Inspiration India - Mumbai

It feels as if I always visit Mumbai during monsoon season.  At least that has been the case for both times I've been there, including this visit.  We got off to a bit of a rocky start in Mumbai.  Our flight didn't arrive until almost midnight.  That, paired with the rainy weather and deserted streets, gave the city a sense of gloom.  Things didn't get much better once we saw our hotel room either - the hallway reeked of mildew, and we were jammed in such a small space that we could barely move without bumping into one another.  It didn't help that we were exhausted.  Resigned to the fact that we would have to spend the night, we decided to deal with getting a new hotel in the morning.


The next morning, after about an hour of going back and forth with hotels.com, we were able to change to a different hotel and get a refund for the obviously misrepresented "4-star" hotel we had to endure our first night.  Whew!  


Once we arrived in our new hotel, things were much better.  It was located right on Marine Drive, along Back Bay (informally called the Queen's Necklace for it's arced shape), near the Gateway of India, Victoria Terminus, and many other majestic Victorian buildings.  I got right to work on designing new pieces for the Spring 2011 collection, and my parents went sight seeing.

Victoria Terminus

The first day or two, the sky was covered in clouds, and there was a very light drizzle, if that.  On our second day, we decided to take advantage of the comparatively nice weather (it would pour the next day) and headed for Elephanta Island.  This is an island which was discovered in the 17th century by Portuguese explorers, who named it after a sculpture of an elephant found near the entrance.  It consists of awe-inspiring temples that were intricately carved by hand out of basalt rock over a period of 200-300 years.  The carvings depict many events in the life of the Hindu god Shiva.


We left from the Gateway of India, in Mumbai Harbor, right across the street form the majestic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel (not to be confused with the real Taj Mahal in Agra).  From there, we boarded a ferry, for the hour-long trip to the island. 

The Gateway of India

The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower

Once we arrived on the island, we had to climb a set of steep stairs to reach the caves.  At the top of the stairway, we were greeted by an array of wildlife, which included dogs, monkeys, goats, cows, and roosters, all of whom wanted to be fed.  Check out this little guy, who stole a bag of potato chips from an unsuspecting tourist:

The caves were pretty amazing.  To think that they had all been carved by hand was just unbelievable.

outside the entrance to the main cave

inside the main cave - all the open space was carved out of rock!

large carving of Shiva at the center of the main cave

dancing Shiva

another entrance to the main cave

one of the other caves, which was used for practicing yoga

While touring the caves and seeing all the carvings of Shiva, our guide explained to us that the reason Shiva sometimes has so many arms is to show movement.  Shiva didn't really have multiple arms.  I thought this was interesting because I never looked at it that way, but once it was explained to me, it totally made sense.


The monsoon made everything so lush and green.  On the way back to the ferry, our guide showed me a delicate fern-like plant and told me to touch it.  I was hesitant at first and wanted to know why, but he insisted that I do it.  As soon as my fingers brushed against the leaves, they at once closed in on themselves, as if retreating from danger.  It was so cool - a plant that could move as a defense to protect itself.  Quite amazing.


We headed back to Mumbai, and on our last day, it poured, in true monsoon fashion.  It was a good time for me to focus and get a lot of work done, so I didn't mind the rain.  


The next day we left for the last part of our trip - the Maldives.  I was so excited to go to this paradise that I had been dreaming of visiting for years.  It was to turn out to be as beautiful as I dreamed...

Inspiration India - Jaipur

After our visit to Delhi, we were off to Jaipur, also known as the pink city, in reference to many of the city's walls and buildings, which are painted a sort of terracotta/pink color.  Jaipur, one could argue, is the epicenter of Indian handicrafts, and there is an abundance of culture and arts there - with everything from bone inlaid furniture, to block-printed textiles, embroidered silks, and jewelry.  It's one of my favorite places in India so far.

The Hawa Mahal, in the city center

more pink architecture

On our taxi ride over to the hotel from the airport, we started noticing a lot of costumed men riding horses embellished with bells and colorful garlands. It seemed like every few blocks we saw another decorated horse and rider, along with men carrying musical instruments.  As we approached our hotel, we saw another such group, and we asked the driver if there was some sort of festival going on.  I'm not sure if he understood the question, as we got a vague answer.

