The Fashionista

The debate for which city deserves the title of the ‘Fashion Capital’ of India has been raging for quite a long time now. Both Delhi and Mumbai claim the title as theirs and it really is a tough call as to which of these Indian cities deserves the top slot. Bollywood certainly adds glamour to Mumbai’s fashion industry but Delhi is where most of the top designers of the country have their base. Well, we are not here to decide which city deserves the crown, neither are we talking about those designers, supermodels etc. We are here to talk about the world of fashion bloggers and today we feature ‘Shubhangi’, a fashion blogger from Mumbai, who writes the blog ‘Shubhi’s Revels’. Make way for the fashionista!

Fashion blogger - Shubhangi

Shubhangi, born and brought up in Mumbai, likes to read and paint and is an animal lover. She is an engineer by education, “and like every other engineer, my heart lies elsewhere”, she says. Ever since her childhood she has been deeply interested in all kinds of inventive stuff like painting, writing etc. Her current love is photography, which kind of began seven years ago when her dad gifted her a digital camera. “After tons of GBs of photographs, my dad has concluded that my favourite subjects are my pet cat and myself”, says Shubhangi.

Shubhi’s Revels began as a new year’s resolution, the only resolution that she has ever adhered to! “Like most girls, I have always loved dressing up”, she says. One could always find dresses and fashion stuff scrawled all over the back pages of her books, right since school days. Over the last few years, she feels, she has become a bit more experimental with her fashion. This, along with her reading and following other fashion blogs, finally led to the creation of ‘Shubi’s Revels’. “My love for photography is instrumental for the existence of my blog, because I love clicking and editing pictures as much as I love fashion!” says Shubhangi.

In the crowded world of fashion writers, Shubhangi makes her blog stand out by doing what she personally feels right rather than following the trends. “I can assure you the pictures on my blog won’t look like they have come out of the latest vogue winter issue. I just wear what creatively expresses me”, she says. She is a firm believer in customization, painting her tees, sticking beads on her old handbags and always trying to reinvent pieces in her wardrobe. The DIY theme is central to her blog, and she thoroughly loves this fun approach to fashion. “And yes. People can expect to see a lot of great pictures, because I love going to out of the way places to click my outfit pictures, whenever I am able to!” says Shubhangi.

The DIY idea of sticking beads on bag

Shubhangi feels that Mumbai is a great place for experimental fashion. “There are so many people out there mixing and matching all kinds of random stuff, shopped from streets, holidays and travels, and from top brands”, she says. She shops at AND, Remanika, and lifestyle, during the sales, as she is a student and broke! Most of her stuff is from random places. She feels that if one has their fashion sense in place and a keen eye, then you can find great clothes in the most unexpected places. Mumbai’s fashion streets of Colaba causeway and Linking road are her favourite hunting grounds. “I would love to shop brands, of course. Maybe when I am a millionaire”, says Shubhangi.

The journey so far has had both the good experiences and the challenges as well. Some of the sweet memories include teaching her mother and friends to be photographers, while shouting orders at the top of her voice; getting caught by Mumbai’s moral police while clicking pictures in a public place; and spending sleepless nights working on a great DIY idea. There is also the occasional word of appreciation from the celebrated bloggers of fashion world, “The fact that they take some of their time to comment and give genuine encouragement gives me an all-time high”, she says. There were a few challenges too, like maintaining a regular stream of posts, getting followers and yes, getting over the hurdle of being stared at by people while taking pictures in public places.

The response her blog has generated is more than what she could have imagined. Through her blog she has been able to make friends around the world, something which she always wanted to do. But this is not where her creative aspirations end, Shubhangi has big plans for the future, plans which she doesn’t want to reveal as of now; “Picture abhi baaki hai”, she says. We are excited and waiting to see what this creative girl will come out with next!

As for the city of Mumbai, Shubhangi believes that it is the most awesome city ever. “You hear complaints about the crowds all the time, but frankly, once you have learnt the nuances of surviving here, you could never live anywhere else! Let’s just say, if you can combat the crowds at Dadar  station at 7pm you pretty much have the entire city at your feet!” she says.

Shubhangi says that people need to express themselves more through fashion. “Imagine how interesting the world would be if everyone wore what they felt brought out their personality!” she says. Her belief is that the need to confirm has ruined the fun in fashion. That’s why we see entire college crowds decked in polo tees and jeans. Well, that’s the advice that Shubhangi has to give to all her readers, ‘Don’t be afraid to stand out’. This lady definitely does, and you should too, after all that’s what fashion is all about!

You can check out her fashion blog here - Shubhi's Revels

You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter