12 February,2023 09:13 AM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Representation pic
Curated by Aastha Atray Banan, Yusra Husain and Heena Khandelwal
If you've been stealing clothes from that '70s closet, give crime a break: The Bombay Shirt Company has collaborated with Bharat Flooring and Tiles to bring out three designs (Rs 3,990) that mimic mosaics on floors. We like that they are a little trippy, with many shapes and elements coming together like they would under a disco ball, over bell bottoms. Choose the pattern (we vote for the Queen's Necklace; but there is also the Taxi and Causeway). Then you customise the sleeve-length, and the type of collar (bandhgala, Cuban, hipster and club) and wait for it to arrive. They say the shirts are only for men, but never let that stop you.
bombayshirts.com
Nearly 10 years ago, when Bengaluru-based artist-illustrator Sandhya Vaidyanathan was approached by a friend with an old, tattered photograph of her dad, asking if there was any way it could be rescued, she brought out her paintbrushes to reimagine what this picture may have originally looked like.
Vaidyanathan hasn't put down those brushes since.Her Instagram page is dotted with such hand-resuscitated portraits, commissioned by friends and fans. Her portraits start from Rs 2,000 and take about two to three weeks to complete. "I would get requests like: I've lost my father, can you make a painting with him in my wedding photograph?," she says.
Sandhya Vaidyanathan
"To be able to put someone's dream on paper with your hands, is a surreal feeling." Art, she says, helps voice emotions. "When I was struggling with my fertility journey," she continues, "I was painting people with their babies. My heart and soul would go into them, as I was yearning for my own." Vaidyanathan takes worldwide commissions and an original photo helps.
@masalapopsiclesart, Instagram
The truth about adulting is seeing your parents age. And if they think of themselves as superheroes and never share what's bothering them, like this writer's father, it makes things more difficult. Thankfully, her mother once slipped it in a conversation that "papa mentioned a pain in his knees". We knew this required coaxing for a doctor's visit, and as an interim solution, looked for oils for joint massages online. Eureka! We found Ayurveda Experience's Nirujam Joint Care, with its long list of 40+ ingredients, including shatavari to reduce inflammation and pain in joints, muscles and tendons. Priced at R699, it arrived within a few days. A five-minute massage ritual from the son began, and while our father never mentioned whether it helped, this writer learnt about it in a roundabout way: A relative reached out for the link, saying "Papa recommends it for joint pain!"
tae.in
1920s Mondaine compact
Truth be told, we are no makeup experts or even enthusiasts, so when this Reel, with its vintage aesthetics and pastel colours popped up on our phone, we were quick to dismiss it as another makeup tutorial. But it wasn't. And the very next minute, we were snowballing in the charm of cosmetics from the yesteryears. As the name suggests, at Vintage Makeup, curator Laura Evans rummages through antique stores and street fairs to uncover a treasure trove of products that are now obsolete or out of production. Stuff our grannies may have applied. We were lured by the creativity of the1935 Bouton Perfume Piano, shaped literally like a piano, the 1950s German Taccogna paper mache lipstick doll from Mexico that looked spookier than enticing, and Evan's personal favourite, a 1920s Mondaine compact that comes with a heart-shaped space for your sweetheart's photo.
@vintage_makeup, Instagram
It's often a musician, with the gift for the lyric, that says what we have been feeling. This month, it's Miley Cyrus, who finally seems to have grown up. Flowers is a song we all need this February, especially with Valentines Day around. One that all the single, and not-so single ladies, need to internalise. "I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, talk to myself for hours⦠I can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand, yeah, I can love me better than you can." It's okay if things aren't great right now, you are the one you need, as Cyrus says. The lyrics and vibe make the song the anthem to boot. Play it loud and carry on.
