kaylafrazerau@gmail.com

Erin Radigan, 21, Kirtland Hills

Senior at Ohio University, PR and social media intern at Brokaw, Inc. and former intern at Steve Madden design house in New York City.

You spent last semester working and living in New York City. How was that experience?

I interned in sales in the accessories department of Steve Madden. I was torn in school about being in fashion or in PR, advertising and social media. This opportunity gave me a taste of the fashion aspect. I really liked living in New York City. It was harder than I thought it would be. The toughest part was moving somewhere where I didn't know anyone.

Where did you live?

There is a lot of intern housing in the city. I went through NYC Intern Housing and got a semester-long lease for a one bedroom with three roommates.

Sounds like a freshman dorm room! Do you want to go back?

It was! But it was pretty big, not as bad as I thought it would be. I would move there for a career as long as I made enough money to live right in Manhattan.

How do you describe your style?

I would say that I'm Boho with a little edge. I like to try new things, and I don't stick to a particular style. If I like something, I'll buy it and try it even if it doesn't fit my "style." I'm very open to new trends, new accessories and things that catch my eye.

How do you feel about the trends?

I wouldn't say that I'm anti-trend, but I'm also not running out to buy every new thing. I have to see if it works with my body type and if it's flattering. For example, I loved the new drop-crotch pants that are out, but they don't do anything for me, they add bulk. So, I can't wear them.

Where do you like to shop?

If I could buy anything, I would always shop at Free Peopleand Nordstrom and boutiques, but because I'm a college student, I do a lot of shopping at TJ Maxx,Marshalls, H&M, Forever 21. Those are my go-to stores. I do mix it up though. I have bought pricier things, like my high waist, flair jeans. They were expensive so I balance things out with less expensive pieces.

What does your wardrobe tell us about you?

It would definitely say that I'm experimental with my style. I'll try a lot of different things with a lot of different styles and put them into my own unique look.

Who are your fashion icons?

I love designer Nicole Richie, she's very cool and I would die to have her closet. She's evolved and I love her style. Her line is called House of Harlow 1960. It's very good. She's someone to follow on Instagram. I also follow bloggers like Sincerely Jules andMan Repeller.

After your semester in fashion, do you think you're headed toward a fashion career?

I would love to combine the two by working in PR or social media in the fashion industry or work at a PR and advertising agency would be great. At Brokaw, I'm learning so much. I love it. They work with a lot of restaurants, retailers, hospitals and other clients. It's a great experience.

Do you follow the trends?

Technically, I'm in journalism, so I love looking at magazines and newspapers. But I really love social media. I follow people on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. It's the way to see what's going on, especially in fashion. Things travel so fast now; you can see all of the runway fashion shows from all over the world as fast as they're happening. It's just really time-consuming and now that I have an adult job, it's hard to catch up each night after work.

Which current trends have caught your eye?

I love the wide leg pants. I hope they stay. I like skinny jeans but the wide legs flatter a lot of people as long as you wear a fitted top. I also like the flair jeans. They're great for my body style. I also like the big platform heels. It's kind of a '70s vibe.

Who are your favorite designers?

I love everything from Free People. I also like Rebecca Minkoff. Her bags are great and so are the clothes. She's subtle; her bags have design elements that are all hers. House of Harlow has clothes and great jewelry and accessories. I did my senior year high school internship with local designer and former Project Runway contestant Valerie Mayen of Yellowcake Shop. She's very cool.

Do you have any great fashion finds?

Working at a big fashion house was a pretty good fashion find. I did get plenty of free samples. They had bins full of samples and you could always dig through them. After sitting for a while they would donate them to different charities and start over with samples from the coming season.

How did you not want to gobble up one of everything?

It was always tempting, but living in New York, you don't have space for a lot of stuff and I only had the 2 suitcases for when I came home. I had to tell myself that I didn't need everything.

Do you have any fashion rules?

I don't buy a trend if it doesn't work on me. I want to look good and feel good in everything. I say no if it doesn't fit right, even if it's on sale.

Did you feel you had to dress even better in NYC?

Yes, definitely. You see so many people wearing really cool, unique things on the street. I felt comfortable wearing anything that was a little chic. You can make anything look chic, if you wear it with the right attitude.

Do you think you're style will be different when you get back to campus?

I took in a lot in New York. I am more comfortable with trying new things because being risky was expected. No one asks, "Eww, what are you wearing?" they say "Oh, that's so cool!"

How has your style evolved in general?

I think my style changed in the first place when I got around different people at OU. There are so many different styles at school. I went to a Catholic high school and wore a uniform. I didn't have a lot of clothes. I always liked clothes, but I only had weekend and summer clothes. I became even more into fashion and figured out my own style when I got to college.

Where does your sense of style come from?

From my parents. They both once worked in retail, my mom was a buyer and my dad managed a mall. They do different things now, but my mom was always into fashion. They're both good at picking out things that work for me. My mom is up for shopping at TJ Maxx and other money-saving places, but she always taught me to never scrimp on my skin.

So that explains your love affair with MAC cosmetics.

We weren't allowed to use any makeup when we were young. Freshman year of high school my mom took us to a makeup counter. I was drawn to MAC, I was hooked. She thinks quality makeup and good skincare is essential. I do try other things and there are drugstore brands that work well, too.

What is your best fashion advice?

Stay true to yourself. I think everyone goes through style changes. Go with whatever you're feeling and whatever you like, to an extent (you don't have to wear pajama pants outside the house!). Do what you feel is right for you.

What does style mean to you?

It means being unique. Style is the one thing that you alone have complete control over. You can take it wherever life takes you.

read more:evening wear

Almost time! Teen Mom OG star Catelynn Lowell celebrated her bridal shower on Sunday, July 19, and from the looks of the Instagram photos, there was plenty of fun to be had.

The Michigan native, 23, posed with her bridesmaids, who were all wearing different designs of toilet paper dresses and holding bouquets. She captioned the snap, “Had so much fun at the shower thank you to everyone that came and thank you to everyone that put it together! Love you all!!”

The future Mrs. Tyler Baltierra wore a crown that said “Bride” and a white lace dress to the festivities, which took place a month before her big day.

She also posed with her mom, April Stotts, captioning the photo, “Me and my momma at the shower love ya big time mom!!”

Lowell and her mom have had a complicated relationship through the years, when Stotts struggled with drug abuse. But they’ve pulled through and are now very supportive of one another. Lowell’s mom even babysits Lowell and Baltierra’s baby daughter, Novalee , who also posed with her mommy at the shower.

And of course little Novalee and myself,” the bride-to-be wrote of a pic in which she’s holding her 7-month-old daughter.

As they anticipate their August wedding date, Lowell and Baltierra also recently celebrated another big milestone. Last week was their 10-year anniversary.

“Today is 10 years together with this beautiful soul & I can't be happier with my life right now,” Baltierra captioned an Instagram selfie with his love. “I have 2 beautiful daughters & an amazing woman to share the rest of my life with! From the age of 13 years old we literally grew up together, we survived with each other, we conquered chaos with each other, & I loved every second of every minute!”

The couple welcomed daughter Carly in 2009 and placed her for adoption, a challenging process that was documented on the MTV reality series, beginning with 16 and Pregnant. They currently parent Novalee together. They had planned to tie the knot in July 2013, but called off the wedding after Baltierra had second thoughts during an appearance on VH1's Couples Therapy.

read more:short formal dresses

When he isn't lecturing students at Harvard, Carlos Garciavelez is designing menswear collections to showcase at events like New York City Men's Fashion Week.

The Mexican architect, who received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard and now teaches architecture at the school on weekends, is one of several talents who premiered collections this week for the relaunch of Men's Fashion Week.

Garciavelez first came onto the fashion radar when he premiered his first collection, under the name Garciavelez, back in February during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Fall 2015, just as the sales in menswear began to climb and the industry took note.

According to Forbes, the New York-based designer set out to make a name for himself in architecture but soon found a similar passion in fashion. He uses his background in architecture and furniture design in his clothing and vice versa, telling Forbes, "I have always been interested in how design spans across disciplines and scales.

