We do our own clothes, our own nail art

College students, especially girls in Hyderabad, take to stitching their own clothes and nail art to save money, translate their fashion dreams into reality and of course, save the time and effort of following it up with late lateef tailors. Purnima Sriram Iyer Nowadays, the word "independent" is always followed by the word girl or woman. The Gen-y girls are independent in the real sense of the term. They want to do even odd jobs like stitching their clothes, practicing nail art and embroidery themselves. They do not want to depend on anyone to do these jobs for them. It's better to do it themselves as they know about their needs and preferences better than anyone, they say. With tailors charging exorbitantly for a single dress, delays in delivery and lack of perfection of the final product is also prompting them to take up such art. It gives them freedom of choice, perfection of work and saves money, they say. Embroidery has always fascinated the home makers but now it has also grabbed the attention of the young girls. They want to learn embroidery so that they can design their own creative contemporary designs on their kurtis and chudidhars. Most girls love to try new beauty techniques. Nail art which is in trend has attracted girls so many youngsters that they want to buy a nail art kit and try out new techniques each day according to the dress they wear. They are ready to import nail art kits from abroad as they are not easily available in India. Tejaswini Reddy, a third year engineering student Geetanjali College, says, " I pay more than Rs 500 to get a dress stitched. On most occasions, the fit is improper and the design unimpressive. Hence, I had decided to learn how to stitch. I learnt professional stitching for two months for Rs 500 from a tailor during my holidays last year and today I save thousands of rupees. Every beauty salon charges around Rs 200 for nail art on each hand. Instead of spending around Rs 400 for two hands, I bought a kit for Rs 300 and use it whenever I want. I change my nail colour and nail art every day according to my dress. I can have my own style and design and also save money." "I love to design my own clothes because only I know what I want," says Vyshnavi Gopalakrishna, mass communication student from Loyola Academy, Hyderabad. "I have so many neck designs, back designs and sleeve designs on my mind. To make the tailor understand, I draw and show them, yet he doesn't understand and follows his own style. So, I thought its better I learn to stitch so that I can be my own designer and tailor," she adds. "Communicating with local tailors is a big task, especially if you do not know Telugu. When I ask them to keep the fit a bit loose, they stitch it so loose that two people of my size can fit into the dress. When I ask them to stitch it skin fit, they stitch it so tight that I feel uncomfortable. Wearing it will make even breathing difficult," says Ruchitha SK from Geetanjali Engineering College. "I learnt nail art from YouTube and try new and different types of designs every day," she adds.