Once we were up in our hotel room, and darkness began to cover the city, we could hear the faint sounds of festive music from the road.  I looked through the curtains of our hotel room window and saw a procession of women dripping in bright colors and sequins, clapping their hands and dancing.  They were followed by men dressed in what looked like marching band uniforms, playing trombones and trumpets.  At the back of the group were fancily dressed turban-clad men perched atop their equally fancily dressed horses.  Surrounding the whole party were men carrying embellished lanterns, powered by a generator that trailed behind everyone.  Every so often, someone would light off a firework at the front of the group.  Then the party would move forward a few feet and stop, while the men played their music and the women danced, and a crowd gathered to watch it all.  We went on the street to take photos of them and then decided to go to the roof of the hotel to get a better view.

one of the many wedding processions we saw

a groom sits atop a beautifully decorated horse

On the roof, we soon realized that you could see processions like this all over the city.  As far as the eye could see, in all directions of the city, fireworks were lighting up the sky and similar groups were marching along distant roads.  Then it hit us - it was wedding season in Jaipur!

view of a wedding reception from the room of our hotel

That was an exciting start to our visit, which was soon followed by more beautiful things.  On my last visit to Jaipur, I remembered all the amazing markets, which we didn't get a chance to go to because our tour guide had us on a pretty tight schedule.  This time, we were free of a tour guide, and free to browse the much-coveted markets!  I wanted to start out at the Johari Bazaar, which is where you can find amazing beads and jewelry components.  We popped into one of the first shops we saw and quickly had our breaths taken away by the array of colors, sizes, and shapes of semi-precious beads.

picking out semi-precious beads in Johari Bazaar

I ended up spending a lot here, and got strands of coral, smoky topaz, moon stone, labradorite, and emerald.  I also bought some typical Indian jewelry, with the threaded adjustable closure - a beautiful necklace of teardrop-shaped emeralds, and another of ombre rainbow tourmaline.

smoky topaz, moonstone, labradorite, coral, and emerald beads

teardrop-shaped emerald beads

strands of ombre rainbow tourmaline

From there we went to visit Amrapali, an amazing jewelry showroom, where I bought these great earrings:

After oohing and aahing over everything in the showroom, we went to visit their factory and saw how all the cast jewelry was made - pretty interesting.  I hope I get the chance to work with them soon!

On our last day in Jaipur, we stopped by another bazaar to buy bangles.  I had a friend who sent me on a mission to get as many cheap and colorful bangle as I could.  Of course I ended up picking out some for myself.  Even though I rarely wear bangles, these were so pretty, I couldn't resist!

Did I mention how great Rajasthanis are at selling things?  I ended up getting one last necklace, which was so amazingly beautiful, I couldn't do without it.  Each gold bead is inset with tiny turquoise stones.  Luckily, my mom offered it as my birthday present.

After our short stay in Jaipur, we were off to Mumbai, which I'll relay in my next post!

Inspiration India - Delhi

I am finally back from India and over my jet lag enough to write in a coherent way.  Overall it was an amazing trip full of inspiration - how could you not be inspired by India?  It is a colorful country with an array of sights, sounds, and smells that stirs the senses.

I arrived in Delhi at about 8:30 pm on June 23 and was immediately smacked in the face by a thick wall of heat.  It actually felt really good because the plane ride over was so cold!  My parents were on a different flight, and they arrived at about 3am.  Needless to say, because of the heat, traveling, and time difference, none of us slept very well the first night.

My first day in India, I woke up to discover that we were in the middle of a heat wave.  Indian heat waves are in no way comparable to any kind of heat you can experience in the US - the highs were about 115 degrees fahrenheit, but the humidity is what could really do you in.  So we tried to stay in as much air conditioning as possible, and filled up on fresh lime sodas, one of my favorite things to drink in India.  What they do is mix fresh lime juice with club soda, and add in a little sugar or salt (or both).  It's so refreshing and a perfect antidote to the heat.