"What inspires me creatively is the everyday, mostly things that are ephemeral, things that you normally sense, that are not necessarily your sight," he continued. "Which is basically the emotional feeling getting out of the shower or things that are more in target with sensation."

This is most evident with his latest collection, which he premiered on July 13. The collection features a mix of casual, athletic-inspired tops and bottoms, including sweatshirts, button-down shirts and shorts. The collection has a very playful feel, due mostly to Garciavelez's color choices. Most of the pieces come in shades of blue, with hints of neon orange and green.

The designer revealed to The New York Observer where he got the inspiration for his Spring/Summer 2016 collection:

"The idea of this collection is the idea of light, so the ephemerality of light and how to capture that in clothing. Some of the pieces are a bit more playful and some of them are dark," he said. "But it's really this idea of clothing that will perform with you, across the day, that has little sparks of light. Some of the linings are really bright and if you peek around you'll capture these little details. I like to ask, how can you play with color in your life? And how much can you add? That's where the color came about."

read more:formal dress shops brisbane

Nicky Hilton walked down the aisle in a very special pair of custom-made Christian Louboutin heels. The blushing bride’s made-to-order footwear had the words “Mrs. Rothschild” embroidered on them along with the wedding date. Nicky’s older sister, Paris Hilton, and their brother, Barron Hilton, shared snaps of the wedding preparations Sunday.

The celebrity nuptials took place in the Orangery, inside Kensington Palace. The garden is a stone’s throw from the home shared by Kate Middleton and Prince William. Nicky tied the knot with her banking heir beau James Rothschild in a bespoke Valentino couture gown Friday.

Paris Hilton shared pictures of the wedding on Instagram. There was a picture of the bride wearing her ivory £50,000 ($77,000) Valentino couture gown, which drew inspiration from the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding gown. Other images showed the two sisters in their suite at Claridge’s in their dressing gowns, Hello said.

While Nicky wore a white silk robe, Paris was seen in powder blue, with the words “bride” and “maid of honor” printed on the backs, respectively. In the picture Nicky is seen sitting, looking out of the room, ready to be pampered for the big day. Her hair is tied in a tight bun. Paris, 34, managed to take a moment for a selfie in her robe.

Meanwhile, their brother could not resist sharing a few pictures from the preparations on Instagram. He shared a picture of the wedding rehearsal, an inside view of the grand venue, the reception table fully laid out with crockery and cutlery with a congratulatory note.

There was also a picture of the stunning 31-year-old bride in her wedding gown with a bouquet of white roses in hand. Nicky was photographed in front of a gate with an arch covered with exotic pink flowers and lots of creepers. Celebrations started with a special dinner at Spencer House in a private palace overlooking Green Park Thursday.

The bride-to-be looked stunning in a long sleeved cream lace minidress she paired with nude patent heels. Nicky flashed her reportedly eight-carat diamond engagement ring. The couple started dating from 2011 and became engaged last August.

read more:short formal dresses

There certainly is a lot going on in the week that Hollyoaks turns 20 this October!

As we have previously reported so far in the line-up to mark the landmark occasion for the hit Channel 4 soap is the big reveal of who the Gloved Hand Killer is, a white water chase that will result in TWO major characters dying as well as a grizzly body being hidden in the structure of one of the city walls.

But is not all doom and gloom – We also have a wedding, and Gay Pride festival to look forward to as well.

Of course this is still Hollyoaks who haven’t had a hiccup-free wedding since… well, ever, so we can’t imagine for one minute that the one set to take place as the show reaches is two decade point will be a happy ever after type of affair.

So far the powers that be are keeping pretty tight lipped about just who it will be walking down the aisle, but from our powers of deduction (looking back over just who isn’t already married or recently engaged) we have come up with two possible couples.

First of all Grace Black (Tamara Wall) and Trevor Royle (Greg Wood) got engaged earlier this year, and despite the fact that Grace has indulged in not one, but two affairs with Kim Butterfield (Daisy Wood-Davis) with Trev’s ring on her finger, they still seem to be determined to get down that aisle and let’s face it, weddings don’t come much more exciting than a gangster wedding.

