How to Dress in Monsoon?

6 dressing tips for women:

With the much awaited rains that paint the city grey and green monsoon also bring to us mucky roads, wet, dirty feet, and delays in public transport leaving us in quite a dilemma on how to arrive at work looking presentable.

Colors:

•      Bright and colorful clothes, umbrellas and raincoats are excellent to beat the grey and dull colored weather. Bright colors like red, orange, blue, pink etc. bring life to the surroundings.         

•          Avoid wearing light colors like white, creams and yellows as they tend to get transparent once wet.

While eye candy Tom Daley may look cool in a wet transparent white shirt we wouldn’t be able to afford this look. So we need to completely avoid white and light colors in monsoon.

Fabric:

• Before deciding on which outfit to wear, we must know about the type of fabrics which are most suitable for the monsoon season.
•  The fabric of clothes should be such that they dry off quickly and resist the stains of mud and water like what we call synthetic in India eg. crepe silk.
•  It’s better to avoid fabrics which stick to skin when they get wet like thin cotton, georgette, chiphone etc.
•    Also be careful not to wear thick jeans as they are difficult to manage once wet and also take a lot of time to dry.
• The fabrics which could be worn during Indian monsoon are partially synthetic lycra, thic crepe, polyester, georgette with lining and nylon etc.

What To Wear:

Western:

•   If work place allows then one can wear midi skirts and formal dresses that reach till the shin.
•  Long trousers, skirts, dresses are complete no-no as they would get wet and dirty on your way to work.
•   In case one has to wear trousers then invest in light weight wrinkle free trousers that can be nicely rolled up while traveling and rolled back down once at work. The rolled up look in itself looks quite stylish.
•   One can also invest in nice polyester ankle length jeggings which look very comfortable and has its own style statement.

English actress Emily Blunt in a rolled up Khaki pant.

·       As mentioned earlier avoid wearing thin georgette tops as they tend to stick to the body once wet. One can wear bright colored cotton or crepe shirts and tops.

Indian:

• ·      If you prefer a more traditional Indian outfit during monsoon season, then avoid salwars and patialas, but instead pick up georgette kurtis (with lining) with leggings or churidars or even ankle length narrow fit pants.
• ·       Just be mindful not to wear full length kurtas as they would get dirty and wet easily and would be difficult to manage once wet.
• ·       Long dupattas, which are difficult to manage during the rains, can be replaced with scarfs or stoles.
• ·       Stay away from prints and fabric that tend to bleed when wet eg: bandhni.

Southindiafashion.com is one of the leading fashion blogs globally. If you want to know the latest trends this is one site you might want to check.

• ·       Among saris one of the safest bet during monsoon is khadi.
• ·       For monsoon, keep away all your heavy brocade and designer saris. Opt for a light weight bright printed sari.

Style icon Sonam Kapoor in a khadi Saree.  

Later I’ll cover an article on how to do cluster dressing (mix and match a set of clothing and accessories to get different looks).

Footwear:

·       Stay away from leather shoes, canvas shoes, sneakers and stilettos.

·       Instead, choose jelly shoes, flats, floaters and any other sturdy footwear, which is also slip resistant.

·       Avoid loose sandals as they tend to squirt dirt back on to you.

·       Although it’s not that prevalent in India but colorful tall Boots or gum boots  are one of the best options as they keep the feet dry and clean and one can easily avoid the dirty puddles while traveling.

Hair and Makeup:

·       Moist atmosphere outdoors can make your hair go frizzy. Tying your hair into a neat bun or a ponytail or a braid is a great way to keep it under control.

·       Hairstyles that involve hot blow drying or curling or straightening irons are a strict no as they tend to mess up the minute your hair comes in contact with moisture.

·       Do check the videos here of some interesting and fun hairstyles that you can try this monsoon when stepping out for casual events.

·       Waterproof kajal and eye-liner are good options in monsoon.

·       You can go light on the foundation and if possible, avoid it. Go as light as possible with makeup as moisture may totally spoil your look.

Other Essentials:

·       It goes without saying that, do carry sturdy umbrella or a good raincoat while stepping out.

·       Try and park your car in a covered area so that you don’t get wet while walking back and forth the car. If that is not possible then keep a nice plastic dustbin in the car or the wet umbrella so it does not get flooded with water dripping from the wet umbrella.

·       Carry an extra set of light clothing, just in case.

At the end I would just like to add that, dress up the way that you are most comfortable in. If you are confident then your inner beauty will show through in what ever you wear. So go out and enjoy the rains and be happy.