Bling Bling

The greatest thing about shopping in Manila is the emergence of so many new Filipino designers - shoes, jewellry and clothing. Whatever the trend is in London Vogue, or even New York - many local designers have got their finger on the pulse and you can see these reflected in the many boutiques popping up around the city.

Today I wanted to share a bit of my bling with you. As tis the season of the dress (and the weather is absolutely steaming!), all you need are a few groovy accessories and you are good to go. I have not always worn a lot of jewellry (despite owning far too much) so decided to up the amp and buy some things I really would wear.

These first two pieces were purchased at Debbie Co. This is a fantastic atelier where Debbie also brings in locally designed footwear, bags and jewellry. Her clothes are absolutely gorgeous but on my last visit, I found these two lovely sparklies to increase my style factor:




My other finds were at the Independent Lifestyles section at PowerPlant Mall in Rockwell. This groovy shopping area showcases local designers and their fabulous new pieces. I actually was on a shoe mission (at Sapato - greatest shoes ever!) but was quickly sidetracked at the ever funky Cru. I have been chasing the owl pendant for about three months and the dragonfly earrings are for fun:




Lastly, the final purchases were from Robinsons in Ortigas - never overlook the mass jewellry sections at these local department stores because otherwise you miss out on shimmering, faux snake skin bargains such as this:

Blog Retard

I am really, really impressed at how SuperKimbo and IntrepidFlame create these fantastic links in their blog posts. I think I have figured it out so here goes.

Want to see the latest 'Kate loves Topshop' collection. Check it out here!

If this doesn't work, I really am a blog retard.

DO YOU SPEAK-A-DA FASHION LINGO?

THIS WAS SENT TO ME FROM A DEAR KIWI FRIEND - STRAIGHT OFF THE PAGES OF THE MOST EXCELLENT NEW ZEALAND HERALD. IF YOU ARE ONE WHO MAKES CONSTANT FASHION FAUX PAS, YOU NEED TO READ ON..........

If you don't want to make a faux pas in front of the in-crowd, then we can help you become one of them.

If a friend told you she was wearing covert couture with fashion-forward pickle-stabbers and she felt this was a fierce look, but you didn't have a clue what she was ranting about, then you will want to read on.

For here's the Viva lexicon of fashion phrases. Some we stole, others we made up. All will be useful if you find yourself trapped in a circle of well-dressed men and women carrying It bags. Tear this out and take it with you. Then if someone loudly asks: "Do you speak-a da fashion?" you can reply with style and grace.

Aspirational

This is what high fashion is supposed to be. No, you're not supposed to wear the clothes you see in the glossy Italian magazines - at least, not with butterfly wings on while climbing a tree in high-heeled boots. You're just supposed to be inspired by, or aspire to, them. It's fashion as fantasy. This is also the best excuse ever invented by the fashion industry for the politically incorrect things they do. Use it: We don't want 14-year-old girls to develop anorexia. Surely they can tell the difference between reality and fantasy. This is high fashion. It's aspirational.

Bespoke

Something that's made especially for you. Note that there are big differences between bespoke and other similar terms. Bespoke is where it's made for you from scratch. Made-to-measure is when an existing garment or pattern is adjusted for you. A one-off describes garments of which only one exists. A limited edition describes a garment of which there are more than one but not so many the girl next door will also have one.

Use it: He wears a lovely made-to-measure suit. But his boss, who earns a lot more, wears a bespoke suit.

Black

As in "the new black". A lot of fashion-industry types wear black all the time because it's slimming, it's attractive and it's a hell of a lot easier to wear than most of the clothes they see on the runway. So when something becomes so widespread it rivals the popularity of the colour black, it is referred to as the new black.

Use it: Eco-consciousness is the new black.

Covert couture

The sorts of clothes that cost a lot of money but don't look like they once did. Only the smug owner knows the value and quality of such items.

Use it: Cashmere socks for $200. Mmmm, now that's truly covert couture.

Cutensils

Household objects or utensils that are designed to look cute. Italian design company Alessi are a particularly good example because they give many of their products personalities.

Use it: My bottle opener with the smiling face is such a cutensil.

Edgy

See fashion forward.

Fashion forward

Mildly irritating phrase used to describe something or someone at the forefront of a fashion trend. Usually they're doing something edgy or unexpected. Not to be confused with "on trend".

Use it: She's gone very fashion forward this season, hasn't she?

Fierce

A compliment, meaning you look aggressively attractive, sexy and cool, which has become popular after almost constant use by Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model to describe the contestants she thinks have done well. Often used sarcastically backstage at fashion weeks.

Use it: Honey, that mini-dress looks fierce. So does your giant up-do.

Glamazon

Combination of the words glamour and Amazon that is now considered old-fashioned terminology for long-legged, well-paid supermodels who strode the 80s' runways.

