Fashion, Travel and Life with Malvika S Kukreja

Hey Lovelies!

This past year has been my 'international year.' I started the year in Iceland, celebrating the New Year with family. I came back to London, and met a group of girls who, now, are some of my closest friends. These girls were from a study exchange program with my uni, and were from various cities around the world. Then in my summer, I went around Europe a little bit, and will end this crazy year with 5 months living in New York City. This post will be a conversation with one of my international friends I made in the exchange program.

Meet Malvika S Kukreja:
She is a Fashion Blogger/Writer and Fashion Business student from India. She travelled half way across the world to London to study at my university for a few months, and between the deadlines and bar crawls, we became very good friends. She's an extremely hard worker, absolutely gorgeous and an amazing friend! Even from half way across the world.

1) You've been quite the globe trotter this past year! What has been the best thing about travelling to all these amazing places?

When I look back at this past year, I can't put a finger on just ONE thing that has been best. I've always been an optimist in a very realistic way. It is supposed to be awfully hard to adjust to new surroundings, new people and new culture but I would call myself lucky enough that it happened to me without much trouble. For that, the credit goes to the people I met while travelling. They made me comfortable and happy. They inspired me in one way or another. I also learnt a lot from the places I visited, the opportunities I got and the experiences I had. So, in all I would just say, travelling to all these places was the sole best thing because it gave me so much to take back home.

2) Living in both London and various cities in India, how would you say fashion differs between the two countries?

India has been influenced by the western fashion in absolutely every way you can possibly imagine. Despite that we like to stick to our roots and experiment with Indian wear. What we do best in India is incorporate global trends in our traditional designs and work them like magic. Speaking of traditional, we have ensembles like salwar kameez, saree, dhoti pants (in vogue off late) etc which are quite different from western wear. Although we also have ensembles that have an element of the west for example, the silhouettes of anarkalis look similar to an A-line or an empire line dress but they have a bifurcate underneath and a dupatta (shawl) to go with them. So, there are elements like these that are similar, yet very different and believe it or not, despite all the modernization and international business, the traditional Indian wear still rules the market in India with its unorganized sector.

3) When you came to London, I saw your style evolve over the months, as you become immersed in the city's fashion. Does London still influence your style?

Yes, absolutely! When I came to London, I was the non-accessorizing-non-experimenting-not-fashionably-fun kind of person. The thing that evolved in my style is basically my confidence level about experimenting with fashion. I was that girl who was scared to try out a new look or wear makeup regularly because I wondered what people would think of me. But going to London has somehow made me more confident about having fun with fashion because it is a means of self expression. I can’t relate this confidence to anything really but it just happened. Sometimes I just need an epiphany to set my head straight and fashion wise, London gave me that. I can pin point my sense of style now, which I couldn’t earlier. It’s casual chic. I literally can’t not do chic.

4) What's one wardrobe staple you couldn't live without?

Jewelry and my skinny jeans

You will always see me wearing at least one piece of jewelry, even if it’s a plain band on my finger. I also can’t do without my skinny jeans, they are my go-to when I want to run errands or when I have absolutely no idea what to wear. I can literally ready a chic outfit with skinny jeans in 60 seconds; watch:

A plain/printed tank layered with a jacket, skinny jeans and a statement necklace. Roll up the cuff of the jeans and slip into some classy high heels, let your natural waves loose and you’re good to go. See, told ya!

5) I know accessories are a huge part of Indian fashion and culture, is there any that you see going into mainstream fashion?

In India, women love their jewellery. Buying jewellery with precious gems and metals is considered an investment here. In traditional bridal wear, matha patti (a hair accessory) has been a trend for as long as we can remember. It runs through the mid section of your head and all around the crown area.

 

Traditionally (the image on the left), it was made out of gold and gems but contemporarily (the image on the right) this trend has picked up in fashion jewellery segment as the “bohemian hair accessory” across the globe. It is made of non-precious metals like brass etc; faux gems are also used. It is quite affordable also. I personally love the contemporary version of matha patti. I think it’s very feminine and quite sexy.

Check out Malvikas blog here, she posts regularly about all things fashion and beauty! She also has a post with my answers to her questions. Also, Check out her Facebook page and Instagram page and show some love on there!

If it's one thing Malvika has taught me is that you'll find friends in the craziest places when you least expect it, but that's the beauty of this world, right?

Until next time,