Fashion changes, but style endures–Coco Chanel

If you have been wondering why sleeves–one of the most unassuming things in a garment–is becoming longer and longer then it is not just you. Bell Sleeves silhouette has been doing the fashion rounds for almost two years now. And why not? Bell Sleeves are fun, dramatic and makes the right style statement. 

How to style bell sleeves

Yours truly here has been experimenting with dramatic sleeves right from the beginning of this year. You can check out my gingham blouse look. Bell sleeves might look really overwhelming at first. But my top tip to pull this look? Keep everything else simple. 

How to style bell sleeves

 

As said before, bell sleeves are all about drama you need to make sure that it remains the focal point. You can pair a bell sleeve shirt with colourful jeans (like Pink) or ripped jeans for an edgy yet casual look. 

How to style bell sleeves

You can wear it with sleek trousers for a polished office-look. You can even use a bell sleeve top/blouse underneath a slip-like dress. As I always say, possibilities are endless if you just let your imagination run wild. 

How to style bell sleeves

Here, I have kept everything else simple with pink khakis, nude shoes and a simple clutch. This is the kind of look I would go for if I were going out with my girlfriends for a lunch. Although my style changes according to mood, I have an edgy kind of style and bell sleeves allow this without much effort. A win-win, don’t you think?

So tell me, would you be belling the cat on bell sleeves or let this trend pass? 

Thank you for reading. Hope you liked the post. Don’t forget to follow me. You can also follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

Elegance is the only beauty that never fades: Audrey Hepburn 

Every year, the fashion circles makes a certain colour their favourite. This year power pink and mellow yellow has taken the centre stage. Earlier this year, Yellow lit up the Golden Globe awards when Viola Davis, Natalie Portman and Reese Witherspoon sashayed this bright hue on the red carpet.  At the Runway, we saw Cate Blanchett in Valentino, Rosamund Pike in Alexander McQueen all strutting in Yellow. Before we knew it, Yellow became the favourite colour of bloggers and style mavericks alike.

For ages, women have held this colour with suspicion as a hue which is difficult to pull off. And does little to their natural skin tone. But now the table has turned. And women across the spectrum have realised that there is whole gamut of yellow shades that will help them to serve the sunny side up.

Personally, yellow is a colour that I feel can instantly brighten up your mood and your wardrobe. It reminds me of sun, beach and happiness and that alone makes yellow a wardrobe hero in my eyes.

Yellow fashion trend 2017

 

Yellow Fashion Trend 2017

 

The trick to wear yellow is to stick to the right shade. Mustard and dark yellows look best on light to fair skin tones whilst medium and olive skin tones should go for bright and vibrant yellows whilst almost all shades of yellow suit tanned or dark skin tones.

 

The beauty of yellow is that it can be easily paired with neutrals or even other fun colours like blue, orange, pink or purple to get a striking statement look. And if you are still in doubt, then you can add yellow accessories like a little clutch, boots or a statement scarf.

Yellow fashion trend 2017

Top: Matalan (old, similar), Skirt: (Next), Shoes: Debenhams. 

So, you see you don’t have to dread yellow. This beautiful shade can bring a ray of sunshine to your wardrobe and your mood in seconds.

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Welcome to the all new Style With Substance–a blog about fashion, fitness, motherhood and lifestyle. As you can see we have evolved, scaled up and grown for the better. After months of serious contemplation, brainstorming for ideas and having rather passionate discussions with my husband–we have finally reached our goal–a newer and edgier Style With Substance.

When I started this blog, I had absolutely no idea where it will go and how long I will continue this for. I was not sure if it would remain a mere hobby or something more. After zillion fashion posts, outfit photography, debates and seriously doubting if I can continue investing in this blog, we have decided to scale up.

Maxi wrap dress

Because, giving up can never be an option. 

I firmly believe that giving up on your dreams and vision should never be an option and no matter how hard the road gets it is best to keep moving forward. So, instead of giving up, I’ve chosen to grow up, get better and keep moving on ahead.

Must have Dress: Maxi dress style

I have spent the last few weeks introspecting things. And I have realised I have become a stronger version of myself. Yes, like everyone I have my vulnerabilities but I have chosen to keep persisting despite all the odds. My blog definitely reflects this ideology.

As the saying goes, just when the caterpillar thought the world was over it became a butterfly.  

