The tired old chicken-and-egg dilemma gets freshly articulated here, using a pair of mugs (one for the chicken, one for the egg), placed side by side and limned with arrows. Postcards carry adverts of Hindustan Snow lotion and P.V. Sauce, gifts from an older time. “Pairs well with spinach, boiled potatoes and your computer mouse,” proclaims a mouse pad, tensile and bright. One of each, please.

Colour Schemes

Located amidst the bright blue synagogue and mossy green Sabyasachi outlet at Kala Ghoda is Filter, a starkly black-and-white design store that showcases everything from stationary and maps to t-shirts and sunglasses. And although it wasn’t fully stocked when we visited on opening night yesterday, we found plenty to keep us occupied.

Take home, for instance, tiny “exercise” books with a mascot who is trying desperately to buff up; cute postcards from www.lazyoaf.com;  wall art comparing the inside of a human ear to that of a telephone receiver. There are also Loco Popo mugs, art maps from the South Bombay Company, 1oo% Sound zine, done-to-death sepia photographs and a(nother) selection of graphic-design t-shirts (how many do we need?!).

The Dark Knight at the Dark Horse

A Ho Ho Whole New Story

If the Grinch stole Christmas, Khushboo and Sargam Gupta stole its shadow. Silhouettes of the season - snowmen, snow flakes, reindeer and trees - are crafted from coloured acrylic as part of their new lifestyle accessory label, Double Decker Designs. This duo (the former, an NID and Politecnico Di Milano graduate and the latter, a graphic designer) do tree ornaments and magnets, candle stands and bar accessories that make for cheery stocking stuffers without being too sparkly. Where's the fun in that, you ask?

Check out the pretty ornament with a snowflake, snowman and bell strung together and you'll see. bpb also spotted tree and star cocktail stirrers that can almost make you taste the eggnog, Christmas landscape tissue holders and bar magnets all dressed up in red and green bows. All we need for your X-mas party now is some snow. Junkies and dealers, please put your Secret Santa gifts down!

And then there's Khushboo's personal favourite - a red tea light holder with reindeer. View slideshow here.

Like its festive first round, Double Decker Designs plans to launch a new line in time to cash in on every gift-prompting holiday. In fact, the Gupta sisters are putting their heart into a Valentine's Day collection as we speak. So we suppose the mistletoe pieces that don't get sold this December, can always be re-used in February. XOXO.

Getting there: To order email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or buy at Attic (Colaba and Santacruz) and Bliss (Versova), start at Rs 200, view slideshow here.

Narcissistic peacocks turn to stone, loquacious parrots are shut up in books and silk worm-saving Ahimsa Stoles are put on a pedestal. Indian motifs get exactly what they deserve at Design Temple, a Colaba graphic art house that launched its new collection, Hindustan Hipsters, this weekend.

Maiden India

Helmed by graphic art priestess Divya Thakur, the project features a bunch of artist/designer collaborations, together resulting in a fun trip around the store. Start at the in-house Hindustan Hipsters corner where you can buy temple bells that are really hanging aluminium lights, woven cotton towels with exposed stitches that reminded us of the ones we used at our grandmother’s, their signature diaries and planners ( for 2012) and a few random skull key chains.

Next, follow the network of varicose vains to the hand-crafted silver wall mirror shaped like a peacock, a pretty (and pricey) homage to the country’s national bird. And if this reflection on India fails to impress, see Banoo Batliboi’s (remember the ‘spine’ specialist we featured on bpb?) painstakingly put together book sculptures, a fun centre piece for party conversations.

What: Make your own porn painting with Love Is Art, buy online at www.loveisartkit.com, approximately Rs 3,100 plus shipping.

Why: Because an MMS clip is so last year. Taint (and paint) your reputation with this nifty little kit instead, which allows you and your significant other to roll around a canvas covered in paint to create your very own “intimate” piece of art. Kit comes with washable, non-toxic paint, cotton, non-allergenic white canvas, protective plastic sheets, disposable slippers and even a body scrubber. Just because you’re dirty!

When: You want a well-hung memento.

Apothe-care-y

If late night partying has turned beauty into a beast, she should take the day off and head to Inorbit Mall, Malad, where international beauty brand Kiehls (for men and women) has launched its first Mumbai store.

