A Week of Outfits: Kirthana Ramisetti
“For most of my life, I had no relationship with clothes,” says author Kirthana Ramisetti, whose novel, The Other Lata, came out last month. “Trying them on always made me feel bad. But fashion plays a central role in my latest novel, and while writing it, I realized I deserve to find clothes that make me feel good.” Today, Kirthana shares five colorful looks, plus a mother-and-daughter ritual and style tips from the Girls5Eva costume designer…
Dress: Siempre Más. Earrings: Haru Baru. Purse: Stardusted Studio. Necklace: Grand Bazaar NYC flea market. Flats: Seychelles, similar.
“For the longest time, I dressed for utility, even to the point of looking shapeless. A small part of me always thought, ‘One day, I’ll figure clothes out when I’m a smaller size.’ Then while writing my third novel, I realized I don’t want to wait anymore. I got this dress last summer but never wore it. I recently got it tailored and realized, Oh, it does work on me. I’m excited to slip it on for date nights.”
Cardigan: Cable & Gauge, similar. Dress: Siempre Más, similar. Boots: Kelly & Katie, similar.
“I’ve lived in New York City for 20 years. I thought about the reason so many people, including myself, move to this city: to reinvent ourselves. So, I decided to give that to my character, Lata, in The Other Lata. She starts using the email address of someone who shares her name, and attends parties and gallery openings in their place. She uses fashion as a passport to enter these circles.”
Top: Serena&LYN. Pants: BBJ Los Angeles, similar. Loafers: DSW. Purse: Lola Mae. Scarf: gift, similar.
“I really admire the costume designer Matthew Hemesath and his work on Girls5Eva. I actually sent him a cold email about how I wanted to write about a forty-something woman finding her personal style. He was so lovely and gave me great advice. His #1 tip was to embrace pattern clashing and wear unexpected color combinations. Matthew says brighter colors naturally make you feel confident, and pattern clashing works because then they act as neutrals.”
“Matthew’s tip makes me think of The Mindy Project, where Mindy Kaling’s character always wore eye-catching designs that clashed but worked well. This orange top isn’t something I would’ve worn in the past. Pairing it with black pants makes me feel grounded, but one day I will work up the confidence to wear it with a colorful skirt.”
Top: Shirt + Trend, similar. Overalls: Serena&LYN. Shoes: Converse.
“My other strategy is to find a mentor whose style you admire. They don’t have to look exactly like you, but maybe they have a similar shape and skin tone; then you can try to emulate what you like about their style. I love the way Natasha Rothwell dresses, especially the pieces she wore during her press tour for How To Die Alone and her costumes in The White Lotus. To me, the combination of these colorful overalls and sneakers sing Natasha Rothwell.”
Kurta: Diza via Westside, similar. Jeans: Macy’s. Purse: Adrienne Vittadini, similar. Scarf: Meliflous. Flats: DSW.
“I pull on a kurta with jeans whenever I want feel comfortable, and I’ve been wearing them since high school. My mom passes hers down to me, which I love. I always tell my friends that my mom and I trade two things: book recommendations and kurtas. One of my favorite memories is when we both listened to the audiobook of Prachi Gupta’s They Called Us Exceptional and afterward had a really meaningful debrief.”
“I’m still figuring out clothes, but this whole experience made me understand why people get so much joy out of putting outfits together. I’m excited to experiment with more looks that push me out of my comfort zone, and give myself the freedom to wear pieces that I shied away from in the past.”
Thank you so much, Kirthana! Congratulations on your new book.
P.S. More people share their weeks of outfits, a pastry chef with the best jumpsuit, and a plus-sized babywearing advocate with five pretty looks.
(Photos by Julia Robbs for Cup of Jo.)
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Comments
81 commentsThese are my fave posts! I always love to see what real women are wearing.
Completely loved this! And it’s wonderful so see her bring her desi style into nyc vibes. Love love love.
Loved this. I appreciated Kirthana’s honesty and sharing the journey. You look beautiful in all these outfits! Thank you for this glimpse into your process and also for a new author for me!
