The right gift is something that is always hard to come by, or so most shoppers who rush to the nearest supermarket at the eleventh hour think. Although you can never go wrong with silver foil-wrapped chocolates and an exotic bunch of flowers, you do try to think out of the box for that special someone, or at least add a quaint personal touch to these eternal favourites—it could be a sticky-note poem or a delivered-to-the-door parcel. For, the best gifts are always the most thoughtful ones. There may be a horde of gifting options in the market, but what works best is a gift that evokes a fond memory and plants an indelible impression. Giving your dad a bottle of the sherry you drank together when you came of age to revisit the good ole days, wrapping flowers in green for your ecologist girlfriend, buying those cufflinks that your friend had always wanted—it's the thought you put into a gift that really counts. A package, carefully put together, often works wonders. Imagine the smile on your mom's face when, unwrapping her birthday parcel, she first finds floral-printed microwavable dinnerware, and underneath it, a set of matte-finish cutlery, and—come on, you can do better than that—a ...

When it comes to discussing designer clothes, the phrase “the word is out in the streets” is always an overly repeated expression. With fresh Haute Couture ensembles being unveiled by well known designers every season, it’s a series of mixed reactions for people who are closely involved – harrowing dress rehearsals for models, clickety moments for fashion photographers and busy penning days for fashion critics. Witnessing the unfolding of new designs by some celebrated designer over the tube can sometimes be as exciting as sampling the designs itself. Ask any close follower of fashion events or a regular subscriber of Vogue and Cosmopolitan, and you’ll know what I mean. But what really is the oomph factor that generates such widespread craze and ogle among the fashion wannabes? Is it watching the super hot bods flaunting the exquisite designs over the ramp at the most acclaimed fashion events across the world? Or is the prospect itself of pledging your patronage towards the expertise of a world renowned fashion guru? Whatever the reason – as I would simply explain it through the expression “different strokes for different folks”, designer apparels have surely made a huge impact on millions of receptive minds. And ...