Does the word “Bangles” scream Housewife to you?

If you have answered in affirmative, you need a refresher course in accessorizing dearie! Bangles are for everyone. Whether you are a college gal, or a working woman – bangles are your friend. They can spark up an otherwise boring ensemble. They can bring color to a colorless attire. They can bring zing to a simply clad woman’s look. In a few words, bangles can do lots for everyone.

For The College Gang

Chunky bangles is the in-thing today. If you are still wearing that multiple thin metallic bangle set, you are “Oh! So passé!!!” Dump those thin bangles and any others that you may have yaar! Go get some colorful thick bangles. Plastic is very “in” in accessories.

Feeling Like A Rockstar Today?

Thick bangles in metal is the thing for you to buy. Team them up with black jeans adorned with metal to get that rusty look. A mix of resin and metal bangles give a great funky and interesting look. These come in thick bangles as well as thick bracelets. Grab one now!

At Work

A thick plastic bangle that matches with some part of your dress can create a nice style statement. Just remember to not go over the top. For instance, if you wear a big red bangle, you are pushing your luck too far! Blues, browns and black are great at work. Metals are also good to create a neutral appearance.

Add Some Zing To Denim

Denim is so common now that it becomes boring on its own. Even the greatest of jeans can do with some accessorizing! To add some spark to a denim outfit, buy metallic/plastic bangles in jungle prints. A nice zebra print or a little giraffe print is quite something!

Tips:

• Do not wear 4-5 thick bangles on one hand. Remember, less is more.

• Do not wear many colors on your hands. You don’t want to look like one of those multi-colored umbrellas, right?

• Remember that the color you wear should coordinate with at least some part of your attire.

• Whatever happens, Do Not wear glass bangles to work. This is an absolute No No! Who wants the clinking sound notifying everyone of your presence?

• The plastic/ivory “chura” or the wedding bangles can be worn to work for a month or so. Do not stretch it too far though.

• Remember to stick to a bare minimum at work. You don’t want the bangles to make it difficult for you to type or work on a keyboard.

Tags: accessories, bangles, bracelets, chunky bangles, fashion, metal bangles, plastic bangles  •  No Comments

Female shopping desire is a complex beast. And yet extraordinarily resilient. Regardless of most things, women will find a way and a reason (or twelve) to shop. It’s our sport. Our therapy. Our entertainment.

We shop when we’re lonely, bored, depressed, angry, elated and worried. We shop when we’re rich and when we’re poor. We shop in sickness and in health, ‘til debt do us part from our credit cards. And then we find one of those stores with ‘no interest for three years!’ and we shop some more…..

We shop for clothes and cosmetics and books and food and gadgets and vitamins and furniture and Scentsy candles. We shop for others. We shop alone and in groups. We shop with our dogs and for them. We shop to celebrate, to treat ourselves, to console ourselves and to cheer ourselves up. We shop for new underwear when we’re single and we shop for homewares when we’re loved up.

We shop to mark other new life-stages too, new jobs, new babies, new homes. We shop when we gain weight and when we lose it. We shop to go on holidays and then we shop again when we get there.

Generally, women just like buying stuff. Quick, grab a pen and write that down because it really is an astonishing and original revelation. You’re welcome.

So if you’re a woman, or if there is one in your vicinity, it’s time for a fairy clap. Because apparently? Houson has narrowly skirted around a recession. And on behalf of all women, I’m taking credit. When Wayne and Kevin said ‘shop for your country’, we listened, dammit. We understood it was our civic duty to go shopping, not unlike paying taxes or obeying traffic rules. We hit Target and Agaci and KD’s Kloset Boutique and Charlotte Rouse and we hit them hard.

As Houston narrowly avoids the recession this month after an unexpected economic growth spurt, we do appear to be experiencing an oestrogen-led economic recovery. “Women can only stop shopping for so long,” observed at the  National Retailers Association conference last week adding that young women were particularly committed to helping turn around the ailing economic forecasts as a selfless service to their country. “They still buy their PZI and Dereon jeans on Saturday morning, get their hair done on Saturday afternoon and go out on a Saturday night. This market has not changed”.

Of course it hasn’t. That’s because women are taking this GFC damn seriously and we’re mobilising the troops, conscripting our friends, workmates, mothers, nannas and sisters and marching directly to the frontline to buy, well, any old thing.

This is fabulous news for retailers but I do have one grave concern for the next generation of female shoppers. All this gung-ho, government endorsed retail therapy is threatening the survival of a crucial female skill: the ability to buy-hide-and-lie. This is one of my favourite sports and the only one at which I have ever excelled. Whether you play alone or in teams, the rules go like this: the shopper must attempt to smuggle new purchases into the house under the watchful eye of a male (father, husband, boyfriend, flatmate) and then use or wear said item without being busted. If accusations are levelled at the player along the lines of ‘Is that new?” she must instantly weave a convincing web of lies. The degree of difficulty can be high and requires the disposal of evidence (swing tags, shopping bags, receipts) and the covert importation of items into the house when said male is out or occupied (in the garage or toilet).
This ancient skill has been passed down the matriarchal line for generations and has kept millions of women mentally and physically agile.

But now there’s no need to hide-and-lie. Shopping is compulsory and not doing so is un Houstonian. Keep your money in your wallet and you may as well set fire to a pile of Popeyes biscuits.  So what will happen to the art of buy-hide-and-lie now that we can gaily wander in the door swinging our shopping bags and fend off any challenges with a dismissive “I’M selflessly working towards a budget surplus. What have YOU done for the economy today?”

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