Also recently engaged are Holly Cunningham (Amanda Clapham) and Jason Roscoe (Alfie Browne-Sykes) but seeing as Holly accepted the ring with a ‘not for ten years’ clause attached, our money is definitely on the wedding being that of Grace and Trevor!

Meanwhile local business man Tony Hutchinson spots a golden opportunity this October when he decides to host the first ever Hollyoaks Gay Pride festival, with Digital Spy quoting executive producer, Bryan Kirkwood as commenting:

“The 20th anniversary week will start in the village with riotous comedy as Tony Hutchinson, played by our original star Nick Pickard, decides to exploit the pink pound by throwing Hollyoaks’ first ever Gay Pride festival.

“It’s unbelievable that it’s our first considering how many gay characters we’ve had in the village!”

read more:short formal dresses australia

Shortland Street's Angela Bloomfield plays one of the show's most long-running characters, Rachel McKenna. We've seen her grow on screen since her teens, and she never fails to look completely glamorous. So what are her beauty secrets?

SKIN

I use Dermalogica products. My mornings consist of the Ultra Calming Cleanser, Daily Microfoliant, Antioxidant Hydramist and Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF50 Moisturiser. For the body I do like Dermalogica's Protection Sport SPF50 which is also great on the kids.

There is never enough time for regular facials, but when I do get time I adore going to Bare Waxing in Auckland and getting a Dermalogica Customised Facial. The type I get can vary every time, from deep cleansing to hydrating, and I always add a back or scalp massage.

My secrets to good skin are lots of water, plenty of sleep, a great skincare regime and a decent sunscreen.

MAKEUP

I started dancing from a young age so I was used to having makeup on. I became interested in it later, in high school. I don't love having a face full of makeup though, which is why I spend my weekends without it.

I have a MAC Mineral Powder that I use when I go out, and then I'm a mascara and gloss girl. My most recent gloss purchase was a MAC Plushglass called Ample Pink.

In my handbag you'll find Lucas Pawpaw Ointment, a gloss, and a travel Dermalogica Antioxidant Hydramist. I'm not really a makeup girl.

I am currently using the Pureology Hydrating range with Eleven Miracle Hair treatment and a Kevin Murphy treatment called Body Mass. My hair takes a beating from being blowdried every day.

My hairdresser now works from home, so you can't have her. She has done my hair for about 10 years. When people ask about good colourists and stylists I recommend Hamilton Brooks in Newmarket.

It's not really about upkeep when you're on a show like Shortland Street – it's about looking the same throughout all the scenes. As my hair is long, growth is pretty hard to see. My fringe is cut every two weeks and I get my hair cut and coloured every 10 weeks. I have a great Parlux hairdryer – pricey but worth it. I use Cloud 9 straighteners and Ceramic Barrel for curling my hair which I love doing.

NAILS

I love having pedicures. You spend so much time on your feet that it's good to treat them. There is a great place in Takapuna called Pedman Spicer. As far as my fingernails go I do my own, which is great mummy/daughter fun. We have loads of nail colours - my favourites would be OPI I Stop for Red and I Saw, U Saw, We Saw Warsaw. I always love a good coral for summer.

FRAGRANCE & BODY

I usually only have one or two perfumes at one time – at the moment I'm wearing Issey Miyake Pleats Please and Eau de Chloe. I have been a fan of Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier over the years.

I love the Dermalogica Body Hydrating Cream – it's lightly fragranced and super hydrating. In the shower we are all fans of QV Gentle Wash; it does not dry your skin out like soap and other body washes.

The kids and I love baths and we love using Lush products – fresh, handmade, 100 per cent vegetarian, not tested on animals and soooooo good!

LIFESTYLE

The one product I can't live without is Dermalogica Pre Cleanse – it removes makeup incredibly well.

My best beauty quick fix is sleep and fresh food.

A beauty mistake from my past is a perm when I was 12. In fact, I think I had a couple.

If I could wave a magic wand, the beauty bugbear I'd like to fix is people's attitudes towards beauty. It's your heart that makes you beautiful – not your face.

The beauty product I think needs be invented is a pill that gives the body the effects of eight hours' sleep!

read more:formal dress shops sydney

There was a time when the Dog Days invited us to take cover.

