Denim Etiquette

Denim is the oft used and abused item in your wardrobe.Its worn almost every other day and yet most women just seem to be wearing one that does not fit their body shape and consequentially does little to flatter one's figure and confidence.I once remember asking my friend whether she was sure she was wearing the right denim pant, finding one that is made for you can be more daunting than finding a soul mate.Pat came the reply that she had to shed some more pounds before she could fit herself well into her denim.Well the truth of the matter is that however hard you try there is little that can be done to alter your genetically endowed body shape, though the brighter side is that a lot can be done in picking the right one to suit your body shape, a large part of which involves avoiding the wrong type.So rather than trying to tirelessly starve yourself (only to regain double the weight in few months) with the dream of fitting into those skinny jeans that lies in the bottom of your closet drawer, which currently makes you look like a sausage in a casing, lets try and first avoid ones that have almost made you believe denim is not for you.

Listed below are the basic rules that have to be followed strictly, no matter what, to avoid a denim disaster.If you disobey even one of the below rules it means that you have joined the exclusive club of "DENIM TORMENTORS"

Rule 1:Never choose a denim style say low rise just because its in vogue in a particular season.Remember each style is designed for a particular body shape and violating these makes you a pitiable fashion victim and not a trendsetter.

Rule 2:After wearing a denim pant, look in the mirror to see whether you belly and sides are spilling over your pants.If so, put back the denim with redoubled vigor or else you have become a member of the dreaded "Muffin Top" club.Muffin top occurs if your rise is too low and your pant too tight.

Rule 3:While bending down wearing a low rise jeans, always pull your shirt down and hike up your pants, exposing the crack of your bum is neither cool nor sexy, its downright DISGUSTING.

Rule 4:Tapered skinny jeans may be in vogue and great on boyish frames but on a curvy women(a women whose thighs meet) these accentuate the width of the hips making them look more like a spin top, making onlookers spin out of your way

Rule 5:Wear denim pant that flatters your backside not flattens it, lest you be guilty of wearing "mom jeans".Avoid high waisted jeans guilty of this crime.

Rule 6:Petite women(women shorter than 5' 4") should avoid boot cut as they make the thigh thicker and legs shorter

Rule 7:Unless you are a fashion model or have the body of one, while wearing skinny or body hugging jeans always opt for dark washes like the classic dark blue jeans or black over lighter colours.Darker shades gives a slimming effect.

Never flout these rules and be rest assured that the glances that you get while waking downtown are appreciative ones and not sneering ones.Follow these rules to turn your denim from fiend to friend.

Jet set cooking - prawns in mustard sauce

There are some days at work which almost convinces me to become an ascetic in Himalayas.Coming home from work on one such day I was craving for some "clean comfort" food.I know that sounds like an oxymoron for every numb skull in town knows that there cannot be anything clean in a comfort food for either they are dripping in oil or they are drowned in sugar making them storehouses of dense calories.I wanted something to comfort my frayed nerves without adding to my weight woes.Racking my brain for some such food, I opened my freezer and found among all the high calorie junk food stocked up there, a container of frozen prawns staring at me, wanting to be picked up but at the same time embarrassed to say so in front of its high cal neighbours.I gave a wink and reached for it, already feeling a little elevated from my melancholy.I said to myself "Good food in 10 minutes, yummy" and so here's what I did to make it a reality.

Ingredients:
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1.Prawns shelled and deveined - 15 nos(medium sized)
2.Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
3.Turmeric Powder - a pinch
4.Salt - 1/2 tsp / to taste
5.Mustard Powder* - 1 1/2 tsp
6.Oil ( preferably mustard oil, though any oil would do) - 3 tsp
*In case mustard powder is unavailable, then grind whole mustard seeds to a paste.

Method
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1.Put the prawns in a mixing bowl.Add chili powder, turmeric powder and salt.Mix well and keep aside.
2.Add some water to the mustard powder and make a paste.
3.Pour oil in a glass vessel , place the prawns in it such that they don't overlap and fry in a microwave at 600 W for 2 minutes.
4.Turn the prawns on the other side and fry for another 2 minutes at 450 W
5.Mix in the mustard paste.Cover with lid and cook on 450 W for another 4 minutes.

Serve hot with plain white basmathi rice and a tall glass of ice cold water.Lo behold I could see all my worries dissolve in the ocean of pleasure derived from having shorshe chingri(the traditional name of the dish which in Bengali means "mustard prawns")

Enjoy this waistline friendly dish and as always "Keep it light and simple".Remember more oil does not always translate to tasty food.

Super Skinny experience

Its a cold winter morning in December.You walk down a busy street in the downtown of a big metropolis.You find one , then another and then well too many to brush aside as detractors, dressed in what seemed like "congenital pants", pants they were born with and have ever since been in them.Well how else could one explain the fit of those pants, to call them just tight is an understatement, to call them a second skin well it does do them some justice.Initially I shrug them off as the fashion faux pas of some pervasively freaky teenagers desperate to give some "volume" to their thighs and hide their otherwise boyish frame.But then on a closer look it was not just the skinny but the not so skinny too who were clad in the same.This led me to conclude that maybe, just maybe, it obliterated the need for a thermal and provided the best insulation against the bitter cold winds in addition to being fanciful and fashionable.Of course popular fashion must have a purpose.

As I amble along the road with these thoughts in my mind, I spot a denim store.I step in and find a huge collection of low rise in the most sought after "super-skinny" style.Being a size 6, though I have considered myself to be on the thinner side , looking at these pants with their "drain pipe" legs put me in doubt as to whether I found fit in one "comfortably".With a quickening breath and a pounding heart I make a dash towards the trial room.After much pulling and puffing I'm finally in them and I felt I was being subject to some kind of torture.Something pressing into my flesh at the hips and being too tight to even let me lift my foot wasn't really my sense of style, my motto being "Style follows comfort".Try sitting or bending in them and lo you are doing "an indecent exposure" .I gave it a long hard look, got out of it , tossed it back on a shelf and walked out liberated in ways more than one for not only had I gained back my unrestricted movement but also had won the satisfaction of having stood my ground as against following the "herd" and lugging around in something really constricting to the core.

Lets make Potpourri

This blog professes to be a roller coaster ride of issues pertaining to women, right from cooking in 2 minutes(pun intended of course) to battling the ever increasing waistline .The topics are wide ranging from fashion to gourmet cuisines to choosing the right shade of mascara but not limited to just attaining that ever elusive blemish less face and blackhead free nose.This is not a feminist's take on life but rather a light hearted view of life through a woman's contact lenses.Come along with me and as we take this journey together, lets make a potpourri of life...