That afternoon, we met up with a women I work with, and she took us to an amazing trim store, filled to the ceilings with metallic threads, dip-dyed raffias, rhinestones, chains, grosgrain ribbons, embroidered appliques, etc, etc.  I was like a kid in a candy store.  Knowing how long I can spend digging in a place like that, I tried to cut the time short, so my parents wouldn't kill me.  I think I ended up spending about 2 hours inside, but I was sure to go back a few days later to have one last look.  Here are some of the cool things I bought:

Later that week we went to the chain market in Old Delhi.  This is the oldest part of the city where a lot of amazing markets are.  It seems like there is a market for everything - spices, chains, beads, textiles, books, stationery, bangles, paper, etc.  All the streets are very narrow and winding, with electrical wires draped across the tops of the alleyways, and wandering goats and cows mixed in with pedestrian, bicycle, motorbike, and rickshaw traffic.  It's like a labyrinth, jam-packed with people and products, in which you could easily get lost.  I think it's best to go with someone who is familiar with whichever market you want to go to, as there are lots of pic-pockets in the area, or as our taxi driver described to us, "walking man cheater."

a view of the skinny alleyways

one of the main streets in the bead market

looking at beads in the bead market - this is one of at least 400 such stalls

I love this kind of market, as it evokes a sense of adventure mixed with danger.  When we were on the outskirts, my mother said, "it looks like what I imagine hell to look like."  It took some persuading to get her to go in, but once we did, I felt like we were in one of those markets in an Indiana Jones movie - so many things to see, so much excitement, and treasures waiting to be discovered!!  My dad took great pictures of some of the people on the streets there:

you often see tiny men carrying huge packages on their heads

women sometimes apply paint to the part in their hair

this man is a sort of vagabond, who has renounced all material possessions and wanders from place to place, depending on handouts.  It's similar to but not the same as homeless people you encounter in the US

We ate some amazing food while we were there.  The woman I work with in Delhi and her husband took us to the Delhi Golf Club one night for dinner and drinks.  It was crazy to think that people could be playing golf in that heat, but apparently they do.  Luckily, we had some fans to cool us off, and the food and company was great.

Another night we ate at a restaurant called Lodi Gardens, which was to die for, and of course I filled up on curry and naan.  The garlic butter naan was addictive - I don't think I've eaten so much bread in my life, outside of France.

On our last day in Delhi, we went to the Tibetan Bazaar, a strip outside of Connaught Place where they sell many Tibetan handicrafts.  There is a road around the corner called the Janpath where many Rajasthani women sell beautifully embroidered textiles and sarees.  They are hard bargainers, though, so you have to come prepared to do battle and counteroffer half of what they name as their first price.

look at the amazing colors!! I love it!

From Delhi, we went on to Jaipur, which was even more inspiring!  I'll write all about it in my next post.

Fast Forward to Spring... 2011

I just barely finished designing my Fall/Holiday 2010 line, and already it's time to move on to Spring 2011.  It's important to have samples ready for September, when all the buyers place their orders. The fashion cycle moves so quickly... it can get overwhelming and sometimes a little out of hand.

While looking on the Bergdorf Goodman website today, I saw that they're already carrying pre-fall.  Ok, that's great and all, but it's barely June!!  Various other stores have summer merchandise on sale already.  It's crazy that summer has not even officially started, and everyone is so eager to get back to fall.  In New York, we've had one really summer-like week so far, but it cooled off again this week.  After such a long winter, and last year's sorry excuse for summer, believe me, the last thing THIS Texas girl wants to think about is fall and the onset of cold weather.  Can't we just enjoy summer??  God knows we deserve it...

I'm all for planning ahead and not procrastinating, but it seems crazy to me, as well as economically brain-dead, for stores to sell summer clothing at full price in March or April (when it's still usually snowing outside), and then have it on sale in prime summer weather (June/July).  I admit, I do get REALLY excited about spring and summer (probably more than anyone), but I just can't think about buying a sun dress when it's 30 degrees outside.  Same goes for fall clothing - who wants to think about wearing wool in the boiling temperatures of August?

But getting back to Spring 2011...  What I'm feeling is more delicate sizes and shapes, but fun with color.  I love the idea of mixing neons with neutrals - take for instance neon red with ecru and gunmetal, or chartreuse with antique gold and grey.  I'm also really into coral and salmon mixed with grey, pyrite, and black diamond.  I saw these beads at one of the stores I frequent, and it really inspired me:

I love the various shades of coral with the hit of grey - it looks so modern.

I'm also really excited about bright metallics - I bought these colored metallic wires recently, and I can't wait to use them:

Stay tuned for more - I hope to get some great inspiration when I get to India in a few weeks!

Antique-aholics Anonymous

I love antiques.  Since I was a teenager, I have been obsessed with vintage clothing, shoes, magazines, houses, furniture... everything!  When I was around fourteen year old, I started shopping in vintage clothing stores, and I drove my father crazy begging him to drive me to downtown Houston every weekend so I could peruse my favorite shops, "Wear It Again Sam" and "Mr Peabody's Way Back Machine."

