How to Style Harem Pants

Harem pants or harem trousers, also known as parachute pants, are women's baggy long pants tapered at the ankle, with side flaps on the hip that button at the waist area.

Harem pants, which originated in India, are like a cross between a skirt and a pair of skinny jeans. The legs, from the knees down, are fitted. The crotch area is loose and baggy as if it were cut to be a skirt. Traditional harem pants can be extremely large and baggy, with a very wide and full fit, very roomy, loose fitting, over-sized, puffy, and spacious, with elastic in waist and at ankles, and with the crotch below the knee almost to the ground.

A "modern" version of harem pants was made popular in the late 1980s by MC Hammer and thus known as hammer pants. They are intended to be made more fashionable and require less fabric.

Harem Pants have been there for a while now. Although some view them as a little bit too trendy to pull off, I find the trend of these slouchy pants to be a nice break from the regular jeans and straight fit trousers. They definitely seem tricky to style, but that’s the beauty of them!

They are unique enough and you may not need anything else to look chic. They are actually very flattering. When styling harems, you can keep the following things in mind and you shall never regret buying them!

Fabric – Thick and structured fabrics are recommended with harems as they will flatter your body shape. Cotton, Linen are good choices and Silks are a big no-no!

The Cut – No matter how good they look on runways, but too much drape can look sloppy. Hence, its advisable to go with the cuts which are lose around the thighs and crotch but no so lose that the fabric brunches when standing.
Strictly avoid drop crotch pants unless you are a super risk taker!

Waist Highlight – Another important factor to consider while styling harems is to highlight your waist. This will balance out the bulk.

Top – Try wearing harems with a tighter fitting top, a belt or a cropped jacket to give you shape around your waist and the torso.

Length matters – I personally feel ankle length harem pants look more flattering than the knee length ones because the full length pants add to the length of your legs however, the knee length pants cut the length of your legs in half making you look shorter.

Shoes – Generally, heels make legs look longer, you can also style harems with flats and sandals.

P.S. Let harem pants be the center of attention and keep other accessories light. These are easier to pull off if you pair them with something classic as opposed to other uber-trendy pieces.

Last but not the least, wear your harems with confidence and a smile!

Cheers
Ritika

Animal print shirt: Old Navy
Harem Pants: Shoppers Stop
Denim Vest: Mango
Shoes: Janpath, New Delhi
Sunglasses: Ray Ban
Jhola Bag: Janpath, New Delhi
Watch: Titan
Hoop Earrings: Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi

Just Being Neutral

It would not be wrong when I say that life treats you lessons in its own way. You start yearning for things when you don’t have them and you start missing things or people when they are gone, or let's say, practically when you move ahead in life!

Life is easy in one way and not so easy in the other. And I love living my life the way it comes to me – that is without tweaking or changing it what so ever. I have always let things happen to me the way they were destined to be. I enjoy being a spectator to my own life. If you start fighting or going to the opposite direction, the waves will sink you down, but if you go with the flow, you enjoy the ride.

Moving to a new country altogether was a tough decision for me initially. The many thoughts of leaving my job, my parents, my home, my city kept bothering me. But then I thought life is offering me an opportunity to experience new things in this beautiful world – I could either take it or leave it, and then finally, I took it! And here I am... all happy and enjoying every bit of my life. If I had been reluctant at that time and stuck to my belongings back there, I wouldn’t be in a good place where I am right now!

Accept life as it comes! Simply accept it. Find happiness in everything that you do, and see the magic life has to offer you!

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.

On my outfit:

My today's outfit post is from my New Delhi days. I wore it when I was out on a lunch date at my relatives. I  thought of playing up with neutrals and going for a sophisticated look.

Enjoy!

Cheers

Ritika

Blouse: Mango

Pants: Janpath, New Delhi

Shoes: Janpath

Bag: Westside

Sunnies: Oakley

Watch: Invicta

Bangle: Janpath

Kingdom of Dreams

I just realized that it's been quite a few days since I have done a proper outfit post! Hence, immediately jumped down with a pen and paper and searched my pictures, and got these amazing ones, which I almost forgot about.

When me and my husband went to see a live musical show at Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon, India, I wanted to play dress up. Hence, I went with my frilly skirt and a bling blouse.

The show was breathtaking and so was me (as per my husband) :)

I would HIGHLY recommend you all to visit the place anytime you are in Delhi. Its worth it!

I finally landed in Phoenix, one of the hottest cities in America. The sun does not shine here, it burns!!!

Though it feels good to be back here (in U.S.)! But I miss India already, my parents, my friends and my home back there, however, I am all geared up to start up a new life here. Planning to get my driving license here in U.S. soon, as I would love to drive our new SUV which we just bought a day ago! 

On my outfit - 

On one shopping date with my dear hubby, he gifted me this lovely shiny blouse. I immediately fell in love with it and started thinking of what to pair it with since it is such a wonderful neon color. And as I was going for an over the top look, I chose a skirt full of frills to go with it and some nude heels (to balance the equation). The black clutch gives a base to the outfit. Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. This poor guy, with all the costume and make-up on, kept standing in this statue mode for hours. You would think it is a statue, but when you approach him, there is a person on duty!

Cheers

Ritika

Blouse: Globus

Skirt: Old Navy

Shoes: Metro Shoes

Watch: Michael Kors

Clutch: Gifted by MIL

Sunnies: Ray Ban

Necklace: Janpath, New Delhi

Bangles, Earrings: Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi

Short Story: The Buddha Smiles No More

Here’s a lovely story from Buddha’s life.

One day, a disciple came to Buddha and said,” Master, my robe is worn out. Can I have a new one?" Buddha found that the robe was indeed in a bad condition and arranged for a new robe to be given.

The next day, Buddha asked him "What did you do with your old robe?" The disciple replied, "I am using it as my bed spread." Then Buddha wondered, "Have you disposed of your old bed spread?" The disciple replied, "No, Master. I am using my old bedspread as a curtain."

"And what about your old curtain?", asked Buddha. "It is being used to handle hot utensils in the kitchen,” the disciple replied. "Then, can you tell me what happened to the old cloth used in the kitchen,” was the next question. The disciple said, "It is being used to wash the floor."

Buddha asked, "So then where's the old rag being used to wash the floor?" The disciple humbly replied "Master, since it was totally torn, I could not think of any better use for it, but as the wick in the oil lamp, which lights your study room after sunset."

Buddha smiled in contentment and left for his room.

We have moved far, far away from the teachings of Buddha, which are rooted in Indian culture. It’s not too long ago. Remember when we did not feel the need to buy the bigger car with the latest technology every two years, we had pens for which we bought refills, we were happy with shoes in neutral shades instead of a wardrobe crammed with the latest styles, when manufacturers reused bottles after cleaning them instead of using PET bottles and tin cans which lie dumped in the garbage – stinking and rusting?

Surely, you can’t imagine that this wasteful culture can go on? And surely you don’t flatter yourself thinking you are already doing your bit to conserve the environment? Do you often feel there is wasteful production; wasteful consumption? And how often do we land up buying things which we do not even get out of the packaging we bought it in?

Do you get the feeling that something is seriously wrong and we are responsible for nailing down the problem and finding solutions?

Well its time we, you and I who are these consumers, stopped. If we do not make the right choices to diligently conserve what little we have left, we will soon have decisions thrust on us by Nature. The price might be too heavy for us to pay. So, think what you can do about it ..before its too late.

Think!

Ritika
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