Fashion does extraordinary things to ordinary people. The illusion of beauty, the delusion of fame, the subtleties of taste and the vulgarities of excess. Talk about any fashion show today, and the sum total could turn up as burlesque, a grand parody, where we are both actors and audience at the same time.

Coming For My Show?

Fashion shows have become adrenaline touchstones in our calendar of make-believe. With a Dior in hand and the early summer flush of India Shining, while to some, it maybe just a social indulgence, to others, the arena of fashion is nothing less than a grand canvas on which you create magic, weave dreams, fly or fall. The mayhem of fashion shows, the media outcry, the society gal camaraderie, the silent scrutiny, our ultimate and utter need for beauty..,what can I say? It's style chauvinism all the way, right here where the spinning wheel was first immortalised as a symbol of change. For all those who pooh-pooh fashion, it may be wise to remember what Mussolini said to the Nazis in 1933: "Any power whatsoever is destined to fail before fashion. If fashion says skirts are to be short, you will not succeed in lengthening them, even with the guillotine." So there. Next time, someone turns up his nose when I introduce myself as a fashion writer, pay heed. I am pretty much loaded with my fashion ammunition.