What an exciting week it’s been, with this year’s Oscars giving us much reason to celebrate. Now, I’m someone who carves out time for ‘Oscar Monday morning,’ my annual tradition for years, along with the extra pre-event red carpet bits. Studying everyone’s outfit choices in great detail is a big part of the fun for me. Of course, nowadays, social media does most of the work for you, where by the time you’ve woken up, the internet has already decided who the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ dressed were, along with the entire list of winners. Talk about a spoiler alert. And this year, it was pretty much impossible to avoid the announcements with the two wins for India. Fashion wise, the classic styles called to me, with my favourites being Cara Delevingne, Malala Yousafzai and our very own Deepika Padukone.
There was lots of glam spread out over the rest of the week, and while we’re on the subject of awards, Chennai was most excited about Grammy Award winning Ricky Kej, live in concert at The Leela Palace. Besides the concert being a huge success, fans lined up to take pictures with the artiste (and his trophies). Women’s Day also meant that it was awards season in the city, with the ladies being recognised and rewarded at multiple events. After a point, it all started blurring together for me, as picture after picture started to fill up my Instagram feed.
At Ramada Plaza hotel, it was the WOW Women’s Awards with an impressive line-up of both awardees and presenters, while at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, it was a similar vibe with the She Beauty Awards. The Women’s Day celebrations continued with the release of a coffee table book on self love by Page 3, the luxury unisex salon chain. The book features quotes by women, from different walks of life, who have made a mark, talking about what self love means to them. It was an intimate gathering of beautiful ladies with a light hearted panel discussion delving into the topic. Everyone loved the book and the portraits by team Amar Ramesh. Many of the same faces were seen the next day at the launch of Euphoria, the latest restobar on the scene. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect with ‘a fashion showcase for Women’s Day’ curated by Prajanya Anand. Models in sparkly outfits turned the space into their runway, making for pretty pictures. Our last stop was with GRT Hotels and Resorts celebrating 25 years off ‘GReaTness’. While we love a good play on words, we also love a good party. Long-time fans of the brand were excited to be part of the fun, with the special segment of the evening dedicated to those who have gone that extra mile on the job.
On the shopping front, Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers invited us to check out their Big Bangle Showcase with a call to Chennai’s fashionistas. The call was answered in full force and the ladies loved the collection, especially the semi-precious and antique pieces. Next up was the latest edition by Elemental Stories, with their Summertime edit, at The Folly. As always the pop-up drew a mix of its regulars, as well as those who dropped by hoping to take those first few steps on their sustainable journey. Crowd favourites were the cottons and linens as well as bright co-ords for all those holidays we have planned. I’ll be back with more details on that next week!