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Stories from the global community
Come along on the journey!
Day 56: Following a Celestial Temptress to Find Men's Shirts
Destination:
North Central India
North Central India is a region known as the Plains and consists of seven states - Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Union Territory (including India's capital New Delhi) and Union Territory of Chandigarh. Towards the north are the Himalayas which define the boundary between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. To the west is the Thar Desert, shared between North India and Pakistan.
The climate in most of India is tropical and affected by the monsoons, with a dry and a rainy season. The rains can be intense and long-lasting with the wettest period from July to September. The hottest time is from April to mid-June before the arrival of the monsoon. Winter is short, from December to February.
Fun Facts:
In North Central India, traditional dress and other customs vary from one state to another. Hindi is the major spoken language in North Central India, but there is no such thing as a national language. There are 17 (recognized) major regional languages in India and the number of actual spoken languages reaches over 2500.
Art Form:
Apsara Men's Shirts and Reversible Snap Skirts
OK, admit it. You're wondering where the Celestial Temptress comes in.
Apsara, the name of today's company, is a Sanskrit word that means Celestial Dancer or Celestial Temptress. English translations also
reference "nymph," "muse," and even "siren." This female spirit of the clouds and waters is common in Southeast Asian Hindu and Buddhist cultures. While on a visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Apsara owners Thom and Sally visited temples adorned with the most beautiful carvings of Apsaras and decided to use that as their company name.
Apsara clothing combines classic lines and styles with the vintage floral and geometric patterns of the 40's, 50's and 60's. Today we're featuring our recent shipment of men's shirts (think Father's Day gifts!) and Apsara's signature women's reversible snap skirts.
The reversible snap skirts are an amended European
pocket skirt from the 1960's hippy era. By removing the bulky outer pocket that was part of the original design, and adding a double row of snaps to the waistline, Apsara has created their own unique summer skirt. Featuring two distinct prints plus a trim print, these skirts make for perfect travel companions. Flip the skirt to have a totally different look.
Their men's shirts feature the same vintage prints used in some of the women's fashions. The long sleeved shirts are a classic, slightly tapered shirt with one pocket. By contrast, the short sleeved shirts are a relaxed fit shape for casual summer wear.
Apsara is always developing new designs and prints to keep their clothing styles fresh and exciting. Made from ethically sourced cotton, Apsara strives for excellent quality at affordable prices.
The Company: Apsara
Sally Chan and Thomas Mond were already regular travelers to India before starting their company. Inspired by textile arts made in India, they began an importing business in the 1990s.
Since then, Apsara has grown from being market vendors at music festivals to a store in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 2011, and later to designing clothing
and working with a small family run business in North Central India. The factory's first employees were the underserved and women, to whom they offered vocational training or an option to work at home.
This partnership has grown over the years to include the entire village and even neighboring communities. Apsara is proud to be associated with ethically sourced suppliers who share their technical, ethical and aesthetic ideals, and who are socially conscious partners who support their communities with educational, medical and welfare programs.
During the Covid 19 shut down in India, the factory has made sure all of their employees have had food to sustain them during this difficult time.
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Shopping . . .
Are you ready to explore
what we have in our store?
Having trouble deciding what to give to that special man or fathering figure in your life
for Father's Day?
One of the Apsara shirts would be great. And there are more styles to see as you click through.
Oh, but those skirts, too! What fun!
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Don't forget to stamp your Passport!
Click on the
"stamp" to add to your "passport."
We keep track of your stamps for you!
"Collect" at least 12 different "country" stamps during the third 20 days of our around-the-world trip to
be entered
into the drawing for a $25 gift card.
At the end of our 80-day
Around the World
excursion, all eligible travelers (minimum of 48 country stamps)
will be
entered into a drawing for . . .
a Grand Prize
$100 shopping spree gift card!
Thanks for traveling with us today.
Where to next? Stay tuned!
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It's the week before Father's Day and we'll be featuring some great gift ideas. Along with the switch plate covers on Thursday and the Attic Journals on Saturday, the Apsara shirts featured today also make wonderful Father's Day surprises. If you would like to send a gift, please be aware, the mail seems to be traveling veeerrrrryyy slowly.
Our online store is, of course, open 24 hours a day. Our Brookside store is closed today and Tuesday. We will be back open Wednesday through Sunday and our current hours are posted below my signature and we look forward to seeing you!
For those of you who cannot or choose not to shop in our Brookside store right now, we thank you for your continued online shopping support.
And I can't say it enough times -
YOU are an important part of what makes World's Window so special! THANK YOU!
World's Window
"Nobody can define you like you."
P.S.
We are glad to be on this around-the-world virtual journey with you and delighted that you are traveling with us. We hope you are learning some new information as we travel along.
If you haven't already done so, invite some friends to come along! There's still room on this journey!
Send an invite
P.P.S.
We're keeping our trip "log" up to date. If you think you've missed a day or are new to our journey, click
here
to review where we've visited the last 55 days.
CLOSED Monday and Tuesday
OPEN Wed through Sat, 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm
As always we are "sharing the world" through clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles and hand-selected gifts -
and
buying locally-owned is a gift to your community!
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A gift card is always a perfect gift.
We have 2 options for
World's Window gift cards.
In-store gift cards can also be purchased by calling
us at 816-361-2500.
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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