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.