Use it: Those high-cut togs make you look like such a glamazon.

Glamourista

A substitute for the much overused word "fashionista". A glamourista is someone who really knows their way around fashion and glamour.

Use it: Oh dear, look at her. With her Chanel bag and her Dior sunglasses she thinks she's such a glamourista.

Makeunder

Similar to a makeover, except rather than dolling oneself up, one opts for a simple, no-makeup, no-fuss look. This can be a positive or negative.

Use it: My mother used this pudding bowl and scissors to give my hair a makeunder.

On trend

Another irritating phrase meaning that the person, label or item is doing exactly what you expected in terms of fashion trends. So if lace dresses are popular, they are making or wearing lace dresses. You may wonder why we keep using such phrases if we realise some of them are so annoying. Well, you try coming up with 20 synonyms for fashionable and you'll understand.

Use it: There were some weird bits, but mostly her whole collection was so on trend.

Personalisation

A big trend a couple of years ago when people who couldn't sew, knit or draw, took to embroidering, knitting and drawing on their own clothes. This was to set themselves apart from the fashion crowd. Personalisation is still a trendy thing but now it tends to be left to the professionals.

Use it: Hand me the glue-gun and those little blue beads. I'm going to personalise my T-shirt.

Pickle-stabber

An extremely pointy high heel that is, in fact, so pointy you could stab a pickle with it, if you so desired. Despite the awesome name, these have been replaced by wedges and platform soles as the shoe of the moment.

Use it: Pickle-stabbers and pointy toes are so 20th century.

Retro-futurism

A trend with a lot of currency right now. It means that something has a sort of futuristic look, but it's the kind of future that was imagined in the 50s and 60s, as in The Jetsons.

Use it: That shiny, silver bag is so retro. But, oh, it's kind of futuristic and space-age as well. Wow, that must be the retro-futurism I've been hearing all about.

Sex

As in "better than". An item of clothing or an accessory that makes the bearer so ecstatic that they describe said item as better than sex. Also known as a hero purchase.

Use it: These $2000 Balenciaga boots I just paid off are better than sex.

T-shirtable

Describes any sort of situation, logo or slogan that would look good on a T-shirt.

Use it: Green is the new black. Get me my pen. That's T-shirtable.

Trashic

Combination of the words tragic and trashy. A description that's so bad that its almost a compliment.

Use it: Oh Britney, shaving your hair off like that was so trashic.

Trickle-up trend

When a fashion trend starts in an area other than fashion, usually at street level - that is, art students and musicians are wearing or doing something and then the fashion industry catches on and presents the look on the runway, for sale.

Use it: New rave is going to trickle up just like garage rock did.

Up-do

Another way of saying your hair has been put up.

Use it: See fierce.

Vanity sizing

You know how with some brands a size 12 fits you perfectly, but in other brands you've suddenly become a size 14? This is not the result of rapid weight gain - it's actually vanity sizing, a clever marketing idea that works on the theory that if you feel thinner because you fit into a smaller size then you're more likely to buy.

Use it: You haven't lost weight, dear, that's just vanity sizing.

Vintage

You may think that you know what this means but if you've been listing the Esprit jumper you bought last winter on an internet auction as "vintage" then you do not. Last season's clothes are "used clothes". Vintage implies some kind of pedigree.

Use it: This exquisite 60s shift dress is vintage. That blue Esprit jumper you bought three months ago is not.

You

As in "that's so". Ambiguous phrase depending on how you feel about the person. Telling someone whose style you like, "It's so you" is a compliment. If you don't like their outfit, it means, "I wouldn't wear that if you paid me." If this is too obvious an insult, you could say "unclassifiable" or "unique".

Use it: Those three-quarter-length pants worn with green Crocs are just so you/unique.

* * *

NEED MORE?

Negatives

So done, so over, so last season, so last century, so common, matchy-matchy, passe, faux pas, very (insert dreary designer name), boring, seen-before.

Positives

Now, fresh, chic, love it, to die for, raising the bar, important, must-have, very (insert fabulous designer name), fabulous,

Straight or curly?

For those of you who know me well, you have only EVER known me with curly hair. Like my husband and my mother tell me constantly, I am me with curly hair, it matches my personality (effervescent and absolutely charming, by the way) and it is my Fijian heritage.

Of course, I know all this. I do. I grew to sort of embrace my curliness and I loved that it was a symbol of my heritage (despite being the fairest of my siblings). But.....and I do say but.....there comes a time in every curly haired life when you dream of having straight hair. I have had this dream, many times.

So, I took the plunge. L'Oreal Extenso rebonding to be exact. The best of the best, guaranteed to give you a natural straight hair look with out the frizzies and the dryness and the lack of movement.

Friends, you be the judge. I don't like to put my photo out there but here is me with my new look.



