Is your style seeking you?

I will admit it—envy meets me at the most unexpected places. As a history buff, I have now visited Humayun’s Tomb Museum in Delhi all of four times—and every time, I have been mesmerised by one installation: a series of bronze sculptures that shows the Mughal emperor—who was obsessed with astronomy—dressed in different coloured robes for different days of the week. Red on Tuesdays depicting the ruling planet and its corresponding symbolism, Friday-Venus-green and so on. Created by Scottish sculptor Jill Watson, it really got me thinking. Should I take on a personality, a character even, who dresses according to the stars? Based on whatever is in retrograde, inflation, presidential visits...you get the drift.

Choosing an outfit in the morning gets more complicated by the day and if I can do Resident Evil cosplay for the rest of the month, so be it. No, I hear you—as the editor of a lifestyle magazine—sure, the corporate pyjamas won’t cut it. But what does?

Don’t get me wrong, the state of Indian fashion today is varied and full of inspiration. Look at Sabyasachi in New York, Lovebirds in London, Dhruv Kapoor in Milan—to flex one’s imagination, one absolutely needs precision of layering, pants that flow in a silken daze, and draped dresses and skirts that a person can spend the rest of their lives in. All things beautiful, mostly wearable. Things to desire and aspire to. However, the everyday life is much less romantic.

One of my favourite fashion quotes as a dedicated disciple of the less-is-more philosophy is by Coco Chanel. “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” Well, the challenge here is to create that problem, not to solve it.

I—and I guess, a lot of us—are in the forever quest to seek a fashion identity. Some would argue that it’s irrelevant to possess a certain style or have an opinion on skinny jeans—but what becomes of those who want to own a style but are buried under algorithms and targeted ads, while trying to fulfil an aesthetic need to create a catalogue for the self? Do I become the person who only wears handlooms and can speak Indian craft like a second language? Am I the I-don’t-care-for-your-fashion millennial body with black tees that would make Humayun’s Saturdays a breeze? Or, am I the athleisure fiend who carries logos at all the right places like a Hyrox hustler?

None of the above. I have jostled with becoming a version of myself that is true to who I am, while balancing a job where people assume that I eat designer tags for breakfast. Then, there is the expectation of knowledge, and a certain polish that should reflect in the clothes one wears. This is not to undermine the power of the wardrobe—how one dresses mirrors taste and opinions. There are fashion odes instead of obituaries and sometimes, clothes mark revolutions and tragedies. Jacqueline Kennedy’s pink Chanel suit that she wore when her husband was assassinated, or MS Blue, based on the Indian Carnatic great and her indelible shade of blue sari. Clothing, colour, fashion, can make history—it’s the everyday choice that takes one by the shoulders.

Cue in Patricia on Apple TV’s award-winning Widow’s Bay when she has a (one-sided) conversation with a (cursed) man in a coma. When mayor Tom Loftis objects, she dryly apologises for wasting the time of a man on his deathbed. My point is, you do things to put your mind at ease. Some mornings, the least wrinkled pair of trousers is sufficient. And, so is the knowledge that we are considerate enough to leave the Mary Janes to period films, and capes to the superheroes.

This article originally appeared in Cosmopolitan India's September-October 2026 print issue.

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