Love the colour and the prints! You exude confidence and joy.
Hello! Thank you all for your lovely comments. I’ve been so moved by your kind words–this is the best corner of the internet by far. If you’re interested, I wrote about the experience and how I prepared for it (including questions I’ve seen here about the scarves and purses). https://freehappiness.substack.com/p/cup-of-jo-week-of-outfits-thoughts Thank you again, truly!
Thank you for sharing this Kirthana!
You look so at home in your own skin and in these beautiful combos! Love seeing you featured here.
I loved the happy, unabashedly South Asian color combinations on Kirthana’s outfits that I often miss in a sea of neutrals. I like all the outfits but my favorite is the kurta with jeans and jhumkis that I also have thrown on since college as an easy outfit … and still do. I just felt so seen.
Living for the overalls and sneakers! That blue is so pretty on you! (Well all of these colors are, but the blue *sings*). So down to earth and relatable!
I don’t know how this post is both dreamy and down-to-earth, but there it is!
Oh my gosh, thanks for featuring someone who is figuring it out and generous enough to share in an unvarnished way. I feel so seen in this post as a mom who is like WTFFFFFFFFFF am I going to put on this body.
I love this so much! She looks amazing and I can’t wait to read the book. I really like the idea of finding a mentor/instagram person who has the style you’d like to achieve. It would be a fun COJ post to showcase different style types & then recommend a few people to follow.
Such a refreshing and intensely relatable perspective. Not many people develop a signature style ever, and if they do, it often happens later in life. Body image, cultural baggage, self-perception…so much plays into how we present ourselves to the world. Reading this made me feel so seen. Love how she looks in each of these outfits, but absolutely adore how each of them are small gestures she’s making towards discovering herself. What a beautiful thing.
Love , love, love! Kirthana’s style and approach to fashion is refreshing and vibrant.
Kirthana’s commentary is both so relatable and inspiring. Loved this piece!
All the outfits are lovely on her!
Fabulous! I would love to know more about her favorite lipsticks.
So grateful for the honesty and intimacy of this post. It’s wonderful to be able to bear witness to someone in a season of change, and hearing someone honestly consider their body and clothing in a loving way is such good medicine. I’ll join the chorus and say: THAT PURPLE DRESS! Wow; it really suits you. Love your joy and candor; thank you!
Oh my gosh, I LOVE your style! You look very happy and full of creative confidence.
I appreciate this week of outfits from someone who is still “figuring it out”. Kirthana looks fabulous. As someone who admires fashion and aspires to be fashionable but in practice wears schlubby shapeless clothes 95% of the time since I work from home and my bit outings of the day are to the supermarket or taking a hike with the dogs, I just don’t see the point in putting on “hard pants”. I’m using this as proof that someone can become fashionable, even if they’ve worn shapeless sweats for years.
I love everything about this!
Love, love these outfits and her in them :) I have a son + mother bookclub with my 11-year old. Hands up fellow mums who read all the Percy Jacksons! :)
Beautiful and inspiring, (from someone who wear black yoga pants and tanks almost everyday, to and from the school drop). Your face says it all, you look fabulous!
GORGEOUS
The overalls are amazing. You look great in all the ‘fits!
THE OVERALLS, the first dress, and the kurta are all perfect outfits in my eyes, and I’m so inspired by them! The overalls make me want to move back to NY right now. They’re just everything I used to love about street style there! Bold, unexpected, culturally meaningful, and made by a small Black-owned business. What’s not to love!
You look amazing and comfortable in your newfound style! It’s easy to spot through-lines in these gorgeous patterns, vibrant colors, and flowing shapes.
You are so lovely! And you have great taste in clothes!
Kirthana, you deserve this moment of reinvention!!! The photos show that you are feeling fabulous. Congrats on taking that step towards self-fulfillment and of course on your new book!!!
I love all these outfits but the orange top is my favorite! :)
The cold email, the response, the tip! GAH!! Thanks for sharing it all :)
You are luminous, Kirthana! And congratulations on your book!
