy as well as classy staff.
• Fabric wise, they are slightly better than Forever 21 I would say. But they are a bit more expensive too, still very affordable.
• I loved the collection of jackets and coats they have.
• You can find both office as well as casual wear. I loved some formal skirts that they had!
• Like Forever 21, they also have their own range of cosmetics. And they are pretty nice!

Well, this has been a long post I must say! In my next article I would talk about my favorite department stores in NYC. Any guesses??

*All Pictures from Google Images

Forever 21 is a Favourite Forever!

That was my first trip to New York City in 2007. I was loving every bit of it - the pleasant weather, the pretty people around and the shopping extravaganza. Sitting at Union Square with my friends, I gazed through the line of shops in front of me. 'Forever 21, that sounds interesting!', I said. And my friend emphasized that it was a must visit store for fashionable, trendy and not so expensive clothing.

She was damn right and I fell in love with the store at once. The shop was huge and had everything that a girl wanted! Some stuff they had was classy, while some weird, some trendy while some meant for only the advanced countries! But all in all it was a shopper’s paradise! They have several stores in NYC, all of them multi-storeyed and HUGE!! You would take a while to just see what’s around, and someone like me can spend hours there! Over the years I have always made it a point to visit Forever 21 even in my busiest weekends during my NY trips. Here are a few pictures to give you a feel of the size! (Pictures downloaded from the internet from different sources).

Forever 21 at Times Square

Forever 21 Interactive Digital Billboard!!

In Times Square, Forever 21 set up an interactive digital billboard that took pictures of everyone standing before it! It was pretty creative and cool. People were taking photographs like crazy!! And I couldn’t stop myself either.. Here are a few of them.

That's me on the billboard!

Forever 21 in Delhi

I was glad that they have opened a store right here, at Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj. So I thought, now I don’t have to wait for an office trip to be able to shop at Forever 21.. But with extra convenience comes an added cost. The $15 New York top is sold at Rs 1000 here. My friend actually happened to see the $15 price tag under her Rs 1000 top. This was a put off. I liked some stuff but honestly, I am already waiting for my next NY trip from office!