- I kind if feel like a genie.
I could grant somebody's wish today
and if their wish is seeing my bare arms and my exposed back
then wish granted.
(light music)
So, I'm Sri Lankan and growing up I really only wore
South Asian clothes to special events
or as we call them functions.
I would wear them to weddings, to Sri Lankan parties,
to Indian dance recitals and that's kind of about it.
I never really found a way when I was growing up
to incorporate anything from South Asian fashion
into my regular wardrobe
and that's really something I wanna change.
I'm proud to be South Asian, I'm proud to be Sri Lankan
and I want to show off the things from my culture
that I find amazing in my clothes that I wear everyday.
I tend to dress for comfort
with like a little bit of coolness.
My wardrobe features a lot of black,
a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot, lot, lot of black.
If I'm gonna be wearing a bunch of
clothes from South Asian designers this week,
I'm betting a lot of them are gonna be really colorful
and people are gonna look at me
and that just makes me want to shrink into a ball and die.
South Asian fashion does have a lot of like sex to it.
There's a lot of clothes where you're wearing
a long skirt but you're showing your full stomach.
I'm gonna try to embrace that this week
even if it means showing off a part of myself
that I'm insecure about.
It's gonna be a challenge. (laughs)
Here is my outfit for the day.
This is something I would see on the racks somewhere
and where I'd be like
'Yeah, someone should wear that but not me.'
I definitely feel insecure about
showing this much of my arm, I'm really exposed.
It's a big set-up day for a really big shoot,
it's just a lot of physical labor
and so on those days I tend to really dress down but like,
I'm trying bolder, I'm trying to be more fashionable,
I'm trying to take risks.
I opted to go with this like faux diamond nose ring.
My mom got this for me, shout out to ama.
I guess now I'm like ready to go.
Niki, do you like my outfit?
- I do like your outfit,
we've got a lot of stuff to do today though.
Do you feel very practical?
- [Nina] I mean, I can move around for the most part.
I can't squat very far but this is like, yeah.
- Yeah, alright,
then as long you don't have a big hole in your butt,
I think you're golden.
(energetic music)
- I never usually expose this much of back
and I feel very self-conscious
about all my back rolls and stuff.
Trying really hard to sit upright so people don't see them
slash not face anyone but it's difficult.
- I was just saw you wear more colors in them.
Colors work so well for your skin tone, you look amazing,
I'm loving this little nose ring happening here.
Oh, girl. - [Nina] Thank you.
- You should wear this shit more often,
you have a banging body, bitch.
- I am leaving work now
having spent a full day in this outfit.
I was definitely kind of insecure the whole day,
I felt like everyone was just kind of staring at me
or my back or my arms.
I survived a day of a lot of running around,
putting stuff together,
it's definitely easier for me to feel more comfortable
when the clothes themselves are, you know, comfortable.
Even though I as insecure about
showing these parts of my body,
I still feel confident so this one gets a check from me.
So this outfit is a lehenga
from a brand called Kyra and Vir.
As you can see
I'm wearing the short skirt part of it underneath,
the long lehenga skirt part of it
is just like red and sheer and sexy.
Tonight, I'm challenging myself to go to a PR event
in this outfit where the dress code is fashionably fun
and I think this fits that.
My face is on, my one accessory is on, this is from my mom.
We'll see how it goes tonight. (laughs)
- You look like a beautiful goddess.
You have a little bit of sultry going on.
- [Nina] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
- It's like not too much.
Yeah, I mean, it just makes me wanna go home
and look better. (both laugh)
- It's only like lunch time basically
and I'm feeling the struggle because my skirt is very long
and I'm so scared that I'm gonna trip and tear it.
This is the perils of just being a short person.
If I was like six feet tall this outfit would be perfect.
- I think it looks great, I love it.
- Thank you.
- This is like very garden-y looking.
(upbeat electronic music)
- This is to me something,
I don't know anything about any of the wear,
but this looks like modern traditional.
This is a thing and you committed to it 100 percent
and it's clearly also a part of who you are as a person
and I think that's beautiful to celebrate.
- Aw.
I'm literally laying in bed
in my Kyra and Vir outfit from today
because I don't wanna take it off.
I loved that I was able to absolutely rock this look.
If you're gonna look at me, then you're gonna look at me
and I'm gonna know that I look good, so yeah,
like come on, bring it on, keep on looking cause
it's a good look.
I am wearing my outfit for today which is another one by
TKC Design.
It's definitely, again, not something I would wear.
For me also these pants are like more billowy
than I normally wear.
I like the way my legs look
and so I tend to either wear short things
or things that are really tight around the leg.
There's like so much texture happening
and that is a thing that I just now realized
I don't really wear a ton of textured clothing.
Here I am with my cool Vidakush armband.
Vidakush is also made by a South Asian woman.
Alright, I'm gonna go tackle the day.
- (gasps) Oh my goodness, you're so sparkly.
- Oh my god, that is beautiful. Can I touch it?
- [Nina] Yeah. - Is this fabric?
- [Nina] Touch it. - Whoa.
Wow.
- When you walked by I was like,
'Oh my gosh, she's so summery and colorful.'
It's so beautiful.
- You're more of a billowy pant wearer than I am.
