Fabric Selection

A few photos I found weeks ago that I never posted but really should have. 
Below is a border design like piece on
a dress styled kameez (tunic top), which is a detail I love.
The whole suit puts purple alongside orange,
and then the touches of brown on the embellished
areas help when it comes to looking for matching jewelry and shoes. 

Just brilliant, two colours rarely worn in my opinion that are brought together.
The trim uses pink, white and brown shiny rayon like threads,
looking into damask like designs that
surround the flower shapes.
Lotus like blooms horizontally lined up.
The light plays with the shiny thread;
creating areas of shade, of light and dark.

The embellishments to the above neck area of a top are quite interesting, using thick black thread to create this beautiful leaf motif
and these splodge like flowers drops,
alongside swirls with sequins dotted around the shapes.
Leaves venation in gold thread – lush!

Lots of blue, lines and plastic

With pinks and silvers thrown in for extra points. 

 

The bead work on this kurta is coming off now but it still looks impressive. 

The interesting grid like structure above alongside wavy sequined lines 

shows great choice in colour. and shape.

 

The inside of the neckline shows an
interesting structure of thin plastic thread that is transparent and still visible. 

The slit eye like shape, clearly a shape referenced 

in Asia's own art and cultural heritage, 

an example would be the book cover of
The triumph of modernism: India's artists and the avant-garde, 1922-1947 by Partha Mitter,
which shows a painting that uses the idea of elongated eyes.

Newcastle Mela, September 2011

Photos from Newcastle Mela 2011

Ooops...bad photography skills results in an
interesting incredibly motion blurred image, 

the pattern lost, but perhaps a new one made.

The Mela in itself, is an amzing show of diversity and culture in Newcastle,
it's a celebration of what makes Newcastle a fantastic and amazing palce to live
and of course is a perfect oppotunity to eat good food (with or without the spicy kick).
It has an amazing lineup of performers and live music
that would gurentee to make you stop, take a seat and listen.

The photos coming up are simply of the kurtas there.

Kurtas are tunic like tops,

like a kameez (the blouse/top part of the shalwar kameez),

they are worn with trousers like jeans or actually suit like trousers.

The above pattern comes from a red kurta I bought.

The sun or flower like motifs really attracted me to it in the first palce.

This kurta is in the currant style of a dress.

 Like any clothing styles vary season to season,

at the moment the dress style is..well in.  

ORANGE! Hah bet you didn't see that one coming.

Meticulouse beadwork again,

I don't think I've seen orange beadwork in a while.

Seems to be a colour not often used on clothes.

Hopefully next year I can get more photos,

might include some of the actual music, and costumes worn too.

Brown and pink and all things pretty

Cut offs from an old kurta
(basicly a tunic top with a mandarin collar).

The deep pink colour can't really be seen here for one of 2 reasons:
1) my camera isn't as good as eyes at picking up colour
2) an incompetent photographer.
Take your pick. :D

The detail on the neckline area spills out onto the chest area.
The use of beads and pretty gold disks and
the chain like stich embroidery speaks for itself.

A closeup of these cicle disks shows they ae detailed with lines,
so far I haven't found any other fabric adorned this way.

The golden brown beads imbedded
amonst the very fine chain stich

Chain stich how to