HYDERABAD: Saree stylist Ashwini Narayan knows how to stay cool, calm and chic in the blazing hot summer. The ‘saree’torialist speaks to CE about her latest #MainBhiJeetendra challenge where she wore whites for an entire week to work, date-night, dinners, etc., and had many jumping on the trend.
Hyderabad is only getting hotter with no respite in sight and Ashwini has had enough of it. She pulled out all her white ensembles and decided to wear the colour every day of the week — sarees, skirts and kurtas. “I was not going to stay home and wait for the weather to get pleasant, so I decided to dress comfy yet elegant. All I had to do was ditch everything else and stick to whites. Whites were something I always enjoyed and they are absolutely perfect for summer. Doing things with others is great motivation and fun and so I decided to put this journey out on Instagram and invite others for some inspiration,” Ashwini shares.
She titled the journey #MainBhiJeetendra and explains, “Actor Jeetendra was the perfect mascot — he rocked all-white ensembles like a pro. That’s also something I like doing often. In fact, I’d often say, ‘I pulled a Jeetendra today’ (laughs).”
With the Covid-19 pandemic, Ashwini thought everyone could do with a little fun in their lives and it does look like the idea worked. Hundreds of people hopped on the trend with their version of the all-white trend. “I wanted to start something everyone could indulge in without much difficulty, and laugh about it too. I’m glad it worked out well — a lot of them shared pretty posts with Jeetu ji’s songs, some added beautiful anecdotes,” she shares, adding that she did not expect such a response because somewhere inside, there was this fear of being ridiculed for starting something this basic.
Ashwini is not new to such challenges and is picky about them, especially the hashtags. “I try to make them special and fun, because there are hoards of hashtags going on in the saree world. So when asking for someone’s time and effort, I wanted it to be meaningful.” Ashwini was the first to popularise the #ColoursOfNavratri on Instagram where each of the nine days, women wear a particular colour of clothing.
Her white journey covered different styles and textiles, while focussing on not repeating any of them. “I wore chikankari, organdy, ponduru khadi sarees and also my husband’s kurta-pajama because not only is it cool to wear men’s clothing, I think they are the most sensible and practical clothes,” she says. Ashwini feels that it is about time we ditch the jeans and bring back pajamas. She just concluded her white week with a red saree that represents a burst of colour and cannot wait to get started on her next challenge!
Saree stylist Ashwini Narayan speaks to CE about her latest one-week #MainBhi Jeetendra challenge