There's something so exhilarating in rummaging through a pile of what my parents would call "junk," and coming out with a treasure... and at a bargain, to match!  Sometimes I think I literally have an addiction to shopping in flea markets and thrift stores - I just KNOW when I'm going to find something (it's like a sixth sense), my heart starts beating faster, and when I finally pull out the treasure, I get a surge of adrenaline that rushes through my body - it's a serious high.  

Unfortunately, now, the deals are not as good as they were 15 years ago (before vintage and recycled clothing became a huge trend), and a lot of the merchandise has been picked over.  It's still fun for me, though, and I never miss the opportunity to go to a flea market.  Lucky me - this weekend I got finally got to go to what has been called the best flea market in the US - Brimfield.

There were a lot of amazing items - I found some wonderful Victorian jet beaded trims:

a cut steel clasp:

cheap yet inspirational costume jewelry:

a pair of 1930s lace-up shoes:

a Vogue magazine from 1954:

I also found some vintage clothes (a 1940s sun dress, a 1960s Audrey Hepburn-like black linen shift, a green velour top from the 50s, and a silver lame belt from the 1920s) and two really amazing hats (one Victorian with a dramatic feather, the other a cute 1930s number).  I didn't find the vintage mannequin bust I was searching for, but those are pretty hard to come by, so I'm not too upset about it.  

Overall, it was a good trip, and I'm glad I went.  It wasn't nearly as scary as some of the flea markets I've been to in the South.  For example, I went to one in Virginia with my family, and my sister and dad got separated from my mother and me.  My sister sent me a text saying, "Where are you? We are near the guns, mullets, and confederate flags - come find us." Surprisingly (or maybe not), that didn't narrow down her location at all...

Cordoba

In my mind, Spain has alway been a tempestuous land of devastatingly handsome men and beautiful women dancing against the backdrop of a fiery red setting sun.  I think of guitars strumming in a staccato fashion, a flamenco dancer dramatically kicking up her skirt, a bullfighter gallantly waving his red cape as a crowd chants "ole!".  

There is something so unique about Southern Spain - the Moorish influence has mixed with the Catholic to create such a breath-taking spin on its architecture, food, and customs. 

entrance to the Cordoba Fair

The Great Mosque in Cordoba

In the Andalusian (I looove saying this... Andalusia, Andaluuusia!) cities of Sevilla and Cordoba, where flamenco was born, they celebrate the Semana Santa y Feria, right around the time of the Easter Holy Week.  Semana Santa became very popular in the 1920s, and I have a few vintage posters in my apartment that were used to promote it.  I love the aesthetic, the way the men proudly wear their boleros and cordobes (traditional hats), while the women are perfectly coiffed, in their ondulating flamenco dresses, intricately embroidered shawls, and dramatic fans.  

When I was in Spain a few years ago, I was so tempted to buy a flamenco dress, until I saw the price tag.  That, and the question of where I could possibly wear it, served as a deterrent.  I settled for a beautiful red embroidered shawl instead, but one day I will have my flamenco dress!

I suppose all of this imagery melded together in my mind when I created the Cordoba Collection.  Each piece is reminiscent of a flamenco dancer's fan, and the mix of bright vermillion, gold, and black is unmistakably Spanish.

Suzanna Dai Fall/Holiday 2010

I went home this weekend to shoot photos of my Fall/Holiday 2010 line, which I am very excited about.  I don't have names for all of the groups yet, but the overall feeling is very regal, with a mix of Edwardian, Victorian, and Gothic influences.  I suppose I was influenced by "The Young Victoria."

Everything came together very last minute, and for the past month or so, I have felt like a chicken running around with it's head cut off.  I've been doing some design work for Ann Taylor Loft, in addition to my own line, so things have been crazy!  Sometimes I feel like all I do is work...  I recently got to thinking about going to India this summer, and I'm slowly convincing myself I have to do it.  Just to get away and have a little adventure would be so nice.  Apart from a long weekend in Cancun (not my ideal destination by any means), I haven't traveled nearly enough this year!

So here's a sneek peak of some of the pieces in the new line:

I'm calling this the Windsor - it looks so decadently English

This is the Alexandria cuff - it's very Wonder Woman chic; it could probably give you super-hero powers if you really needed them

a deco inspired cuff...

More to come soon!  I know I haven't been so great at keeping up with posts, but I'm going to try much harder to post at least once a week!