Umbara Designs- clothing- be spoken!

  When I raise this question, perhaps the first thing that comes to your mind is sustainable clothing, eco-friendly attire that is a way of giving back to Mother Earth. I am addressing a different aspect, read on. For a long time, the connotation of fashion was propagated by media; that it is about you, clothing and accessories that make you a larger person that what you think yourself to be. Fashion thus helped one to embody oneself into a role – as a home maker, a working woman, a religious leader, a politician. It is almost as if fashion helped create ‘uniforms’ for professions, vocations and walks of life! (You can see a visually rich narrative of this thought in https://youtu.be/b8fsap7xQuQ?si=4F7T1i1hVCADy8gx) So, the question is, can we move away from the concept of fashion being a self-esteem and image booster? Can it go beyond proclaiming who you are? There is a trend of celebrities acknowledging their hair dressers, their make-up artists etc. Similarly, should we no...

  For decades, fashion has been associated with image. It was an empowering tool that women used to project a larger version of themselves. Be it researchers, socialites, home makers, they all used fashion to embody themselves in certain ways, building their own self esteem. For example, a working woman would use sun glasses, make up, well cut clothing to play her role effectively. I have elaborated more in this video .  Have women spent more time and effort honing professional skills than self presentation skills? Umbara works with women who need help in reflecting themselves in an authentic way in their clothing.  The interesting part is that the Umbara staff themselves are empowered too, in the process. It has been my experience that the process of making clothes helps a woman break out of her situational challenges much in the same way as a well-tailored outfit instills confidence in a lone woman in the boardroom. The empowering is two-fold, transforming both the...

  The inspiration for young women is largely the fashion industry, one does see models on the ramps and actresses at social dos dressed in what may be considered outrageous garments. For impressionable teenagers and young women, clothing is a critical element of self-expression and independence - they do not see anything wrong in ‘wearing what they want’. This is despite the all prevalent male gaze, which research and personal experience shows is quite different form the female gaze. Advertising has numerous examples of the male gaze: the elegant outline of a car’s form is compared to the curves of a woman. (I have elaborated the point here .) The ‘Me-too’ movement threw up narratives of women being at the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour. The oft-cited excuses have been the ‘provocative’ garb of women. In contrast to the ‘body objectivising’ that happens when a man is in the picture, is the sheer body positivity that young women feel, which springs from within. There...

      Decoding Fashion Psychology             There has been a buzz recently on social media about   fashion psychology. Having spent a good part of the five  decades of my life in this industry, I am asked very  often about my views on this. I decided to do a series  of videos that you can find on  YouTube: THE SCIENCE OF FASHION PSYCHOLOGY and WHAT IS FASHION PSYCHOLOGY with more coming up. In case you are more comfortable with that medium!  Else, stay on, read and reflect.    Let us get definitions out of the way.  The word ‘fashion’ implies styling, the way one chooses  and wears clothing (primarily) to make a statement  about oneself.  Psychology is the science of emotions.  Though most people cannot articulate it, psychology is  reflected in personal fashion. Take, for example, a  teenage boy whose ‘go to’ outfit is a black hoodie.  In choosing this p...