The In-betweeners

My favourite thing in my wardrobe these days is a work of sheer passion created by Namrata Joshipura. It is a woolen coat as light as a feather, yet laden with large embroidered red roses, reminding me of Chinese lanterns or Russian Baroque at once.

But this coat must wait for cooler climes. What we are looking to wear now are layers, structures that are somewhere free and elsewhere tailored, closed shoes, pants, tones of oranges and berries. This is not yet winter or festive, it's the wonderful point of just-there.

In summers we wear whites, florals and pastels and wedge heels. In winters, there jewel tones or the omniscient black in silks and finer threads. But it's the trans-seasonal wardrobe that's most challenging to put together. It's never about a look, but a style aesthetic that's mixed and teamed to maximize its versatility.

It is a cocktail sari, a spangled chiffon dress, a cashmere coat over linen trousers, or a navy button-down playsuit — these are our new staples.

Three hours from Mumbai, in Pune, from where I write this, my aunt at 75 greets me in the morning with a steaming cuppa. She wears trousers, always trousers, a block-print shirt from Anokhi and a powder-blue sleeveless jacket that's only lightly quilted, a gift from her US-based son. It's at least eight degrees cooler than Mumbai, but not yet cold.

Last week's Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week saw an amalgamation of trends and textures, even though the season they were aiming to sell was Spring Summer. Vineet Bahl was inspired by Persian aesthetics with linear patterns and block prints, in shades of off-whites, blacks, burgundy and washed-out blues. Stoles muffled necks and aprons were loosely tied at the back.

... contd.