The Hindu Business Line : Inexpensive and chic

Smart women these days are also shopping on the High Street for trousers, skirts and tops, which are cool, chic and inexpensive. So what's stopping you?

It is the time of the great melt down. The heat saps the mind and softens the tar on the road. The colours of the season are blindingly rich - mango yellow and melon green. So much so that it hurts the eye. Though whites, creams and pastels are a relief, why do people still persist in wearing black in summer? Just looking at them makes the day seem warmer.

In Chennai, as we often say with a sigh, there are three seasons — hot, hotter and hottest.

To sport a cool unhurried look during the dog days in a real tough job. This becomes a greater challenge as there are more women carrying out marketing jobs as sales representatives or customer service people. Says Fatima Abdul, a market researcher, "By the middle of the day I am a real mess. Though I wear only cottons, it is very difficult to stay fresh the whole day. You have to carry a change of clothing with you."

India is still an evolving market for designer and seasonal wear. A couple of decades ago, the miniscule number of women in the workplace wore silk saris during the winter months and cotton saris in summer. The `80s and the `90s saw a larger number of women in offices and also saw the advent of the salwar kameez as a national dress.

Anikta Gupta, a customer service manager in the telecom sector remarks that it was the sheer convenience of the salwar kameez that made it so popular. But today the salwar kameez is slightly de trop.

The software and the telecom boom have brought in several changes in the workplace, primary among them being the de-formalising of the dress code- right down to the level of shorts and Tee shirts. Today smart casuals have become the accepted dress code for offices. Asha Sarin, marketing manager of an FMCG company, says that this market has grown tremendously over the past two years. Now designers and retail houses come out regularly with their seasonal collections of smart casuals.

This summer, for instance, Wills Sport's summer line up has gypsy tops with delicately embroidered and flirty ruffles at the sleeves for Rs 795. The linen sport shirts with whisper soft cottons and creamy line, in a number of alluring shades, has gone down well with the high fliers. The real sporty ones love to create a stir with the wave stripe tank top with decorative flat locks cause and multi-strip sleeveless polos. Wills Sports has come out with cotton designs in a stretch and satin weave.

Also in vogue are the light flared trousers with stylish waistbands. The Angela embroidered top and skirt (a bit like Hakoba — rage of yesteryears) — at Rs 645 and Rs 895, are... well, cool.

Light pastel and white jeans are very much on the scene. The friendly fashion editor next door swears that jeans with coloured flowers on a white background are a rage. This is strictly for the slim ones, as flowers can make the round ones look all the more round!

For these, there is solace at the Westside department store in Chennai. It has come out with Gia, for the `plus sized women'. There are elegant tunics with sequins and embroidery, blouses in soft, stylish polynisics, formal trousers in Japanese fabrics and pull on luxury trousers. The sizes available are from 32" to 38" in waist sizes and 42" to 50" in tops.

Two predominant themes in the Westside collection are the gypsy and the peasant look. The peasant style has skirts and blouses inspired by flowers in subtle styles enhance by strong colour and floral prints. Then there are the tie-ups, flounces and frills in the blouses and skirts. Not quite office wear and but just right to chill out in.

There is also the patchwork look to contend with. This look has a combination of fabrics, irregular prints, asymmetrical hemlines, explicit colours and raw edges.

Surajit Mitra, Manager (Brand Development) at Chennai's Globus, says that the Spring Summer of 2003 is glamorous and yet classic at the same time. Soft, flowing chiffons in pastel shades, bright yellow and sunset colours, are a rage. The wrap, once a hit with the firangis, has made a comeback, and the baggy pyjamas will stay in vogue, just like last year.

In many cases, dresses are lingerie inspired, with traces of silver and gold work. The material, according to international trends, is cotton.. something that is close to every Indian heart during the sweltering summers, with cotton linen and flax soft material thrown in.

For Indian dresses, short sleeves on pure white soft material kurtas, with a little feminine touch like lace or beads, is the in thing to wear this summer. Flowing silk chiffon skirts or even ghaghra paired with soft, baby doll styled tops is the eveningwear over the next few months. Slim tops and skirts with circle and flower mohair embroideries and flowing silk chiffon skirts are popular. So are the acid frayed denim skirts and Capri's, patchwork denim pants, triple-belt dresses and knitted halter tops with long fringes. Ultra-hep, slim and low-waist trousers in all sorts of colourful styles — red herringbone and corduroy, blue plaid, stripes — with Western-style leather and lace-up trims. And you have the casuals scene complete.

The popular colours are shades of brown, slate blue, sepia, beige and prints in black. The `used' and `washed' look, as if found in old trunks, is currently popular like lace blouses in faded pastel shades.

On the ethic front there are long and short kurtas, but the latter are on their way out, say the ones in the know. The material that needs checking out is the Mangalgiri block prints.

It's not all designer wear and high priced clothes in the offices. The smart women these days are also shopping on the High Street for trousers, skirts and tops. These shops (they are there in every metro) offer a large variety of funky chic, so much so that it is really worth looking them up when one is out shopping for something to wear in summer. The styles are the same as in the department stores and the boutiques, but the cost is just a fraction of the branded prices and above all, one can junk it after a season. And if one knows the turf there are chances of real bargains.

So get yourself some funky chic this summer.

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