Under the trees! Who but agrees

That there is magic in words such as these;

Stately lime-avenues, haunted of bees;

Where, looking far over buttercupp’d leas,

Lads and ‘fair shes’ (That is Byron and he’s

An authority) lie very much at their ease.

Calverley’s opinion of summer’s bliss is in that tradition which habitually rhymed shade with glade. But modern taste and practice disdain the canopy of leaf and the comfort of the shadow; more popular now is the torrid assonance of sun with fun or of blaze and rays with happy days. The “fair shes” no longer wish to be fair and cultivate the cool protection of the lime; they are addicts of the New Bronze Age and wish only to have their bodies darkened upon nature’s grill. Cover is no longer popular. The house-agent hesitates before he proclaims a house to be sheltered; he would far sooner call it a “veritable sun-trap.” A survey of holiday advertisements suggests that a considerable hazard of sunstroke and sunburn is the popular notion of salubrity.

The conditions in which sunbathing is pleasant are occasional; the conjunction of a light breeze with a sun not too violent makes exposure of the body agreeable and probably healthful; but to strip and grill on a blazing, windless day is, in my experience, merely to provoke an ache of the head and a rawness of the back. One could achieve much the same results by asking to be whipped. Sun-bathing, as conducted by the more reckless of our Bronze Age fanatics, is a sport for masochists.

It is true, of course, that there is a considerable variation in the sensitivity of human skins; the owners of a tender hide must go more warily than those more coarsely covered. It is one of the major blessings of this world to possess a good thick skin; one so endowed is less liable to the pains of modesty and that hectic in the blood which produces the ugly and uncomfortable blush. Also, if he inclines to be a sun-bather, he can follow his fancy with more assurance of turning his back into a brown study and less fear of agonised emergence as a redskin. There are some whom no amount of oily preparation will protect from that disaster.

This Bronze Age of ours, so disdainful of the shade, is nothing if not theoretical. It seems to me sensible to shed one’s clothes according to the solar circumstance; but the devotees must have a doctrine and a cult. There are some who cannot spill a waistcoat without also spilling a mouthful. Hence the high palaver of Nudism. Hence the frantic colonies of those who cannot take off their stockings without putting on a philosophy.

The Englishman’s notions of wrapping up have varied enormously from time to time. I cannot think that the Elizabethans were much given to exposure: they were heavily ruffed, jerkined, and stomachered; Shakespeare’s Cleopatra was obviously as tight-laced in her apparel as she was loose in her behaviour. Did they unbrace and unbuckle in the heat of the sun? Their habit was rather to remain dressed and keep to the shade. Like the Spaniards, they confronted tropical America in leather and steel, just as a century and a half later Clive’s men conquered India with tight gaiters and a stiff neckcloth at the throat. There were no principles of Free-Body Culture.

The curious thing is that, while the Victorians were indefatigable wrappers-up, they permitted nudity on the seashore to an extent which could horrify a Frenchman. In 1809 a Mr. Crunden, of Brighton, then the favourite resort of elegant depravity, asserted the rights of the natural man and pranced naked down the beach and into the water. He was arrested and fought a case against the Crown. He lost his legal suit and was forced into a bathing one.

A French traveller, M. Francis Wey, who published “Les Anglais Chez Eux” in 1836, describes his own experience on a Sunday morning when, having bathed stark, he had to return to his bathing machine among a party of ladies.

There was no possibility of reaching my cabin without passing in front of them. They each held a Prayer-book, and they watched me swimming about with serene unconcern. To give them a hint without offending their modesty, I advanced cautiously on all fours, raising myself by degrees as much as decency permitted. I had not, like the wise Ulysses emerging upon the island of the Phoenicians, the resource of draping myself in foliage. There was no seaweed even on this too tidy beach!

As the ladies did not move, I concluded that they had not understood my dilemma, so, crawling back, started to swim again. But one cannot swim forever, while one can sit without fatigue for hours.

