The moon, the sea and the butterfly bantered away one night.
We are all a wonder of the universe – free and fearless.
Butterfly – ‘I have kissed flowers of many colours,
And my wings have felt the touch of their soft satin petals.’
Moon – ‘I do not shine when I wish.
I have thirty subtle moods.’
‘I swell and sink and thrash and crash
I dance as I please said the sea.’
We are children of nature,
Each, God’s own design and let us be!
Such is the spirit of flower children from the 60’s and such is what I believe myself to be. I have strong yearnings to confirm to none but my own whims, pack my bags and take the road, dream under a blanket of stars and dive off a cliff. The last is acknowledged as a sport in few countries and not an act of self- sabotage. It is a different story that my odd tastes in pleasure ended up in part despair for the weeks to follow. So though a decade later, not floating around in bell bottoms and oversized florals and not smoking strange stuff from stranger contraptions, I still legitimately claim the flower child in me.
Hippies - Let them Be
Flower Children Where Have They Gone?
“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.” ― Jack Kerouac
Many of you would have read his book ‘On the Road’. It is a classic novel of freedom and longing, defining what it meant to be “Beat” (a movement of young people in the 1950s and early 1960s who rejected conventional society, valuing free self-expression). This book was my bible during college years. I read it with dreams, desires and conviction. There were parts I re-read hoping as many times as I read it, the chances of manifesting the dreamy lines in my own life will increase. I wasn’t completely wrong! More about the Beat movement is later in the blog. For now, just be informed that Beatniks were the frontrunner of the hippie culture of 1960.
“I don’t know, I don’t care, and it doesn’t make any difference”….the hippie philosophy!
Hippie’s advocated nonviolence and love. A popular phrase of the times being “Make love, not war,” for which they were sometimes called “flower children.” They promoted openness and tolerance as alternatives to the restrictions and regimentation they saw in middle-class society.
Hippies - And their Style Statement
They inspired generations to come. Even now, the trend that designers call the Boho fashion is an offshoot of the hippie style. Long granny dresses, rimless glasses, beads, flower reads on the heads meant hello hippies! Hippies often chose brightly colored clothing and wore styles, such as bell-bottom pants, vests, tie-dyed garments, dashikis (African style top), peasant blouses, and long, full skirts; non-Western inspired clothing with Native and Latin American, African and Asiatic motifs were popular. They wore flowers as a symbol of peace and love. Asymmetrical lines, accents and accessories like scarves, beads, flowers, belts and psychedelic colours were the signature of the hippy trail : A good dose of drama and leisure. Their fashion statement which they did not intend on making one was effortless, uncomplicated and modest yet captivating.
Flower Child is a collection inspired by the sixties culture of laid-back, bold, unabashed and carefree. Linen has been my choice of fabric to bring out the right mood of the times in its texture of a free flowing, comfortable and earthy fabric. The prints are combination of bold, fluid like water colours and relaxed- all strands of the sixties flower children. Each saree has a mood and story. Different Saree – different strokes!
Mood: Bold, assertive, bright and blazing. Bright red Poppy flowers scattered on the saree like painting love under a starry night – like the flower children and their love stories. Poppy has been an age old source of opium, a trusted friend of the flower children all along. High on hops, lulled with dreams of a peace and love – the flower children breezed from one place to another, making none their home.
Through the dancing Poppies stole a breeze.
Most softly lulling to my soul – John Keats
Also: When we think of poppies, we often think of the iconic red bloom, but poppies can grow in a range of vibrant and cheery colours. It was the Victorians who first added a meaning to the colours of each poppy, and their meaning has changed and evolved in different parts of the world. The Chinese believe that poppies should be given to couples, to represent true and passionate love.
Mood: Gentle and soft, easy-going and gracious. Hushed like a whisper, soft rosy prints in pastel hues. Tender and natural like the love spirit of a flower child.
What was whispered to the rose
To break it open last night
Was whispered to my heart – Rumi.
Mood: Tranquil….I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar; like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of past childhood. The clouds as they pass overhead seem to testify (by their own lonesome familiarity) to this feeling. It’s a peaceful, easy feeling.
Flowers every night
Blossom in the sky
Peace in the Infinite. At peace am I – Rumi.
Peace is an embodiment of that peaceful easy feeling – a tranquil beauty.
Mood: Floating and adrift. Fluid strokes languishing across the six yards. Careless and generous. Wide eyed, filled with dreams of peace and passion. With so less, yet their cups are full. One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple. Till then lost and scattered emotions in pink and blue will do.
The moon came out for a while
And my heart was on the dial
The morning came to claim you,
And as far as I can tell-
I will never know another,
Who knew me quite so well.
Lang Leavse
A water colour print on linen.
Mood: Unafraid and untamed like the 60s generation.
Untraceable, cannot hunt her down.
He hunted wild flowers
But, boy, you can’t handle her
She’s too wild, too free
She’ll bring you misery.
Flower children let them be!
If you feel the swell in you torrid and tumultuous – then this exuberant choice is your drape.
Wild and free. Fight the storm because it will not pass so you learn to dance in the rain. There is a wild child in you. Indulge her and drape her in flamboyance and panache – Flower Child.
