Last Saturday, I had a fantastic Insta LIVE session with the fabulous Indu Nair. A sustainability and upcycling advocate, she convinced me to wear a vintage saree., so I reached for a 45-year-old classic that once belonged to Asha Gupta. She had hand embroidered it and had maintained it beautifully for years. Now I love sarees, but in lockdown and Covid times, it isn’t an outfit that has been worn too often. But just dressing up for an hour took me to a very happy and confident place. And I know why for so many Indian women, it ends up being the outfit of choice when they’re looking to shine at an event. Similar to what a fashion stylist online would suggest. Indu and I both agreed upon, “A saree is the ultimate power dressing piece!”
So that statement evoked a memory of a few weeks ago that I was having on a Founders’ forum. Some of the female founders were discussing how misaligned western formal outfits can be if their own comfort zone is Indian wear. At StyleNook, an online personal styling service, we have seen this many times and we are able to hand-hold our clients, as they try to push through their boundaries, or if they just want to rule within their comfort zone. Since we are not a fashion subscription service, we get to see these unique opportunities that trigger this interesting behavior.
That conversation took me back 20 years ago to my MBA summer internship at Omega International in Biel, Switzerland. I was young, hungry and was delighted to get an exciting opportunity. However, as a middle-class girl in the 90s, I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to pack for this trip. So, like every other girl in Mumbai back then, I made my standard trips to Bandra to pick up a few pants and blazers, then Fashion Street and Benzer to buy some shell tops (I had no idea that that’s what they were called) and somehow managed to conjure up a few formal ensembles that I thought would work. But that still wasn’t enough for 5 whole weeks in Switzerland and so, I ended up getting two dresses stitched and decided to pack a couple of decent kurta-straight pants combos. As an afterthought, I packed a silk saree as well. Now that I think about it’s what a personal stylist for women would recommend.
My internship began and while that in itself was fulfilling, I realised that it was my clothes that made me feel like a bedraggled, lowly intern. If I had to be tested on how “western” my outfits looked, I’d manage to just about pass but somehow I still stood out with my pulled together outfits. And what made me really feel the vast chasm between the fancily-suited Swiss women and me were the shoes. While my feet were clad in ugly shoes and sandals, the women there tick-ticked in their lovely Pradas.
Finally, there was a day when our project manager had to take us, interns, out to a beautiful sunset dinner by the vineyard. This was the reason (unbeknownst to me) that I had packed the saree. The one day I wasn’t aping their attire, the Swiss fell in love with my look and I got “oohed” and “aahed” all evening. All my prior days of bad dressing were completely overshadowed by that one evening (wish I had some photographic evidence though). That simple silk saree turned out to be my one power dressing piece that made me stay true to myself. After that, I have lived and worked in the US for many years and while I upgraded my Western wardrobe substantially, I have always loved the saree as the most elegant fall back option.
20 years of working in India and abroad have given me insight into the clothes, brands, styles and fashion that women swear by but I’ve also learnt that it’s important to find what works for you. Image and style consultants agree that power dressing isn’t about pulling on a pair of trousers, a shirt, a blazer and a pair of high heels, it’s about wearing what makes you comfortable, what brings out your personality and what ultimately makes you feel powerful (read confident).
As Donna Karen once said, “Power dressing is designed to let the woman inside us come through.” I couldn’t agree more.
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