What made the holiday pictures flaunted on Facebook by Chondamma Cariappa different was that they featured shoes! Each time Chondamma took a trip to a new destination, she would put up fascinating pictures of shoes she came across during her travels.
Characteristically, this would kick off lengthy discussions on the details of the pair on show between friends. So, last September Chondamma reinvented her passion: she created a space for women who want to share their best finds with others.
Chondamma’s blog, which is aptly named the sole sisters, introduces itself with ‘You walk in wearing a nice pair of shoes and somewhere in the room a woman wonders ‘where did she get it from?’ What makes the blog an interesting browse is its pictures, which aren’t snapped by Chondamma but by women across the world. “It began with my friends but within a month the word spread like a wild fire and women from different parts of India and later from across the world started sending in the pictures of shoes that took their fancy. Till now I would receive about ten pictures a day,” says thirty-two-year-old Chondamma, who is a creative art director in a Mumbai-based advertising firm. On sole sisters, you will see beautifully shot pictures of women flaunting cheaply-priced slip ons from the streets of Jaipur or Lokhandwala to stilettoes bought from an upmarket shoe store in London to a funky pair of sandals picked from a store quietly hidden in an unexplored market of your city.
“I am not a brand obsessed person. In fact, my favourites are kohlapuri chappals which come in many colours. I pick up shoes which look interesting,” says Chondamma, who is born and brought in Bangalore. The blog also shares details of each pair of shoes like the name and the location of the woman who has mailed the picture, the store or the market from where the shoes are bought and the price.
This August, Chondamma organised a party for the sole sisters in Mumbai. It was called a ‘Bootleggers Party’ where all the like minded women turned up wearing boots. “The idea popped up when I read the comment on a photo of a woman from Mumbai that said: “Where in Mumbai do you get to wear boots?” Chondamma was pleasantly surprised that almost 50 women showed up to the party.
Nowadays Chondamma is busy with her next big project which is a website for shoe lovers. It will have a review section, contests and celeb section. “My job in advertising pays the bills. My blog and the upcoming website are my passion. May be in future I will have my own brand of shoes,” laughs Chondamma.
source: http://www.wonderwoman.intoday.in / Home> Wonder Woman> Career-woman> Work wise / by Harsha Chawla
