Of desi mems and style bhais!

The designers are not the only ones setting trends for the season. Here at LIFW 2005, the guests are perhaps more fashionable than the designers themselves writes Sunanda Kumar.

The designers are not the only ones setting trends for the season. Here at LIFW 2005, the guests are perhaps more fashionable than the designers themselves!

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Clue into these 4 trends to be a part of the 'in' crowd this summer!

The hand that carried the bag

Okay ladies, big handbags are a must! The bigger the better. It doesn't matter that international fashion houses like Chanel and Chloe have been showcasing tiny elegant clutches this season. For our desi mems, it's gotta be a carry-all and it better be in a wild colour like fuscia or aqua. "I think handbags are a great accessory. One can wear jeans and a t-shirt and still look completely hot if you're carrying a really big orange handbag," said Deepti Ahuja, a freelance photographer from Chennai.

Surgically attached to one's sunglasses

Rain, sun, day, night, indoors, outdoors - it don't matter. Unless your sunglasses are surgically attached to your head - you're a nobody. Yes, we're talking HEAD - not face. Wearing them on your face would actually mean having to cover up those Helena Rubenstein Masacara-laden peepers. Let your shades go a bit up north and stay there for as long as possible (if they give you a headache - pop in a combiflam - don't you dare remove those shades!). This goes for guys too. As far as styles go, the "truly hip" go in for big designer names like Dior, D&G or Armani while the wannabe are seen sticking to the rip-offs found at Janpath or fashion street (depending on which part of the country you're in).

All white

So you though white was only for Jumpin' Jack Jeetu or more recently Abbas-Mustan? Think again. All-white is the little secret that'll go a long way to give you that 'x' factor. Even sexy designer Rina Dhaka thinks so. Although her collection this year was in all black, she endorses the virginal hue saying, "White is the colour of the season - it's so perfect for our Indian summer." And if your whites are in linen - there's just no stopping you! A little tip for the women: stick to thongs/g-strings if you're going to wear white pants - nobody wants to see those granny panties creating unwanted panty-lines!

Skin

Less is more. Although this phrase was traditionally used for controlling women going over the top with jewellry and makeup, it seems more apt in today's dare-bare world. While the trend of regular women showing off skin took off somewhere in the mid-nineties with the influx of spaghetti straps, it seems to be growing (err...shrinking?) as the years go by. Scrub, buff, exfoliate, moisturise - and then douse with foundation - that's all you have to do to be able to step out in that backless number. At least these are the steps to be followed for the average Indian woman who suffers from the odd zit or stretch mark (heavens).

Well, that's about it! Get these 4 trends right and you're on your way to becoming a nameless face in the crowd of hip and happening gorgeous ladies that make up 80 per cent of Lakme India Fashion Week.