The PhFW Survival Guide
It’s that time of the year again when SMX gets filled with a mob of well-dressed people with painful but beautifully clad feet. And though everyone seems to be obsessed in preparing for a zombie apocalypse, isn’t it a little more sensible to prepare for something equally riveting? (Because yes, I said it. Fashion Week is just as fascinating as a zombie apocalypse. Sorry Walking Dead fans. Vampires, witches and daemons though would be a whole different story.)
But I digress. Here’s a quick guide of everything I think you’ll need to survive the week ahead.
1) Killer shoes and a lot of bandaid. They’re called killer shoes for a very simple reason – they kill all delicate (even not-so-delicate) parts of your beloved foot. I kid. But trust me, I actually think the extra-long AVP loop prior to the show is a way of allowing the guests to let their feet breathe. You know, before running in pain to the next function room. Also, and I am not kidding this time, prevent forecasted blisters by already sticking on your trusty (skin-tone, don’t forget) band-aid. You’ll thank me later.
2) A camera with a battery that’s fully charged. And although it seems like most bloggers have their heavy cameras lugged over their shoulders, I actually never get to use it and rely on Stylebible.ph for post-show photos. But just in case you get tempted to become a really hardworking blogger – slim chance though between your painful feet and the requirements of the next number- well, you have a camera to use.
3. A fully charged phone with AMAZING internet and the skill to Instagram and Tweet simultaneously and incessantly. Internet is obviously important lest all your Instagram posts don’t go through and you nudge that refresh button a million times resulting to, obviously, a million IG posts of the exact same thing. (I’ll be making use of SMART’s LTE so hopefully I don’t spam anybody.) Twitter can be synced so that’s easy. The real skill necessary here is the skill to spot and decide which filter to use. Now that is tough.
4. Very important. Make sure you have a lot of gas. For some weird, unknown reason, PhFW is always held at SMX by MOA – what I find to be the farthest venue possible. But no complaints. Cursing the traffic jam, driving like a madwoman, then arriving like you don’t have a care in the world are all just part of the experience.
5. Lastly, use your best lipstick palette. Just because I wanted to include lipstick in this post somehow.
Hope this helps. Currently off to SMX for the SM Ladies show. Wish me luck!
Hieroglyphs
outfit ph by Paul Chuopoco
I will always be enchanted by anything Egyptian and, separately, Proudrace. Having Proudrace come up with a collection with what seem to be Egyptian hieroglyphs and marry two things that I love happened to get me too early on my feet scouting the racks for just the perfect piece I could take home (I ended up getting two). Been waiting for the best time to use this top out, I was thinking Bloggers United 5 but that’s a little too long a wait. Figured I’d wear with it – to a Forever 21 event – what is probably my most memorable Forever 21 purchase – a skirt I hunted down back in 2004 when Mean Girls was first released. I still believe that this is the exact same skirt Regina George wore on the poster (but since my skirt isn’t fully seen in this post, I won’t push it.)
Had a blast at the event – the show had this adorable 3-year-old that went stomping her way through the catwalk. The looks were styled real well fully showcasing the innumerable trends offered by Forever21. You can never go wrong in that store especially now with two floors full of goodies making you feel like a child in a candy store. I’m 100% certain you’ll find whatever it is you need. If, by any chance, you don’t need anything, you’ll most likely end up with a bag full anyway.
Below are some snippets from the show and items I loved just to give you a teaser of what to expect from their newest branch in the newly opened SM Aura.
Top, PROUDRACE | Skirt, FOREVER 21 | Heels, ALEXANDER WANG
In and Out
Bras, nightgowns, even panties – mostly lace- have all guised as outerwear. In turn, we’ve all given a nod at the woman’s bravery, some the occasional scowl - this mostly coming from the conservative Titas and Lolas. The peak of this ‘Innerwear as Outerwear’ trend – I blame Fifty Shades – has lasted long enough for us to see more lingerie variants than we can comprehend.
I haven’t been seeing much of the opposite though where instead of making bras passable as tops, tops are made to look like bras. While the innerwear as outerwear trend was abused by yours truly as a lifetime proponent of peek-a-boo everything, outerwear as innerwear seems to be a lot more interesting. It should come as no surprise then how easily I fell in love with this ForMe dress. I knew I was going to have a lot of fun parading around in what looks like a nightgown with its silky lace detail and sheer overlay. Plus points for the illusion of being a skimpy little thing without actually being skimpy and more importantly – not body-skimming.
It was just fitting, I think, to don this dress during the opening of SM Aura to celebrate the moment I would be within feet away from Sarah Jessica Parker. I’m probably pushing it by saying this, but what better way to commemorate the iconic Carrie Bradshaw than by wearing something so suggestive of the very act she embodied and talked about 80% of the time in her show?
And because she is Carrie Bradshaw – the gravity of that statement probably lost in this post – I wanted to immortalize the moment by taking a video of her entrance. And in a very un-Carrie move, I brought out the iPad I’ve been eyeing (not mine, borrowed. Sort of giving it a test run before the actual purchase) and took a video of her (well mostly her upper 1/3 area, the view was blocked by way too many gadgets.) Here’s the quick video – next time I post a video though it’ll be properly taken and edited.
While falling in love with Sarah (for the nth time), I was also falling in love with my gadget. Smart just released their plans for the iPad Mini and the one with retina display. I’m leaning towards the data plan mostly because relying on wifi alone probably won’t be enough to match my forecasted usage. Check out the options and the gadget themselves. Maybe even try to take your own video?
Next on my agenda is learning basic video editing.
Here’s lesson number 1: Apparently, youtube (and almost all players actually) likes horizontally shot frames. I did not think of that. But when you test run the gadget, for your own sake, follow the youtube way.
Dress, FORME | Boots, ALDO | Bag, MARGIELA for H&M