- I am, so I also, so really how do I get these pants?
(Nina laughs)
- The work day is done and this outfit got so many comments
like people who don't normally talk to me
were coming up to me today
to say how much they liked this outfit
and a really interesting thing
people said to me today
was that my outfit felt very Coachella to them,
which is interesting because I think in their minds
they're making the connection
that it's like very desi-inspired fashion
but they don't know the words for that,
they just know that they see that kind of fashion
appropriated at Coachella. (laughs)
Today was a really good example of how like
me stepping out of my comfort zone
was something that people responded really positively to
which is nice.
I guess I gotta step out of my comfort zone more.
It was really easy to do in these clothes
because I felt so empowered.
There's something about wearing and rocking stuff
from your own culture that makes me feel like a superhero.
Holy (bleep).
Look at this outfit.
I look like a princess, a little Sri Lankan princess
but I don't think I carry myself like a princess.
I wanted to try to wear one seemingly fancy outfit
just as I kind of live my life on the weekend
and today I decided to accessorize with a little tikka.
My boyfriend has not seen me, let's go show him.
- Oh, how come I didn't get the invite to the gala, babe?
(Nina laughs) Look at you.
I mean, I'm kind of stunned honestly.
- Where are we right now?
- We're at the mall.
- The last time I came to the mall actually,
I saw a girl in a giant poof-y ball gown dress
and I thought when I saw her,
I was like 'Wow, she looks beautiful'
'but also that must feel crazy,'
and now here I am effectively like doing the same thing.
(upbeat acoustic music)
So we've been at the mall for like a minute now.
It's been surprisingly quiet,
I've definitely caught people staring at me.
There are a lot of like long looks just like...
And then I was kind of surprised
that nobody has come up and said anything about this thing
either to just be like, 'Oh, that's nice,'
or 'Oh, what is that, what are you doing?'
It just kind of let's me know that,
hey, I can wear stuff like this
and have it be accepted as being normal
and nobody's really gonna question me,
perhaps, because I'm rocking it with confidence.
I'm kind of walking straighter
and with my shoulders back and stuff
and I've just been like,
'Yeah, this is how I look all the time'
'and yes, you will respect me,'
so you know, maybe I'm giving off an air of like
don't (bleep) with me.
So we had a full day of errand running today.
I do feel a little bit exhausted today
but I think this outfit actually helped me like
keep my energy up because I was like, you know what,
I'm dressed like a South Asian princess
and therefore I need to hold myself
like a South Asian princess
so I was trying not to slouch and look too tired.
Gotta represent the culture well.
This is an outfit.
It's definitely, definitely
not a color that I would normally pick for myself.
I've paired it with this necklace also from Vidakush.
Has a little Ganesh on it.
I feel super, extra brown today.
So, here we go.
Chrissy.
(gasps)
- You look so beautiful.
- [Nina] I mean, I think the hardest thing for me
is just being short and wearing long skirts.
One, I always feel like they swallow me a little bit.
- I don't think so. - [Nina] You don't think so?
- Honestly, you look like
you're about to go on the red carpet, (Nina laughs)
but like cool and hot.
- So like I tried to start this day
with my skirt hiked up higher over my bellybutton
but that's not where the skirt is meant to sit
and I kind of didn't even notice as it slipped lower down.
People have been pointing out like,
'Oh, you have your belly out today.'
- Also I never see your little tum.
- Wow, your belly.
- And I was like, 'Oh, fuck, do I?'
Turns out I do.
The regalness, the elegance of this whole outfit
has inspired in me a confidence that I don't normally feel.
Like if I was wearing western clothes and you said,
'Hey, you're gonna wear a maxi skirt'
'that hits you under your bellybutton,'
I'd be like, 'Get that (bleep) away from me.' (laughs)
- I think you look awesome.
- Yeah? - I'm so into it.
You should wear this everyday.
I love the Ganesh chain too.
- Oh yes, my little necklace. - Wear it tons.
In this part of the world,
it draws a lot of attention to you,
but if we were back home
it wouldn't be that big deal at all.
- Yeah, right,
like this would just be like I'm kind of fancy.
- Yeah, exactly.
- The work day is pretty much over
and I am going to now meet my boyfriend
and we're gonna have a little date.
Truthfully, I got a lot of compliments from random strangers
when I was just like walking around
or going to the bathroom, whatever,
like people were talking to me and saying nice things
which is very, very kind and I appreciate it.
- As they should be cause you look ravishing, babe.
- Aw.
Ultimately you're always worried
that people are gonna see you as an other
and that can happen especially when you're like
wearing clothes of your culture
and your culture's not western
but forcing myself to wear the clothes of my culture
out and about helps me really unlearn that kind of stuff.
So, my experiment is over and I'm really sad about it.
I loved this whole week.
I don't need anybody's permission
to wear clothes that are designed by South Asian people
but it feels good to know that other people
think it looks good too.
I really gained an understanding going forward
how I want to incorporate elements of South Asian fashion
into my day to day look
and I think that that made this whole experience invaluable.
Doing this whole thing showed me that
South Asian fashion is something to be loved
and something to be proud of and something to be shown off.
I always had that little seedling inside me of knowing that
but now it has grown into a beautiful tree of pride.
(laughs)
(electronic rock music)