Hello, Bangalore! We’re still in beta, baby. But you can enjoy today.

There are pin-pointers. There are sledge-hammers. There are banana-peelers. In golden, silver, copper and even polka-dots.

And then there’s the oh-so-fresh simplicity of Auro crocheted slip-ons. If girly giggles were shoes, they’d be these.

Hand-knitted in Auroville, Pondicherry, these fantasy footwear — in town for the first time — go perfectly with summer-morning skirts, summer-afternoon skirts and summer-night skirts. And sunny, happy, skirted lunches.

Decide between comfy slip-ons and variations with delicate lace that tie around your ankles. Choose from a colour range of cherry reds and pure purples, fun fuchsia and brilliant blues. And pastels like baby blues and powder pinks. For bling babes, there are even some with gold and silver threads.

Our Trendy Shopaholic fell in love with a cutesy blue-and-pink pair. Peasant skirts, rolled-up jeans, they go with everything. And most with a pedicure and light toe-nails.

The split-level store, which stocks a range of Auroville products, also has crochet tops. But resist the temptation to wear ‘em all together.

For now, it’s your tootsies’ moment in the sun.

Cose Belle, Shringar Shopping Complex, M G Road (next to Barton Centre), Bangalore 560001. Telephone: 80 25321279, 32525556.
Prices range from Rs. 750 to Rs. 1100.

Think monochromatic tones are boring? Think timeless sparkling white diamonds, pristine white snow or a classic white Louis Vuitton.

Now think about the new White lounge at Phoenix mills. It’s a great splash of, well, white — ceiling, walls, floors, furniture, and the bar. Very outer spacey. Or at least far, far away from Mumbai. A hint of coloured lights adds that much-needed human element.

Pick from the bar’s 55 well-priced cocktails, plus beer and wine. Our Trendy Taster sipped the strawberry and peach margaritas, the vodkatini, and a perfect appletini (not too sweet, just a little sour, and just the right amount of strong).

Drop in post-shopping by day, for the soup, salad and sandwich buffet. By night, catch some Mediterranean appetizers and your favourite trance and techno tunes.

Perfect elements for a perfect evening. Just like white, the perfect colour.

White, Opposite Quorum, Phoenix Mills Lower Parel. Telephone: 22 6513 3177.
Prices: Drinks start at Rs. 200 and appetizers at Rs. 150.

The Big B juxtaposed against a pair of tattered trousers.

Bips’ hips jauntily endorsing an ad for “an MBA female with a pleasing personality”.

Ajay Devgan staring into space, his lady draped lovingly around him.

That’s just the trailer.

Delhi’s Shahid Datawala, a self-taught young photographer with an eye for the incongruous, displays forty black and white pictures in “Dress Circle”. He zeroes in on Delhi’s old cinema spaces in — roll the names slowly over your tongue — Golcha and Liberty, Regal and Westend — the cloakrooms and stairwells, art deco architecture and decaying walls, roadside romeos and dodgy matinees. Full of mood, nostalgia and gentle humour, these pictures capture a cinema culture that is fast disappearing.

Swivel around to the other exhibition at the same place, “Silverscreen”, by Mumbai-based Fawzan Husain. 40 colour pictures capture the grime beneath the gloss of Bollywood. The star of the show — Kareena Kapoor on the sets of “Chameli” — radiantly beautiful, rising above the sludge and muck of the studio.

She glitters. She is gold.

“Back To Back” — “Dress Circle” by Shahid Datawala and “Silverscreen” by Fawzan Husain. On till March 18 at Gallerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Francaise de Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi. Telephone: 011-43500200. Prices on request.

Today Trendylicious begins an occasional series on new and cool shopping websites. Online retail’s just beginning, but shopping in your pyjamas rocks! If only everything in life could be so easy.

You love long glass bead necklaces. You can’t get enough chunky bracelets. You’re up to the minute, but you don’t have time to wander around for that perfect compliment to that brand-new tee.

Buying bling just got easier, thanks to The Accessory Factory (TAF) website and mail order catalogue. Just click or call, and your fashion jewellery and accessory items reach within three days. The catalogue offers about 300 items, including jewellery for women, men and kids, belts, bags and hair accessories: each piece is unique.

The pieces our Trendy Tester ordered lived up to their promise. The hip designs are classic and ethnic, very Egyptian, Greek and Indian. The necklaces and chandelier earrings, finished in brass and beads, and made from glass, wood and metal are charmingly rustic. The lace covered neckpieces with silk ribbon ties are ultra feminine.