Natasha Rothwell is a great inspo choice, I love her! Love your outfit combinations! Congratulations on the book!!
I feel inspired to lean into more color after reading this. Her outfits (and she) is so beautiful!
“I’ll figure out clothes when I’m a smaller size” is a thought pattern familiar to sooo many of us who have been raised in diet culture and struggle with body acceptance. This is a good reminder to me that I’m allowed to buy and wear nice things even in an imperfect body.
Great post – I love these looks that look bright, breezy and versatile. You look fantastic! How lovely and cozy to also get clothes from your mom. I want that dress and short cardigan!!!
This was one of the BEST week of outfits ever! I loved Kirthana’s outfits, and color. The dress + converses = chef’s kiss. Also loved that these outfits were more accessible and relatable! A lot of stuff on CoJ is out of the avg american’s price range, so it was really cool to see things I can afford. She buys from normal stores at normal prices and looks just as fab. I also loved that she pulls style inspo from her family and culture – kurtas, mom, etc. So fun and beautiful! (Some of my fav outfits are also handmedowns from loved ones. It’s like wearing a hug!)
You look absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations on your new book!
This Is only slightly related to this great post. I’ve been thinking a lot about starting to cover my hair, not for religious reasons, but because I really like the idea of retaining some privacy while in public. I just like the idea of having something to myself while I’m out. With three little kids, I don’t have a lot of privacy most of time. Does anyone else do that? Also, I just love how covered hair looks. Random personal style preference, I guess.
I would say it’s a little weird to do it for style when people do it for religious reasons
I think that if you do it in a style that doesn’t imitate a religious style, then it would be fine.
Oh this is so exciting! I just realized that I listened to a book of hers called Dava Shastri’s Last Day! It was highly entertaining and riveting! It’s so neat to put a face (and outfits!) to a name!
They’re all amazing outfits but the purple one is my favorite because purple is my favorite color.
I love the use of such vibrant colours and patterns. This time of year I always try to incorporate more brights into my wardrobe and this is a good reminder and an inspiration!
I think you definitely figured it out – I love all these outfits! And it makes me so happy thinking about you expressing yourself in such a bold and beautiful new way.
I love these colors and prints!
I think you “figured it out”, Kirthana! You look beautiful and cool, plus vibrant! Love those style guidelines as well. Thanks, Jannelle for another awesome read / look!
Beautiful!!!
I’m in love with the overalls. The entire fit is glorious!
The premise for this book sounds amazing! I just recommended it to my book club. It also gave me a little bit of a laugh: When I bought my house several years ago I learned there was someone with the same name as me in my state who had done some very unscrupulous things with real estate. I had to submit a lot of proof that I was not her!
I love all of the outfits but that purple dress? Uff. Stunning doesn’t capture it. Kirthana is golden and flowing in that dress.
100% the purple dress! I immediately did a speed zoom in when I clicked on this post. Gorgeous.
*glowing
What a joy this was to read and peruse! Kirthana, you look absolutely beautiful. I love the chutzpah of cold calling a major costume designer, too – get it!! Also, your book sounds just fabulous. I sent the link to my book club this morning – and this glowing comment: “as lively and refreshing as a chilled glass of champagne.” Everyone agreed it sounded just up our alley, so we’re planning to read it for our end-of-summer choice! With champagne, of course! If we cold call YOU to see if you want to facetime in, don’t be surprised – I’m going to be brave and take a page out of your own book 😘 Congratulations on your new novel and this glowing feature.
Vibrant color-love! Yes! What radiance! Your novel is on my library que! I really enjoyed your interview. 🌺
If this is you ‘still figuring it out’ I can’t even imagine how absolutely stunning you are going to look once you fully find your way!!
Stunning! And your book sounds so fun, will definitely check it out.
CUTE AS HECK.
Gorgeous!!!! Love the colors, prints and Kirthana, you are beautiful! Can’t wait to read your book!
