The above picture is
of an aspiring pageant model who hopes to make it to the top.
To start at the beginning, my friend Xavier told me about this
place known as Smitten and said that I must see it. So one day I stepped in and found the proprietor
Ms Nutan busy taking down the Christmas decorations.
I had a look around and found that the items on display were not
the usual stuff that one sees in a Boutique.
As I was browsing around, Nutan joined me and explained that she
deals mostly in party dresses and accessories.
What is unique about the store is that all the dresses on
display is one off.
Another interesting fact about the store is that it has only
three branches. They are at Pune, Kanpur and New York.
The one at Pune is at Bizzbay Mall, off NIBM road.
I asked Nutan “so where do you source all these dresses from?” She said “all the stuff in Kanpur and Pune comes from New York. People
prefer to buy the dresses from here than get it from abroad. The advantage is
that one can actually try out the clothes for fitting and then buy. Moreover
the prices are also comparable and affordable”
“So who are your usual clientele?”
“Girls who want something special for a party, or
for an occasion. And then there are these aspiring models. In fact Ms Ritika
who is a Pageant coach in Pune and runs The Tiara brings her batch of
students to try out our dresses”
I said I would like to write about this place as many don’t know
that such a place exists in Pune.
So there I was in the shop with my camera clicking away the dresses and the students from The Tiara.
The girls listening attentively to Ritika on the finer points of
selecting the proper dress
The girls were happy to pose for me
Notice what is common in the two pictures above?
The cow bell. Just love cow bells and the sound it makes.
The one below has the Mona Lisa look. When I told her this she said "you are the second person who is telling me this"
But I liked the pictures where they were caught off guard
When they were not posing for me they were either helping each other to dress up or busy taking pictures of each
other.
Nutan was always around giving suggestions and helping them
select the appropriate dress.
While processing the pictures, I isolated the background to give
it a punch . . . . . . can be an additional leaf in their portfolio.
While watching on YouTube, ensure that you keep the setting on 720pHD for clarity.