I hope you have liked this new look of the blog. I would definitely like to know your thoughts on it. And please continue to shower me with your encouragement and appreciation to move on.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Have a wonderful week and don’t forget to subscribe Style With Substance.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest 🙂

In the last two years, ever since I re-started my fitness journey as a new mum, I learnt a lot of things that eventually helped me. In this post, I am going to share a few of those things, in the hope that some other mums out there would find it useful. I have already shared my meal preparation tricks and tips earlier. This post will focus on workouts more specifically home workouts.

One thing which still overwhelms is how to balance between cardio, weight-training and yoga whilst also handling everything else in life—home, family, work and blog.  I must admit I do fail a lot of times but planning ahead works.

Over the course of these two years, few programmes have immensely helped and these are:

Hiit workout

HIIT Workouts:

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval training. It is all about putting your body to maximum effort in minimum time. You can do it in the gym using treadmill and other cardio machines. Or you could do it with weights and you could also do it at home using no other equipment other than your body.

My favourite HIIT workouts are ones by Beachbody like Insanity Max by Shaun T and 21 day fix and 21 Day Fix EXTREME Essential Package by Autumn Calabrese (which I am following at the moment). Fitness Blender and Jillian Michaels are another favourites which will torch up those calories in no time.

Post baby exercises

Image credit: Pinterest

Cardio:

What really worked for me was combining different things. A good mix of cardio, strength and HIIT ensures that my body is always guessing what would come next and will always be on “work” mode. To be honest, cardio is my least favourite hence the challenge was to make it super fun. Enter Zumba (dancing). I thoroughly enjoy Fitness Marshall’s videos, Get Fit Janani and Vijay Tupurani (which you can watch on YouTube)for some Bollywood fun. I also love LesMills Body attack and body combat workouts. They are far cry from your usual cardio machines and oh so challenging.

postoartum core exercises

Image credit: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/standing-abs-workout

Strength Training:  

Weight or strength training is my favourite. However, I admit it was (and still gets) really overwhelming. Enter Bodybuilding website  another platform which I highly recommend. It has a plethora of programmes some by elite athletes and bodybuilders with succinct instruction videos and dietary guides. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate and advanced “athlete” you would find a wealth of information, programmes and plans suiting your needs and goals.

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed this post. Have a lovely week? Don’t forget to follow me. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

With Good Basics, You Will Have Endless Options

I will start this style post with a confession, I started using specs when I was in school as a teenager. Back then I hated it with a vengeance and would conveniently not wear them because I wanted to look cool. Never mind the fact that I could barely read the black board or anything from afar. I quickly transitioned to lenses and now as an adult I have to admit, I love eyeglasses. How people change! Of late, I feel the humble spectacles can be your wardrobe hero and a very underrated accessory if purchased correctly. It is no wonder hence that since 2015, eyeglasses have seen the rounds of the runway.

Glasses Shop Eyeglass fashion

Glassesshop Eyeglass Fashion

From geek chic leading the runway to hipsters donning retro glasses to everyone from Lupita Nyong’O to Merly Streep giving it Hollywood cool status, it is no doubt that eye glasses as a fashion accessory is worth eyeing about. Good thing is both high street and online have a plethora of options that will make you look the queen of cool. Whilst selecting glasses online, it is important to try out the virtual try-on feature. Glasses Shop has this nifty feature which I loved, you could upload your photo and try on the frames you love. You also need to measure Pupilary Distance (PD). PD as the name suggests is the distance between your pupils, they have a detailed section on how you can do this at home.

Glassesshop eyeglass fashion

Glassesshop eyeglass fashion

If like me you wear prescription sunglasses, then you have got plenty of options too at Glasses Shop.com. My current favourite shape are cat eyes. I have always loved feline creatures and hence it is no surprise that I go for this style most of the time.

Glassesshop eyeglass fashion

Glassesshop eyeglass fashion

Remember, to get the most out of your online shopping for eye glasses, virtually try on as many as you want and see what suits you. Now, for the best part, use this code GSHOT50 to make a purchase from Glassesshop.com to get 50% off on eyeglasses and sunglasses with free lenses (sale frames excluded).  

This post is sponsored by Glasses shop but opinions are my own. Thank you Glasses Shop for sponsoring this post. 

A double thank you to my friend Annuka of Annuka’s Photography for these wonderful photos.