Manish Arora Fall-Winter 2014 at Saks Fifth Avenue

Wednesday night saw me step into Manish Arora’s candyland of a fashion show for Fall Winter 2014. Held at Saks 5thAvenue, Burjuman, I snapped away at the clothes and jewelry on display while sucking on swirly lolly. To describe the collection colorful would be an understatement. I particularly liked the detaling on the neoprene jackets and skirts in the shapes of sugary sweets and the spacey patterned backpacks.  I can easily imagine a Manish Arora outfit fitting right in on the streets of Harajuku, Tokyo.

From the press release: “For Autumn Winter 2014 Manish Arora presents a candy tribe of sweet-toothed nomads and gummy bear gypsies. Oversize ice-cream prints and sugary landscapes adorn Peruvian circle skirts and drop-waisted ancient Chinese workers’ trousers, worn over lurex thermals and long- johns. Knife pleats come in floor length gypsy skirts and layered print dresses. A sporty youthfulness runs throughout the collection – specially created signature sneakers flash with each step thanks to built in LED lights, hooded puffa capes are printed in waterproof techno fabric, and sporty nylon backpacks double as babies slung on the back or swaddled in front. Miniature hot waterbottles and hip flasks keep our nomadic wanderers warm on their travels. A colourful cast of characters makes up Arora’s roaming clan of saccharine heroines – futuristic galaxy girls, infatuated flower girls and candy-striped baby-mothers, boyish utility girls and space travelling tomboys, velvet-clad widows and optimistic brides. Arora’s characteristic embroidery manifests itself as cupcakes and donuts, ice-creams and lollipops, on striped knitted sweaters and tanks, sequin tops and capes, velvet skirts and dresses, and Laplandic pom-pom hats topped with multi-coloured fur cherries, hearts, moons, and gummy bears. Ethnic inspired gold jewellery crowns the head and decorates the hands in multi-chain pieces that are updated with the same colourful sweetie elements.”
The Fall Winter 2014 collection is now available for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue, Burjuman Mall at Burdubai, Dubai.

FFWD 3 Backstage Diary: Day 3

Fashion Forward 3 came to a dramatic close on April 13, Sunday evening. The last day featured some heavy hitting designers like Zayan and Tahir Sultan but Amato by Furne One was my favorite show of all.  Viewers were treated to a spectacle of rainbow hued tribal princesses from space walking aggressively down the runway set to throbbing Bollywood inspired beats.

Furne One’s gowns were embellished in sequins, crystals and flowers; quite notable were accessories of giant earrings and crystal infused braided hairpieces.
The Filipino designer received a well-deserved standing ovation for 36-piece collection. Here are some shots of the backstage action before they came out on the catwalk (photographed by Mark Ganzon, thank you!).

FFWD Backstage Diary: Day 2

The 2nd day of Fashion Foward Dubai Season 3 is in full swing, and here are more shots from where normally not many people are privileged to see: the backstage. It wouldn’t be so off the mark to say that the backstage is where the magic really happens; behind the sight of models gliding gracefully down the runway is the chaos of frantic energy and preparation of the backstage.

Highlights from the 2nd day were Rami Kadi’s showstopping sweetly romantic couture gowns. Models strutted down the runway with giant headpieces of flowers on their heads, dressed in cocktail dresses, crop tops and brightly colored voluminous skirts with heavy patterns and ruffling.

Stay tuned for the Day 3 (the final day!) of FFWD 2014

FFWD 3 Backstage Diary: Day 1

Can you believe that Fashion Forward is already well on its Third Season? Bigger, better and more forward than ever, its easily the most happening fashion event yet in Dubai, where fashionistas from all over the region come to congregate and strut their stuff. Think Comicon for fashionlovers!

Particular standouts for the runway shows on the first day were The Emperor 1688 with his beautiufully tailored and stuctured womenswear and Ezra’s TDF ethereal periwinkle blue gowns and metallic swarovski encrusted armor. If you were there at Ezra’s show, you wouldnt have missed the “snow” falling on the runway. Wonder what the front row folks had to say to that? 🙂

Anyway here are photos from the first day, taken by none other than my adorable and long suffering husband. More photos to come!

March into Summer

Hello! Its now summer in Dubai! Time to bring out the skirts, loose pants and sandals! Last weekend, I dragged the hubby for a friday dinner date to The Beach, at Jumeirah JBR. At first, I wasnt’t too sure about even posting this series of photos taken over the weekend. My dad saw this photo of me on facebook a couple of days ago and he just had to comment “donyang donya” which roughly translated into English means “matronly”. I doubt that my dad knows anything about fashion nowadays, but his comment did make rethink whether this outfit is making me look old. Anyhow, the outfit is as follows: purple top from Zara, pants from Stradivarious, sandals from DVF, Lanvin-inspired love necklace from Etsy, sunnies, clutch, bangle and cuff from Celine.

Ted Baker : Get it on the Act!

Last March 5th, we put on our grown-up high heels, and went to a fashion show. Not just any other catwalk show, but a circus-themed one, by Ted Baker, appropriately named “Get in on the Act”. Hosted by Brag, and held at Capsule Arts in AlQuoz, it was a event aimed at showcasing what Spring Summer 2014 at Ted Baker looked like.

The entire place was dressed up like the inside of a traditional circus, complete with acrobats, and jugglers and unicyclists. It set a perfectly irreverent atmosphere for the show.

Ted’s hyper-feminine womenswear collection for SS14 had a mix of pastel hued days shifts for spring, separates in striking neon tones, bold floral prints and delicate bow details. On the other hand, Ted’s menswear collection, was equally as fabulous. The guys wore polished yet flamboyant suits, the mix of vibrant prints as shown on the men’s jackets, matching vests and shirts came across as hip, quirky and very cool.