These outfits are stunning! As a fellow 40-something I love the patterns and the vibrant colors – it’s fun and inspiring!!
I’ve never seen a scarf used as a purse strap like that and I loove it. I also love that finding her style was a later in life project brought on by writing her book—what a great story and beautiful looks!
Love your newfound style, Kirthana! I related to your story and have also trying to think more about how I dress and embrace my current body, not some idealized version that our culture has taught me to strive for. (Guess what? It’s such a trap and never enough.) I’m trying to consciously wear things I’m attracted to because they’re visually interesting or that I literally FEEL good wearing (a swingy skirt that moves in a fun way as I walk or pants with perfectly positioned pockets that just make me feel more chill). I still struggle with the ingrained idea of only choosing something that’s “flattering” (i.e. make me look as small as possible) but am working on it. The style mentors I’ve found on this site (of all sizes and shapes and ages — hooray!) and a few cool “midsized” “middle age” fashion influencers (my demo – ha) I’ve started to follow on social also are helping me explore and accept myself. All bodies are beautiful. Self-expression is beautiful.
Please share names of some of these mid-sized, middle age fashion influencers! I am desperate for some inspiration.
Kirthana, you’re radiant! Your color sense is impeccable, all the details just right–the asymmetric hem and boots, the neckline and gathered shoulders on your purple dress. You’re gorgeous in all those bold colors: confident, comfortable, and full of joy. Best of luck with your book debut, it sounds delicious–excited to check it out!
Love love love!!
i love hearing from a person who is feeling a little more tentative about fashion! kirthana feel so relatable, and also looks GORGEOUS in her outfits! Rock on!!
Kirthana, you say you are just figuring things out — well, I think you are doing great! You look darling in these outfits! Especially love the bright top with the classic black pants and the scarf as the purse strap. Stealing that idea!
💯👏🏽👏🏽🔥🔥🔥
Yes!! I also thought that was brilliant! Did you take the original strap off or just tie the scarf over the original strap??
Wholeheartedly agree!
I love the kente-inspired top. Great style!
Kirthana you look stunning in every one of those outfits. They are so lovely. But the best is your million dollar smile. Gid bless you with many more successes in life. 🙏🏻🙏🏻😍😍
That purple dress is absolutely stunning. I agree that bright colors are the way to go! Loved all these outfits and now I want to read the new book!
I need this. As I sit here in my navy blazer, khaki shirt and navy pants, I realise I want to have more fun and more colour in my wardrobe!
Beautiful and inspiring! It’s really lovely to see another 40-something also still figuring out clothes. :) I’m looking forward to reading Kirthana’s books!
Gorgeous! I love the colors and shapes. Can’t wait to see that orange shirt with a colorful bottom. My thought? Pick up the chartreuse in a fluid trouser :) Also thought the bit about sharing kurtas and books with her mother was so touching.
Kirthana looks amazing in her outfits. I love seeing women who find their style and wear it so well!
Love this! Congratulations on your new book and on finding your style Kirthana! These bright styles look incredible on you! I would for sure be complimenting you if I saw you out and about. A few years ago I decided to just always choose the brighter option when clothes shopping – at one point I said to a friend that I felt like sometimes nothing I wore matched because I only have bright colours, and she was like “Actually I think it kind of works, you usually just look like a rainbow” haha – now I take that as a mantra!
As others who’ve commented, I find Kirthana’s lively colors and prints energizing and inspiring. Also, the accessorizing: the perfect bag for the violet dress, scarves used as handbag adornments and even, in one instance as a handbag strap. These little touches manage to add visual sparks of interest without appearing contrived or overstyled. Inspiration!
This post makes me so happy!! All of these bright and bold colors feel so energetic and joyful. Kirthana’s quote ‘One day, I’ll figure clothes out when I’m a smaller size” feels so relatable on so many levels, and I so appreciate that she just decided to stop waiting and go for it! You have but one body and one life- this post feels like a great reminder to celebrate what you’ve got!
She looks fabulous. Love the vibrant colors!