We were there too, all sore and soirée-d out yesterday on launch day, to find a neat store with a classic, vintage look. At the door, the Kiehl’s skeleton dressed in a white lab coat (a permanent fixture at every outlet), greets mortals with a deathly smile. Bon(es) jour! This makes a little more sense when you know that Kiehl’s was originally a New York pharmacy that started in 1851. It also shows that the brand means business. Here, you’ll find none of those overwhelming flowery scents, fake fruity ingredients and cute-sy packaging. But a no-nonsense, expensive under eye cream that actually works, sure.

If you're yet to procure an ensemble for your second cousin's brother-in-law's sangeet that your mom's making you go to, swing by Fuschia and Orange, a new Colaba store featuring traditional Indian designs that can perform (at) several wedding functions.

Do I Know Hue?

We walked in expecting a riot of mismatched colour and busy prints, and though there are some of those, it wasn’t diffcult to find some pretties too. While the stock (designed by Chandigrah designer Dimpey Gujral) predominantly features Lucknowi Chikan work, the store also houses a rack of Pakistani designs in the form of long and short kaftans, georgette Patiala salwaar kameezes, handcrafted phulkaris and a couple of dresses that can be avoided.

Like a Phoenix From the Ashes

Friday is usually field trip day at the bpb office, the last of which involved fighting fierce traffic to get to the spanking new Phoenix Market City (PMC) mall in Kurla. The monstrous Phoenix (spread over retail space of 2.1 million square feet, advertised as India's biggest mall) seems like a distant Pied Piper trying to lure the suits and ties of BKC (twenty minutes away) with the retail equavalent of several hit tunes including Zara, Quiksilver and Lush (opening soon!), Vero Moda, Bebe, Body Shop, L’Occitane and more. Are the corporates following with notes of their own?

If they are, we saw no evidence of it during our visit, but instead window shopped (to the sound of Third Eye Blind’s Deep Inside of You playing on the loud speaker) while desultory groups of college kids and neighbourhood residents took in the sights and songs. While the main level is replete with many of the international brands you see at High Street Phoenix, the Indian ones like Arrow and Catwalk are kept below eye level. PVR Cinemas and several restaurants including Mainland China will be serving soon.

Zero In On: Bebe

bpb was most curious, but let that curiosity not be mistaken for excitement, to visit the Bebe store at PMC (there’s one in Malad and another opening at Linking Road, Santacruz). Launched just in time for the festivities, majority of the store is taken up by soiree stock, but the kind that would have to know a friend of a friend to be admitted into all the hot parties.

What: Disco ball print top at the Manish Arora store, Atria Mall, Worli, Rs 3,000.

Why: Discovering that there’s a Manish Arora store hidden in one of the back alleys of the languishing Atria Mall, made this flaming orange disco ball print top (also on leggings and dress) seem even shinier! We suggest you wear it during the holidays to earn your rightful spot at the top of the Christmas tree.

When: You want to visit a disco-operative bank.

What: Necklaces out of a story book by Paprika, sold out of a home in Kemps Corner, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to make an appointment, start at Rs 3,500.

Why: Paper-masher Banoo Batliboi cuts, rolls and seals pages from books into beads, adding them to crystals, stones and silver to make pretty and durable necklaces – talk about spinning a tale! See especially her Small World Necklace made out of an old atlas; Artist Series collection made from prints of famous art works; and our favourite, a Tin Tin string crafted out of the comic.

When: You want a garland of (p)roses.

Welcome to Orientation

If Bandra’s hip female folk were to hang their favourite fashion finds in one walk-in wardrobe, we wouldn’t want to get out of that closet. Buy-sexual or not.

So naturally, we had big hopes pinned on Armoire (French for wardrobe), a two-day old women’s fashion store at Union Park that aims to stock a random mix of clothes and accessories, just like you would  find in someone’s cupboard. We visited to explore the gay assortment “from here and there” and let’s just say that a lot of the cool Bandra girls didn’t contribute.

The L Word

It’s easy to walk into this L-shaped store and be hit by the gaudy glare of Indian clothes, so we suggest you look to your right first. Here you’ll see a darling sky blue mini hat clip with black veil (see photo) that’s perfect for the racing season or to wear to Olive Bar & Kitchen, a stone’s throw away. A fun buy for Rs 1,600, there was just one piece so we put it back on the shelf for you. There’s even a pretty Kalamkari scarf with beaded ends and elegant wire and stone neck pieces. Also, pin down the plate of cool-ugly animal brooches - glittery, stoned bugs, antelopes, giraffes and rabbits (start at Rs 1,000) – that are a wild way to discipline those sari pleats.