What: Hand woven textiles at Vaya, Jeevan Kiran, SV Road, Bandra (W), call 26436556, start at Rs 1,800.

Why: With weavers from all over India – Benares, Pune, Hyderabad - spooling in to fill its pretty block printed cabinets, Vaya is a far cry from your regular fabric store. Fruit of the loom include a startling red Maheshwari saris, three-hued woolen scarf and a Rs 4-lakh silver-gold Upada.

When: Opens today, zari up and get there!

What: Big ass T-shirts from TKProject, visit www.tkproject.in, available at Bombay Electric, Reay House, Colaba, Rs 950.

Why: Get a back stage look at this year’s Ganpathi festivities with these uber-cool Tshirts. Conceptualised by the brand new Italian-Indian TKProject (pronounced “theek hai”), these depict the rear end of a retreating elephant, big ears, stubby tail and all.

When: You want to fall pray to fashion.

What: Swapna Rishi yoga mat bag at O.M.O, 204 second floor, Sagar Fortune, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), call 66981804, Rs 1,300.

Why: Pretty and unusual, these South silk bags might be expensive but we thought our budgets could do with a little stretch. Besides holding a yoga pad, they come with wooden detailing and a pocket for phone, keys and exorbitant class fees.

When:  You want a rug urn.

Tough Love

Meet Angela, pretty as a rose but armed with war chains, and Monique, shimmery and fairy-like but suited up in leather. In fact, there’s a whole battalion of feisty fighters – Serena, Anika, Alia – all waiting to choke you. Why? Because chainsmith Meera Mittal decrees so. Raising an army of uber-interesting neck pieces, each named after a woman, Meera combines feminine fabrics with metallic details, setting in motion chains of command that are hard to ignore. 

One of bpb’s favourite underground designers, this NIFT graduate has worked under fashion bigwigs like Gayatri Khanna and Ashish Soni, and launched her online store yesterday. Are we buying? Ma’am, yes ma’am!

What: Made-to-order sling purse from Inkberri, call Simran Bijlani on 9821461309, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit the Facebook group here, Rs 1,650.

Why: We love when new-on-the-scene designer Simran Bijlani gives us the cool shoulder, especially the military green leather purse with pretty floral flap and sling attached. She also customises bags to suit your whims, changing colours, handles and pockets.

When: You want the new tote on the turf.

What: Postcard pillow at Serenity, Clamar Building, opposite Guru Nanak Park, junction of 16th and 29th Road, Bandra (W), call 9920766894, Rs 650.

Why: Head bored? Bring into the sack this cute gunny pillow with a postcard print from Serenity, Bandra’s brand new home store. Other soft landings include printed poufs, yoga floor pads and Royal Enfield cushions.

When:  You want to scrawl into bed.

Flat Lines

At first glance, the body of work at Kavita Bhartia’s new Ogaan flagship in Colaba is disappointingly mundane. The 1,600 square feet of prime real estate is crowded with sequined kurtas by Kiran Uttam Ghosh (formerly Kimono), Gauri and Nanika ruffles and wisps of chiffon by Nachiket Bharve. Not to miss Bhartia’s own collection of embellished jerseys. All of these we’ve seen before, at Ensemble and Melange and Amara and Zoya, enough times to bore us into a coma.

Code Red

We held on, though, clutching at lifelines like the store’s PR release, which promises collections by cooler labels like Rahul Mishra and Anamika Khanna (neither of which are currently available), and the new Pero collection (formerly Gaba), prominently displayed in the front. We especially loved a silk scarf, lined with square tassels and flecked with blood red – at Rs 7,000, it gave us a reason to go on, to strive towards a richer, more decadent future.

Rejuvenated, we dug deeper, rejecting the shocking Sabyasachi copies by Petticoat Studio (how do they get away with it?) and finding hope in Sanchita’s uber-cool line of tees, including versions patch-worked with hardy strips of leather, one with an exposed shoulder pad and another sporting a pair of doleful owls (start at Rs 3,000).