All metal accessories have nickel-free plating and pass stringent European standards.

Log on or call for a free catalogue. And go on a spree.

Whee.

Prices: Rs. 75 - 7,000. (Rs. 100 minimum order.)
Telephone: 011-41412121. SMS: 9911662121. Fax: 011-41412005. E-mail: info@tafind.com.
Website: www.tafind.com. TAF delivers across the country. Pay cash on delivery, or fax in an order form and credit card number.

Eve looked sinfully fetching with a serpent coiled around her torso in the Garden of Eden. You don’t have to go that far, but there’s no denying that scarves, shawls or wraps have long been a girl’s best friend. In the second half of our series, our Trendy Fashionista lets you in on more places to shop for stoles:

BAREFOOT: Instead of traditional fabric, try a beaded stole in funky colours with metal floral or butterfly medallions. Rs. 180 for the single line of beads and Rs. 300 for the double liners.
House No. 30, Anand Villa, Palimala Road, off Pali Hill, Bandra (W), Mumbai. Telephone: 26051078.

ANOKHI: Crinkle is big here — whether plain or printed cottons for Rs. 300, or chiffons for Rs. 600 and above. Even their sarongs with beaded tassels and khari work for Rs. 450 and above, double up as stoles.
Govind Dham, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 50. Telephone: 26408261.

FABINDIA: The ethnic wear section is a treasure trove of stoles in jewel colours and earthy tones, silk patchwork, kaantha work in raw silk and jute combos from Rs. 275 to 2,095. The staff is very helpful, too.
Nos 2 & 4, Navroze, 66 Pali Hill, Bandra (W), Mumbai 50. Telephone: 26465286.

BANG BANG: With any stole for Rs. 500, it’s tough choosing what not to buy. Shredded stoles in bright fuchsia, electric blue, and acid green. Strings of adorable furry pompoms. Wrap them around your neck and watch the reactions.
Shop No 9, Waterfield Road, Opp Tata Hans Motors, Bandra (W), Mumbai 50. Telephone: Misba Khan on 9892319316.

Click here to read It’s a Wrap Part 1.

Wedding photographers capture the pretty pictures. It takes an artist like Atul Dodiya to depict a marriage.

Saptapadi: Scenes from Marriage (Regardless), a series of oleographs inspired by Mumbai, marries kitsch with satire to make you pause, think and smile.

The Bombay-ite’s love and hate for Bollywood finds place in ‘Devi and the Sink,’ where a wide-eyed Sridevi pouts at Anil Kapoor as he pulls her close under India’s number one sink. While Dodiya painted the couple, the out-of-sync sink was part of the laminated board he uses as canvas.

If loud romance is not your style, check out ‘Couple with Coffee Pot’ where an indifferent Bill and Hillary meet the quarrelsome Tom and Jerry, with an erotic udder in a corner subtly reminding you of Monica Lewinsky.

Marital bliss, marital abyss, his vivid collages show them all. But the one of a solitary Sonia Gandhi will make you feel melancholic.

Dodiya, who revels in working with many mediums, has experimented with lamination and enamel paint in this exhibition. His works delight and surprise.

But don’t cancel the photographer just yet.

Vadehra Art Gallery, D-178, Okhla Phase-I, New Delhi. Telephone: 65474005/6.
Exhibition on till March 26.

You like a bit of mystery. From your regimen for perfect skin, to your source for Shakira seats and the curves you’ve hidden under that gorgeous shawl. Where’d you get that wrap? You won’t tell, but we will. In a two-part series, our Trendy Fashionista spills on where to shop for stoles. Surprise — you don’t have to leave Bandra!

ZOYA: Wendell Rodricks’ stoles in textured organza, earth-toned linens and silk with a jamewar weave. Handmade silks by Anshoo and Dev R Nil. High-end and unique for Rs. 1,000-2,500.
A, Gulistan, Ground floor, 184- D’Monte Park Road, Off Turner Road, Bandra(W), Mumbai- 400 050. Telephone: 26420888. Closed Sundays.

OMO: The friendly staff can help you pick from mostly ethnic looking wraps in wool, silk, cotton, and jute in solids, bandhni and patchwork. From Rs. 150-1,300.
204, “Sagar Fortune”, 2nd Floor, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai- 400 050. Telephone: 66981804. Closed Sundays.