I rose slowly, like Venus, from the waves. Striving to adopt a bearing both modest and unconcerned, reminiscent of the lost traditions of innocence of a younger world, I stepped briskly past the three ladies, who made no pretence of looking away. I felt the blood rushing to my face, which, I fear, must have belied my pose of guilelessness, especially as Anglican virtue is always pale.

read more:formal dresses perth

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to borrow some very fancy clothes. That doesn’t happen nearly enough, but I was feeling pretty good as I walked to brunch in a black eyelet Vivienne Westwood dress with a full skirt and a draped bodice and a cropped black Chanel jacket. I wore it with a straw hat I got in Portugal that I like because it keeps me cool in the sun but also because I think it makes me look a little bit like Lauren Bacall at the end of Casablanca, and I was totally thinking, “I should start a style blog. I will totally be famous on Instagram!” when I heard my mother-in-law whisper, “Don’t tell Liz, but she looks Amish.”

I suppose I should have been insulted or embarrassed, but instead I gave myself a mental high-five and a pat on the back, because when someone insults my outfits, that’s when I know I’m doing something right. People insulted Bjork’s swan dress for a decade, but it’s one of the best and most memorable Oscars dresses of all time.

As far as I am concerned, the worst thing for an outfit to be is boring. It’s much better to take a risk and wear something weird or ugly than something very dull. But nobody insults boring. A tank top and jeans with beachy waves? A sparkly mermaid gown with Old Hollywood hair? Wear those things and no one will ever say anything bad about you. You’ll be pretty and palatable and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you want to try something a little different or out-of-the-box, chances are that some people won’t like it. But it’s not such a bad thing when strangers don’t like your clothes, because it means you are doing something worth noticing. And who needs to appeal to strangers anyway?

The first time I wore this Marc by Marc Jacobs Alessandra dress, some random dude walked up to me at the drugstore and said, “I need to tell you that bow is not working for you. You look really good, but you will never get a guy dressed like that. Trust me, I’m a straight dude, so I know.”

If not for that dress with its big neck bow, I might not have known that dude was a total douchebag. Thanks, dress!

The insults always come when I am wearing the outfits I think are the most spectacular, too. It is completely possible that I have very bad taste, but whatever, the taste is mine and I’m sticking with it. In fact I think most of my favorite outfits have been insulted at some point.

A few years ago, my favorite outfit was a very cute vintage brown vest and pleated mini skirt with tiny orange polka dots from the 70s. The skirt was attached to an orange blouse with a neck bow, and it might sound odd but it was a very flattering color combination on me and made my figure look spectacular. Every time I wore it I thought, “Man, I am a total badass.”

But as I walked down 57th street feeling chic as hell, an old man driving a horse and buggy looked at me and shouted, “Is it Halloween already!?”

That was fantastic, because not only did I have confirmation that I was wearing something unusual enough to get noticed by random people on the street, but when I got to the party to which I was going, I got to tell everyone, “An old man with a horse and buggy just insulted my outfit!” It was great.

Of course, the person who is insulting one’s outfit is relevant to the equation. If Anna Wintour said I looked Amish, maybe I’d worry that I’d taken the look too far. But until the day comes when I attract the eye of the Vogue editor, I’m going to continue wearing things I think look cool, and if random dudes on the street say I look weird, I’m going to continue taking it as a compliment.Read more here:bridesmaid dresses australia

"We share a deep connect with the traditional fabrics of Meghalaya. For us, it's not just a piece of cloth, it's actually the preservation of a way of life, of a culture of a people," Daniel told IANS in an email interview.

"Natural fabrics of the region -- Eri silk and Muga -- are hand-woven mostly in traditional loin looms. We want to highlight the traditional fabrics of the northeast," added the designer, known for making northeast's traditional apparel chic.

The Eri silk worms, which produce the famous Assam silk, are known in Meghalaya's Khasi-Jaintia Hills as Niang Ryndia. The silk is cultured to weave the trademark Ryndia shawls, while the worms are also considered a delicacy in many parts of Meghalaya.

Daniel, along with his friend Janessaline M. Pyngrope, launched the Daniel Syiem Ethnic Fashion House (DSEFH) in Shillong in 2011 to promote "Ryndia (eri silk) and the traditional hand-woven fabrics of northeast India".

"The art of making these textiles is slowly dying," rued Daniel who has rich experience in working with indigenous fabrics.