Note to readers: Regardless of what you think, I am LOVING having straight hair. It is so much fun!

The skinny on the skinnies.....

As I return from the hurricane gales of Edinburgh and the crisp, cold days in England, I noted that there are two camps on my blog - those who love skinny jeans and those who oppose them with a passion.

It seems timely then that I write this post. You see, yesterday I tried on the most amazing, fabulous, gorgeous, fitted skinny black jeans by True Religion. The best bit is that my husband paid for them!

To be honest, when I first saw the skinny jeans emerging on the fashion catwalks, I had horrendous flashbacks of the eighties. Big hair, big earrings, stove pipe pants, Duran Duran.......not forget the last bit, I LOVE Duran Duran.

I am now a firm believer that any and all can wear skinny jeans. Yes, to you non-believers, you can wear them well as long as you find the right fit. That is the key.

I read this article by Tommy Hilfiger recently who said that you can only wear skinny jeans if you have narrow hips. Well.....to call my hips narrow would be an outright lie so there goes that theory. True, I might look hideous in my skinnies and just haven't discovered a mirror yet. But I have an excellent fashionista husband on hand who would tell me honestly if I did.

Rule 1 - don't wear hipster skinnies if you have a 'muffin top'. This is in reference to the bulge of fat which spills over the top of the waistband, just like a muffin. Try a pair with a higher waistline instead.

Rule 2 - try on a variety of skinny jeans from a variety of stores. The Gap offer great skinny blacks which are not as super tapered at the bottom as some. Calvin Klein do a great pair (even if you are not Kate Moss) and of course, the new style from True Religion fit like a glove. Handy tip for True Religion's - just rinse in the washing machine and immediately hang OR..... wear them in the shower and then peel them off. True!! It works!!

Rule 3 - skinnies look best with a pair of ballet pumps for day or with fabulous heels for night time glam. That said, I have also paired them with flip flops in this heat and that works too. Havaiana's look great!

Rule 4 - if you are not too confident with your derriere, pair your skinnies with a loose, longer top. Bell sleeve tops, which are looking great this season, finish off a pair of skinnies well. If you go skinny on the bottom, you can think loose on top. Add a belt on top to give you some definition.

Rule 5 - do wear super skinnies with boots. They are perfect for this combination. For those of us in hot countries, you can wear knee high boots in air con malls, movie theatres, etc and retain your sense of cool style.

Rule 6 - don't hate the skinny. Trust me, with the right pair, the skinny will love you all the way through this season.

Finding 'the gap' in my wardrobe

I often lament the fact that 'The Gap' does not have stores in South East Asia. Sure, there is a Hong Kong version such as Giordano but it doesn't quite cut it at times.

Imagine my surprise when out walking in Singapore the other weekend, a bus rolled past advertising the three new Gap stores newly opened in the city of the Merlion! I don't remember the rest of the walk to my brother's as visions of skinny jeans and versatile casual wear swam in front of my eyes.

So fellow shoe divas, here are my latest purchases.

1. Gap skinny blacks - no, I don't look like this in them BUT they are very flattering and do look great with ballet flats or heels:



2. High waisted super skinny dark indigo jeans from TopShop. These are going to look fandabydooby with my new knee high boots for winter in England. No, I don't look like this in them but one can dream.....



3. Who else has discovered the super cool 'Forever 21'? Firstly, you don't have to be 21 to look good in these clothes. Secondly, you will not look like mutton dressed like lamb (unless you want to). Picked up these three great bell sleeved/kimono type tops - love them, love them, love them!





4. Cute wrap top with the coolest mid-bell sleeves from TopShop:



5. I was looking over all the online articles and photos from London Fashion Week (I love their style in the land of Grooving Fungus) and saw lots of long costume jewellry necklaces with large love hearts, anchors, all sorts hanging off them. Found these funky finds at Forever 21 too - all under $10 a piece!



I know, I know, no shoes. I am mortally ashamed. But to make up for it, picked up these in camel colour the other day back in Manila. They are like the black ones with the turquoise inners I posted a while back - these have the funky orange inner :-)



Note to readers: Contrary to popular belief, I do not spend all my time shopping.

Fashion Faux Pas

Teaching is never a profession associated with the heights of fashion. I mean, teachers are meant to be those people in the world shaping the minds of the young and impressionable. So tell me then, why are most teachers so bloody unfashionable? It truly is a conundrum.

In my ten years of teaching, I have experienced so many fashion faux pas that I wanted to offer a class at various conferences entitled "Fashion 101 for teachers". I guess the terrible fashion I encountered may be a part of life in South East Asia. What does one wear in a climate that only has two seasons - hot and humid which leads into hotter and humider (yes, I just made up that word).