Heart Beads

Owls also fly onto oversized bowler hat rings by Ritika Sachdeva, the best of which is the colour of ripe tangerines and stamped with a fat elephant (Rs 1,200). In truth, Sachdeva is the savior at Ogaan, with her fun bangle sets (one large cuff and a bunch of complementing pieces), abovementioned rings and best of all, a collection of vintage-y long-chained evening bags. Made entirely from filigreed metal, polished a dull gold and in cool shapes, these are delicate, different and instantly covetable (Rs 7,000).

Last Words

All in all, Ogaan is a dead beat. You may think we’re being harsh, but trust us reader, this is not what we wanted to report. After all, no one enjoys being in critical condition.

Getting there: 5/5 Grants Building, first floor, Arthur Bunder Road, Colaba, call 22833576/7, Rs 1,200 for a Ritika Sachdeva oversized ring.

Pink Champagne

A (shopping) case of Bandra’s finest?  Probably not. But Bubbles, the suburb’s very pink and very new fashion store does promise some effervescent buys.

Further your Carrier

Our rack recce started with the jewellery shelves, where rings sat like luscious fruit candy in a forest of trinkets overdone with floral embellishments. Tongue teasers! The next thing we picked up were the bags  - a  slinky sequinned tote with cool square plastic top and rose shaped clutch sporting ruffled organza petals. We also suggest you give the run-of-the-mill metal rivet carriers a miss for the kickass S&M-style finger bag tied up in metal chains. For Rs 2,000 it may hurt a little, but you’ll find yourself submitting to its power anyway.

The clothes are a lot less exciting. Unremarkable leopard print tops, black satin off- shoulder dresses, tousled chiffon sheaths and jersey fabric shirts abound, and the only cutie in the house is a one-shoulder long knit sporting a kooky chick dressed in African prints. Jumbo!

Shopping on 5th Avenue

If there’s one sign board harder to resist for us Secret Scouters than “Happy Hours”, it’s “We Are Now Open”. We passed such a notice on our way home from Bubbles, which led us to 5th Avenue, a fashion store for women hidden inside an apartment building.

VIP (Very Important Pinafores)

This tiny, pretty store houses very important dresses (and accessories) made by very important people, at a fraction of the original cost. While the Juicy Couture bags, Gucci pumps and Burberry coats are obvious rip offs, we found fun Miss Sixty tees  in bright colours(Rs 750), an interesting zipper top from Diesel (Rs 850) and solid coloured dresses  from couture giants Maxmara, Marc Jacobs and Chloe. Like at most export surplus stores, these are sandwiched in between pieces that aren’t as nice, so remember to look carefully. Our acquisition: Max Azaria panel and pleat white dress; chic black Maxmara shift with cap sleeves and subtle front pintuck; and ruffled blue BCBG (approximately Rs 2,600 each). Perhaps now it’s time to break out the bubbly.

Getting there: Bubbles, shop no 3, Param Jyot  Society, opposite Syndicate Bank, near Mini Punjab restaurant, 16th Road, Bandra (W), call 26056890 / 9820739669; 5th Avenue, shop no 3, Dunhill Home, next to Mia Cucina, St John Road, Bandra (W), call 9819344332.

Chimp Me Out

We’ve lost count of the number of cutesy mugs, T-shirts and diaries out there, created by graphic designers and artists, architects and non-professionals for one express purpose: to take our money. After all, do you really need another handmade-paper-special-bound-doodled-on notebook?

You might initially think that Chimp (www.chimpwear.com) is just another one of these hustlers, but look closely and you’ll see that yes, this is indeed a different-natured beast, and more importantly, a kindred soul. Like you and us, dear bpb reader, it too loves letters.

What: South Park pajamas, Teamo, ground floor, shop no 18, Crystal Shoppers Paradise, Linking Road, Bandra (W), call 26489813, Rs 495.

Why: Boys will get slept off their feet with these satirical South Park pajamas that come with Cartman, Kenny, Stan and Kyle face prints. No Mr Garrison and creepy hand puppet trying to initiate pillow talk, thankfully.

When: You want to catch a few winks.