"We are striving to preserve the dying art of weaving by making traditional fabric fashionable."

Daniel has been instrumental in promoting women weavers of Meghalaya's Ri Bhoi district.

"The making of these heritage fabrics has been passed down from generation to generation of weavers. The weavers need to be supported and encouraged by making their craft economically viable," he said from Shillong.

"Currently, we source fabrics from them to generate more income for weavers through fair trade practices. We also guide them to archive and keep track of ancient weaves to safeguard them."

He said the fashion house regularly holds meetings with the women weavers, and they work with them to innovate at yarn stage on dyes and weaves.

"We have also been promoting designs and fabrics of other ethnic groups of the northeast, in particular the Naga Tangkhul tribe. We also used accessories of the Mizo and other Naga tribes at our shows in Rome and Canada," Daniel told IANS.

The Tangkhul tribe has a unique place among the Nagas and their dresses feature ornaments such as kongsang and huishon made of sea shells, cowrie and conch shells.

Daniel has showcased his work - ensembles for women in natural fabrics - in various fashion weeks in places like Rome, New York, London, Toronto, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Jaipur. His collections have featured in top fashion magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elle.

Janessaline, who is the business head, co-founder and partner in Daniel's fashion house, told IANS: "We both had the common goal of promoting, protecting and reviving the hand-woven fabrics of the northeast of India. We decided to come together to create something unique and innovative with Ryndia through the medium of fashion."

She had earlier worked for a Meghalaya-based rural development project to uplift traditional weavers and introduce new and safe weaving looms.

Daniel adds: "I shared my dream of wanting to work with our local weavers and promoting our local fabrics. We both found a common goal since Janess was already working with an organisation that promoted weavers of the other states of northeast India."

Daniel is all praise for Lajoplin Nongsiej, a textile designer, who he says "is equally passionate about reviving weaving and the traditional patterns".

"She has been a great boon for the fashion house by way of constantly monitoring and supervising work on our behalf in the field. Her technical knowledge plays a vital role since she is able to describe in detail the ideas I want to bring out in the fabric," he said.

In February, Daniel showcased his new collection 'FreeSpirit' in Toronto. The collection had classy shirts with innovative collars, asymmetrical skirts, bohemian palazzos, halter tops and dresses.

"The unique use of natural, hand-woven and organic textiles like eri silk, in a colour palette of ivory, pastel greens and yellows, earthy browns in this collection, celebrates the triumph of spirit and the freedom to be your true self," he said.

The collection was praised by Canadian experts, and Daniel hopes to work with them one day.Read more here:evening dresses australia | cocktail dresses online

Humidity can ruin your leather shoes but regular polishing and storing them properly can make them last longer, says an expert.

Jitender Upadhyay, expert at lifestyle brand Cobblerz, has shared tips on how to keep leather shoes new as ever:

Brush your shoes

During the monsoon, damp mud has a tendency to stick to the shoes. When it dries, the mud hardens and forms a clump on them. In such cases, a brush is the only way to remove the mud.

Polish shoes regularly

Invest in good quality polish. It does not make sense to compromise on the quality of your shoe polish as it not only makes your shoe shine, but also protects it from moisture.

Dry the insides of leather shoes

If your feet sweat a lot, you will have to increase the frequency of the drying sessions. Place a sheet of tissue paper or a paper napkin within the shoe and leave it for a few minutes. Repeat the process to dry out the shoe completely. After this, sprinkle some talcum powder to absorb any lingering moisture. During the rains, drying sessions can be carried out two or three times a week.

Storage tips for leather shoes

Don't put your shoes away as soon as you take them off. Switch on the ceiling fan and keep the shoes under them for a few hours to air them out. Else your shoes will start smelling. Stuff shoes with newspaper to retain their shape and prevent them from bending or creasing. In addition, keep the shoes in a cloth shoe cover before putting them in the box.

Fungus treatment for leather shoes

Take an old toothbrush and some soap solution and use the brush to scrub away the fungus. Ensure that you brush even the smallest crevices to remove all traces. After brushing, keep the shoes under the fan to dry. A better option to dry them completely would be to keep them outside in the sunlight.Read more here:pink formal dresses