Here are my favorite looks from the show: 

Finally! Toms Shoes Arrive in Dubai

Finally, an authorized seller for Toms Shoes in Dubai. And I do have good reason to blog about it ecstatically, as I have long wondered when retailers were going to get around to finally stocking these shoes from the California-based company. For shoes so popular around the world, it truly boggled me why they weren’t sold in the UAE, But now they are here, and for us folks stuck in the sandpit, Athlete’s Foot the shop is the place to get your Toms fix on.

I bought my first pair of Toms around 2 years ago, and I still use it to this day, splattered paint on them and all. They’re my everyday shoes; whenever I can’t be bothered to think about putting together an outfit, they’re my go-to shoes. My first pair was in red, it being my favorite color; so course I just had to have my second pair in red as well 😀His and hers. My husband is size 12 and a 55.

Shop front for Athlete’s Foot in Ibn Battuta Mall.

Tried on a couple of other styles as well. I already have this bright red classic Toms. They are the most comfortable shoes ever made, in my opinion. If you own a pair of Toms, you’ll also know that this shoe company is different from other shoe companies in the way they do their marketing. Tom’s “One for One” tagline – it means that with every pair you purchase, Toms will give a new pair of new shoes to a child in need. It’s a brilliant marketing tactic that’s for sure.

I am also keen on getting this lace design ones in the future.

Finally settled on this pair of red toms. Love the red stripes that run horizontally across the side.

Men’s side, what currently on display.

Women’s side, what currently on display.

There aren’t a lot of designs to choose from at the moment, and I hope they bring in more funkier designs in the future. These shoes are priced from 299 to 399aed, which are quite expensive for a pair of canvas shoes. I think they were quite worth the price considering that my 2 year old pair of Toms still serves me well to this day. These are must-haves in anyone’s closet, regardless whether you follow fashion or not.

Till next post!

Battle of the BB Creams

I think I have mentioned before in a previous beauty product review post how frustrating it was to find a good foundation for Asian skin, Filipina in particular. My skin tone is neither pale nor dark, it falls somewhere in the middle, and like most Filipinas, it seems I have a permanent tan on. While that in itself is good (no need for tanning products), its quite tricky trying to find a good foundation. Most of the ones I’ve tried before tend to give my skin a mask-ish sort of look, and it always looks so noticeable that I have foundation on. Most products give my skin a yellow-brownish tone like I’ve been out in the sun too long. It turns out that its not foundation that I need. It was the right BB cream all along.

By now, everyone will have tried and found the right BB cream, so I will hardly be the first one to discover them, as they’ve been around for a couple of years and bless the Koreans (?) for having invented them. Of the the three brands I tested on my face, I’ve found the Dior Hydralife BB cream to be the one that works best for my skin. Etude House came a close second, and last was Clarins BB Cream No.1

What I liked about the Dior BB Cream: (1) creamy, not too watery consistency. (2) color did’t do anything strange, like change color upon application, unlike other brand with their “magic” granules and such. What you see is what you get. (3) Blends and matches nicely; gave my skin a nice healthy flawless glow, without looking “fake” or too shiny. Covered up the tiny bumps on my cheek and I didn’t have to put concealer on them anymore.

As of this writing, this Dior BB Cream is currently available at Faces beauty store for 320 aed. It comes in three shades, and what I tested was the Golden Peach variant.

Almost Summer

You know winter is over in Dubai, when you can’t rock a daytime blazer anymore. Which is too bad because I just got this amazing floral blazer from River Island. I feel 5 pounds lighter when I wear it because the stripes running down the pattern is so flattering. Love that its quite also long enough to cover my hips and bum 🙂

Also wore THE shoes today. Too bad I didn’t have time to paint my toenails red because they would have totally matched my shoes’ red bottoms. So far, no blisters yet, but then again, I haven’t really walked in them far enough, so yeah, still breaking them in.

As for the rest of what Im wearing; in the top photo: lipstick from Dolce and Gabbana, sunnies from Celine. Rest of the photos: lace shorts from an Amsterdam tiangge, ivory shirt with collars with Koton On, necklace from Mawi, cuff from Balenciaga, bangle from Celine and yellow trio bag, also from Celine.

First Pair of Loubis

Nothing beats the feeling of new shoes! I get a spring in my step and a sparkle in my eye whenever I walk out in new footwear 🙂 As I mentioned on the previous post, I had gotten a pair of Christian Loutboutin Flo and here they are. I am so happy with them, and even the shoe shopping experience cannot dampen on my enthusiasm.

I am going to wear these size 35 Flo to a friend’s wedding and I could not have been more grateful for the excuse. As of this writing, I have found the dress to go along with them, and the color almost matches the red bottoms. I thought I was going to buy Pigalles for my first pair of Louboutins but I ended up with these Flos instead. They feel more comfortable on my feet, and the peep toe gives my piggies more room to “breathe”. I like that platform on these are not so high, because I am not a big fan of wearing high heels to be honest. I have yet to break them in for the big day, and I am about to do just that, by wearing them while doing household chores.

Before I actually wore them, I sent them first to Dubai Mall Level Shoe District’s The Cobbler Shop to get protective rubber soles on the back. I like that the soles will now stay red forever and have more “grip”. I will now be able to strut confidently across marble surfaces and such with these on. I think you can get this service done with old pairs of Loubis as well. It takes up to five working days at The Cobbler for them to do this for you, which is quite a wait in my opinion. Nevertheless, the quality seems to be great and I am happy with how they turned out.

Will definitely be posting future outfits with these babies on very soon. Till next!