I love sarees – love the way they hug a lady in the right curves, love the way they flow and love how they make you feel like you are in a fairytale. I used to drape sarees quite often when I used to study and work in India.
Once I moved to Singapore, I kinda gave up wearing sarees due to various reasons – 1. I was so busy with PhD and studying etc. that a pair of jeans or shorts and t-shirts are all that I used to wear to be comfortable in the lab; 2. I came to Singapore with 2 boxes of clothes, that’s it – couldn’t fit sarees into that; 3. I had put on a lot of weight – so I felt uncomfortable wearing a sari – which is so not true by the way – it was all just in my head, when I was struggling with body image issues for a while (yes I did struggle, one of the main reasons for starting a fashion blog and channel for curvy fashion!)
Fast forward, I am back to loving sarees and especially the new (revival of the old styles) styles that is happening right now – Kalamkari, plain ones, double-colour, cotton, handloom etc. When we can go organic and eco-friendly with our food, why not with our clothes right??!
On Instagram, I came across some beautiful sarees and handmade jewellery from a brand called Nrinam (Instagram – @nrinam). This brand is unique; started by Aishwarya Tandon, Nrinam is a small enterprise which consists of 17 girls from a small Juggi Colony in Wazirabad, Gurgaon (Haryana,India). The company is run by and for women of the economically marginalised, who are being schooled to compete with the times.
The company teaches basic skills like sewing, tailoring, embroidery, block printing, handmade jewellery, stitching etc. to ensure financial freedom and help them achieve their dreams. They use upcycled materials as well – all so very well packaged into one company. But don’t just think immediately that they are an NGO – on principle, the company discourages donations or charity of any kind – as they want to build self esteem and endurance in these girls – so they earn for what they make/work (awesome, isn’t it???)
I was instantly drawn to their vision and mission – and their products are extremely beautiful and well made. Remember, the purple tiered necklace from my jacket post? that one is from Nrinam – check out the necklace here.
I also bought a super nice upcycled double-colour saree from them as featured below.
I paired this beautiful blue-green plain saree with a colourful kalamkari blouse; the saree has super cute tassels at the end too :). To add to the fairytale outfit, I wore the beautiful half moon earrings and necklace set from Quills & Spills. Topped it off with a bun and fresh flowers, huge bright pink bindi, pink and gold makeup, simple bangles – and I was all gorgeous for my friend’s engagement function in a temple. I love this look and love the brands that made me put this look together.
Nrinam and Quills & Spills customer service is excellent – prompt replies and they clarify all your queries. Best of all, their pictures online do justice to the actual product you receive. Most of the time, while doing online shopping, the pictures are very deceiving. But not in this case for sure – so go for it and buy something from them – do support their cause.
Ok, now I leave you with more gorgeous pictures by Sharas Clickz. Bye until next time 🙂
Sandhya Sriram 