When I first moved to the Philippines, I made many fashion blunders in my attempt to adapt to my environment. On my stopover in Singapore, I some how bought a tie-died sack of a dress which I somehow thought was 'breezy' and 'tropical'. Try instead 'fatty' and 'dodgy' and ' you look like a right twat in that".

Or in the first few months when I hadn't quite acclimatised and attempted to wear jeans and boots. I have a faint memory of cutting the jeans off my legs because the blood wasn't reaching any moving parts.

We all made those mistakes. Grooving Fungus, for example, had lived a charmed life when he first came to Manila. He basically moved from an air conditioned car to his air conditioned office and back into the airconditioned car where he would alight into an air conditioned mall. When we were posted to Singapore, he truly had a fashion melt down. One day he came home with the type of sandals that one's Dad would wear and tried to convince me they were trendy. I had to drag him to the mall, make him buy some longish shorts and a pair of Chuck Taylors. Luckily, his fashion has evolved otherwise there would have been no way we would ever have been married.

But, I digress. Fashion in South East Asia is one thing - fashion in an international school is another. Please allow me to enlighten you and your wardrobe.

A mullet is never a fashionable hair cut. Ever. No, not even for David Beckham.

It is completely unacceptable to wear a jersey dress if you are obese. Especially if when you stand up, the front of the dress gets caught in the folds of your stomach and you end up showing your faculty those grey granny knickers with the stretched elastic. True story - I can only just begin to talk about it now. Traumatic.

White sports shoes with white ankle socks will never say 'professional'. You know you've seen it on a male faculty member near you.

Worse, mid-calf length floral skirts never look good on anyone. Least of all with the black-listed white sports shoes.

Rough linen shirts with elephant shaped buttons have never been trendy.

There is absolutely no social situation when you can wear tie-dyed pants. No, I don't care if you bought them in Ubud and everyone else was wearing them.

Shoes with large square heels were only in fashion for five minutes, if ever. Even if they cost you a lot and are made from the softest leather.

If you have a fat stomach, buy pants that fit. Do not attempt to wear them over your gut or under it with that belly protruding like a keg of beer.

Never, ever wear a short sleeved shirt with a tie. Yes, your father did but 1976 was twenty years ago.

Low riders and thongs in a classroom. Never a good thing.

Try not to be wearing a fitted wool jersey when there is a fire drill in which you need to stand outside for at least twenty minutes in 35 degree heat.

Hand carved wooden parrot earrings can be admired on a jewellry stand when travelling through Cambodia/Thailand/Philippines/Indonesia..............but they should never be purchased or worn.

White underpants should never be worn under white trousers. And while we are on the topic, did somebody mention VPL? Ladies, underwear should fit.

The four boob effect? One of your teachers is wearing a bra that is wayyyyy too small and suddenly she looks like one of those weirdos off that Arnold movie on Mars. Two normal breasts and two small ones above, popping through her shirt to say hello.

I never declared I was a fashionista. Never. However, if you have ever made one of the mistakes above, take heed. It doesn't take much to be trendy as a teacher.

As a true shoe diva, I will leave you with one major pearl of wisdom. Shoe selection. I don't care who you are but Croc's should never be seen in a classroom..........small exception made for those who are PE teachers required to be pool side for the day. Birkenstocks fall into the same category. Sorry but who the hell invented those things?

Teachers constantly wax lyrical about being 'professionals' and 'respected within the community". Easy solution - if you want to be treated like a professional, you should physically present yourself as a professional. Most teachers only ever dress up and look decent for Parent-Teacher conferences........what does that tell you?

Funky finds in the Philippines

I went to the coolest vintage bazaar the other weekend! It was held at the Rockwell Tent outside Power Plant Mall, which is a groovy mall with a lot of small boutique style shops (as well as the obligatory Kenneth Cole, Ann Klein, etc).

The best thing about this bazaar was it showcased up and coming Filipino designers. Along with that, numerous stalls were dedicated to 'kitsch' as well as vintage items and generally funky stuff. The fashion scene has really evolved here in Manila - the people are so much more fashion conscious and willing to step outside the box than when I was last living here.

Thought I would showcase some of my funkiest finds, the first being these groovy kimono tops by a label called "Baby Back Rib". What better way to top off a pair of jeans and fab heels? These tops are very flattering on and are basically fabulous darling!





The design is actually 'Babel Fish' for Baby Back Rib - cool designers, will be keeping an eye out for further finds from them.

Another cool label - Cole Vintage - also had a stall at the bazaar. I bought a sheer top which goes over anything. The gold thread through the fabric (which you can't see) is an added bonus. This top looks great with anything and has become such a staple that I am kicking myself for not buying the other fabric designs!



Some groovy jewellry to funk up a Friday night:




But..........the piece de resistance............an Imelda clock!! What more could a shoe diva ask for?