Looking fashionable can also be affordable

You don't have to be rich to look good or fashionable. Globalization has impacted street fashion as well and there are more ways than one to get on the fashion bandwagon.

Everybody knows that peplum is here to stay. Blair Waldorf wouldn't have been caught dead in something that didn't set a trend immediately. But little did the main character of Gossip Girl know that her wardrobe would influence Sonam Kapoor's wardrobe in Aisha in 2010. In New Delhi, the red peplum dress Kapoor wore in the film caught Tinky Ningombam's fancy - the 27-year-old public relations manager marched to her local tailor and had the outfit stitched. Frugal finances don't always need to come in the way of fashion.

Apart from the price of the dress at a high-street brand, it is important to get the right fit," says Ningombam who prefers to shop on the street, instead of hitting the malls. A walk through Delhi's Janpath or Sarojini Nagar market or Colaba Causeway in Mumbai is all one needs in order to get a pulse on an eclectic, fresh, not-so-original but seamlessly international phenomenon called street fashion.

Apart from popular cinema, magazines and blogs are emerging as an important medium that seek to guide fashion lovers of all backgrounds and budgets. "People are sharing ideas on social networking portals and blogs," says Aaditya Walia, senior fashion stylist, Vogue India. But the numbers are small. Less than 30% people in India follow latest trends, points out Mumbai-based fashion blogger Gia Kashyap. She feels that Indians are far behind the global benchmark of international street fashion compared to the Americans, European and Japanese counterparts. "In India, fashion is very subjective. You may find a girl wearing only western clothing in Mumbai, another girl in Jaipur may wear block print cotton kurtas. Both stylish, but different," says Kashyap.