KINK: These mostly woollen stoles — most straight from Bangkok — are cute and practical on cool nights. There’s enough to delight the eye from Rs. 550-850, but don’t expect much from the staff.
209, Waterfield Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai- 400 050. Telephone: 66778093/4.

MELA: All the flavour of Colaba Causeway’s beads, mirror work and shells — without going south of Bandra. Viscose, woollen and silk scarves for Rs. 195-2,495. Be warned — a bit of a tourist trap.
2, Siffin Apartments, Opp. LIC Building, Ambedkar Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai – 50. Telephone: 26497562.

Tomorrow, four more places to find that coveted cover up.

You are a jeans-and-sneaker sort of gal — your slimline Levi’s and candyfloss pink Pumas do it for you. But you also love mommy’s dreamy jadau danglers, and grandma’s kundan necklets, except that they look, well, old.

Get that gorgeous antique feel in Alpana Gujral’s chic new collection — earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings in designs which use the traditional craft of minakari in gold and ruby and sapphire. As well as the sparkly semi-precious, colourful tourmaline, citrine and aquamarine.

Join the exclusive club which shops from Gujral, who is as well-known in her set as her famous painter-sculptor-father Satish, and even more famous uncle Inder, a former Indian PM. Make an appointment with her at her studio — she doesn’t retail.

Each piece is individually handcrafted, takes four to six months to be fashioned, and is the only one of its kind. Dress up your benarsis and kajeevarams and patolas at weddings.

Or wear them with jeans and sneakers for a truly original statement.

Exhibition on from March 12-14 at Alpna’s Studio, 16, Feroz Gandhi Marg, Lajpat Nagar-II, New Delhi. Telephone: 29831386, 29831375.
Price: Rs. 15,000 onwards.

You’re the real thing — a beauty with brains. You look fab after losing a few pounds. No reason why you should tote that bulky pre-historic laptop. You need a notebook that’s more you — swanky, sleek, and light-as-air.

This I-want-it-now gadget is targeted at you — the woman of today — who is smart, career oriented and tech savvy. Weighing just a little over a kilo, the new NB55132-CK66 laptop from Sahara Computers, may sound like the name of a planet from Star Trek. It is, at its price and tech specs, out of this world.

Based on Intel Centrino mobile technology, the laptop features 512MB RAM, an 80 GB Hard Disk drive (that’s more mp3’s than you can count), a 1.06 GHz CPU, a slim CD/DVD writer and a Linux operating system. The best part: a fully charged battery that will give you about 6 hours of life. Your ppt will be a shoo-in.

With clean looks, aesthetically-designed features, and a screen of 11.1 inches, this notebook rates high on our Trendy style meter.

It’s a head turner, just like you.

Call 1800 180 7235 to find a local Sahara Computers and Electronics Ltd. (SCEL) dealer.
Price: Rs. 79,999. One year on-site warranty.

You’re a fabulous modern woman, and today is your day. So celebrate — go on a march, wave flags, and then rock on to this Women’s Day music mix that Trendylicious has made just for you.

Load ‘em onto your ipod, or blast ‘em from your boom box. A hairbrush microphone may be required.

1. “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” by Shania Twain (Come on Over, 1997)
2. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” by Cyndi Lauper (She’s So Unusual, 1984)
3. “Independent Women,” by Destiny’s Child (Survivor, 2001)
4. “Respect,” by Aretha Franklin (I Never Loved a Man the Way I Loved You, 1967)
5. “Pretty Woman,” remix by Shankar Mahadevan and Ravi “Rags” Khote (Kal Ho Na Ho Soundtrack, 2003)
6. “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” by Neil Diamond (Just For You, 1967)
7. “She’s Always a Woman,” by Billy Joel (The Stranger, 1998)
8. “Waiting for a Girl Like You,” by Foreigner (4, 1981)
9. “Material Girl,” by Madonna (Like a Virgin, 1984)
10. “Isn’t She Lovely,” by Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)
11. “Strength of a Woman, by Shaggy (Lucky Day, 2002)
12. “Ladki Kyon,” by Shaan (Hum Tum Soundtrack, 2004)
13. “I’m Every Woman,” by Whitney Houston (The Bodyguard Soundtrack, 1992)
14. “I Will Survive,” by Gloria Gaynor (1978)
15. “Where’s the Party Tonight?” by Shaan, Vasundhara Das, Loy Mendonsa and Shankar Mahadevan (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna Soundtrack, 2006)