Best Dressed 2016: Piya Shivdasani

Text & Interview by Saumya Sinha. Realisation by Divya Mahindra, Girish Masand, Shweta Navandar, Prateek Patel and Anuradha Gandhi. Photographs by Sheena Dabholkar

For rocking her neutral separates and a never-ending collection of shoes

Vice President of Luxury at Nykaa.com; Mumbai

Best piece of advice
Always wear your confidence, no matter where you are and what you do.

Will never be seen without
A bangle that my grandmother left for me.

Will never be seen in
Anything overtly girly, frilly or a heavy dose of pink. I like solid colours as they are easy to mix and match.

Current fashion phase
Geek chic.

Trend you wish worked for you
Mom jeans; they probably look best on supermodels. You have to be really tall, like a Gigi Hadid, to pull it off.

Sartorial fetish
Shoes!

Work wear basics
Light, neutral colours and flats.

Transition from morning to evening
I dab rosewater on my face and put some eyeliner to refresh my day look for the evenings.

Fashion faux pas
When I was about 16, I saw a haircut in Seventeen magazine and chopped off all my hair. I ended up with hair shorter than that of all the boys in my class, in a failed attempt to channel an iconic look.

Style icons
My mother and her sister, they both have a very different sense of style. My mum is more preppy and classic while my aunt is experimental and plays with shapes and colours.

Heirloom in your closet
My aunt gave me some things from her ’80s wardrobe; one of them is a short, high-waisted tulip pencil skirt suit with sculpted shoulders. And a bondage-like Versace leather lace-up top which she wore for her 40th birthday and gave me on my 30th.

Next, Mandovi Menon.