Puneeta Agrawal has studied gemology and is delighted to tell you about the amethysts, peridots, rubies, emeralds, mother of pearl and other semi-precious stones that she has set into her jewellery. She will also tell you about your birthstone and show you earrings, pendants and finger rings you can safely wear. Along with her is her friend from Mumbai Sarika A Kochar who has some party-wear kind of un-stitched salwar kameez and dupatta ensembles in cotton, muslin and pure chiffon, some embellished with Swarovski and mukaish work.
Jewellery and designer clothes at Amortela at the Style Bazaar in Coimbatore
There is a lot of bling at the Style Bazaar organised by Coimbatore Metropolitan Ladies Circle 23 in association with Ladies Circle India. And that could be because of the number of stalls selling jewellery. From trendy to traditional, the jewellery is eye catching and difficult to resist, like the edgy neck pieces from Amortela that also curates designer wear from designers such as 5 Cross by Ajit Kumar, Aharin, Abhi Singh, Akaaro, Mint Blush, Miuniku, The Meraki Project, Zuilee, I Am Trouble, Pushpak Vimaan and others. Do not forget to pick up a pair of jooties from them.
There is stuff at Style Bazaar that will appeal to the most casual of dressers and the most finicky. Water Colors displays some really girlie and free-spirit looking kurtas, tops and trousers embellished with quirky embroidery (including one irresistibly embroidered with tea kettles!) If you like shiny, then Simran Mumbai is for you. The dupattas, priced between ₹500 and ₹3, 500, come with Benarsi work, Kashmiri embroidery, gota work and in bandhini. There are a couple of stalls from J&K. Kashmir Handloom has silk saris and someone innovative has come out with the idea of a sari with matching shawl! It is priced at ₹3,500. Surprisingly there is another stall called Ladakh Creations that doesn’t remotely look anything Ladakhi. There are saris there that could well have been made in Surat!
It is difficult not to giggle as Babulal Prajapat models his one-minute-sari! They are ready-to-strap-up saris teamed with elaborately hand-embroidered blouses. They cost upward of ₹8,000 and the salesperson says the slinky sari is imported from Taiwan! Speaking of saris, there is plenty to choose from with almost every sari person offering the now inevitable ‘pure linen’. They are very pretty, but one has seen them a hundred times before in so many exhibitions. But do stop by Abhilasha Poddar, the stall from Varanasi. It has some really pretty Benarsi weaves in cotton ranging from ₹2, 500 to ₹7,000. And if you are not in a mood to go ‘matching-matching’ with blouses, then pop over to Dezires from Bengaluru that stocks some cool cotton hand-painted Kalamkari affairs. They come in Small, Medium and Large sizes with a five-inch margin so they can fit most people. They look as if they are tailored with a lot of thought. For example, some are long sleeved and, if you want, you can roll up the sleeves. When you do, the inside is made of another fabric in interesting contrast.
Nirav Khunt is from NID and has brought along with him organic bamboo silk saris. They are in gorgeous colours and some have intricate embroidery in the same colours or in contrast. They are priced between ₹7, 800 and ₹18, 000.
