Lounge Loves: ‘In Vogue: The 90s’, miniature art and more

Runway to the past 

In Vogue: The 90s offers a captivating look at the decade that solidified Vogue’s status as a fashion authority. This mini-series takes you behind the scenes, through the eyes of Vogue editors Anna Wintour and Hamish Bowles, revisiting zeitgeist moments like Liz Hurley’s iconic 1994 Versace safety-pin dress and Kate Moss’s seminal underwear shoot for Calvin Klein. With unexpected cameos from Hillary Clinton and Missy Elliott—and, inevitably, Kim Kardashian—it’s a treasure trove for ’90s fashion enthusiasts. I loved the insider perspective, but Wintour’s narrative control is noticeable. The series explains Vogue’s lasting relevance in America, and the magazine’s role in launching the supermodel era. A compelling watch for anyone interested in fashion, culture, and the enduring influence of the 1990s. —Ghazal Chengappa

On the sider

Is using AI for everyday online tasks ethical? Even as we debate this endlessly, AI is steadily creeping into our lives and devices, and if it helps us work more efficiently, I am open to using it. This week, I started using a Chrome extension called Sider.ai, a ChatGPT sidebar that can act as a reading and writing assistant. I have been using it mainly as an embedded reader—highlighting certain words or phrases on a website, for instance, pulls up a small window giving meaning and context. It also provides summaries of articles and of Google Searches (better than Google’s AI overviews), and most usefully, it encapsulates YouTube videos so that you don’t have to wade through a wordy 10-minute video to get to the part about how to fix your laptop’s camera. You can also use it to translate anything on a webpage, or even a PDF document. —Shrabonti Bagchi

Chaat all day, every day

Chaat should qualify for dessert. A dish that is something of an obsession makes me picky and most—especially those served in restaurants—don’t pass the test of balancing flavour and texture. Some have the right mix of tastes but lack crunch. Others have the crispy elements, but no harmony between sweet and sour. A few days ago, I discovered Pune’s famous SPDP, acronym for sev puri dahi puri, in the Mumbai restaurant Kari Apla. The traditional recipe has golgappa puris stuffed with potatoes, curd and chutneys. Kari Apla’s take is crispy fried potato puffs coated in masala and served in a moat of curd and chutneys, garnished with sev, dal mooth and pomegranate. I have gone back twice to eat it and polished off the bowl each time. —Jahnabee Borah

Tiny works of art 

Most of us have played ‘house’ as children with miniature versions of kitchen utensils, memories of which Karan and Anil Prajapat’s pottery brings back. Except these are each tiny works of art, with natural swirls of colour from the mud they use. Made by the 15th generation of a family of potters, these are true to scale, pretty and functional utensils of clay with open spouts, lids that can be removed and everything you’d find in a life-sized pot. The Prajapats, who were manning the stall at which these were on sale in Bengaluru, said they’d won national awards for their tiny, usable art. It’s best put on a shelf and shown off, and the brothers sell a custom-built one with the entire collection of jars and vases .  —Shalini Umachandran

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