I still distinctly remember the party rush. Whether it’s a birthday (my own, for the most part), the holidays, or random big events I’ve had to attend, they almost always usually entailed frantically searching store after store for the perfect dress (or dresses on those years I felt like a social butterfly). And like a true girl scout, I’ve always had a fail-safe routine. I’d shop in the middle of the year at stores that offer insane discounts (yes, clearance too) to have a bunch of dresses ready for the rest of my fiscal (slash sartorial) year. Most of the time this preparedness served me well. Still, there’d be a few surprises here and there that almost always resulted in hysteria.
For instance, just this June I bought three long gowns for a myriad of weddings I was supposed to attend. Of course, I missed all of them. Leave it up to me to miss big events because of last minute flight changes. So now I have three beautiful spare dresses sitting in my closet waiting to be used. As luck would so devilishly have it, the one wedding I am going to be able to attend this year has a dress code so particular I am again at a loss for what to wear – the dresses at my disposal rendered useless and untouched.
Since said wedding is in two weeks, and an impending flight even closer, I have really had to strategize the trip and its subsequent garments. (I’m in desperate need of warm, heat-inducing clothes, but that’s a different story). In times of sartorial despair, I look to trusted institutions that, time and again, deliver. One of these is Ever New.
Ever New has always been one of those stores I used to gloss over mentally taking note of the items I’d buy should any fancy occasion invite come my way. The Australian brand has always been a go-to for parties with their selection of luxe fabrics and fancier silhouettes. I was extremely in luck that Ever New was launching another branch in SM Aura and was throwing a launch party for some guests just in time for my upcoming fancy event. I came in ready to look at dresses and actually stormed straight to the party rack but, instead, was kind of blindsided by the rest of the selection. What I saw was a new and improved Ever New. While the brand used to be geared towards outfits for special occasions, the brand has now perfectly melded trendy pieces in its collection now offering bodysuits, denims, and – wait for it – sneakers! Even the dressier pieces are updated with modern silhouettes and cuts. Think: less prom, more Gigi Hadid hosting the AMAs.
Everybody – bloggers, media, friends of the brand – was bonding over the clothes. At one point the line to the dressing room got extremely long. Good thing I was there early and got to monopolize the dressing room and take my sweet time which was great because I’m a really slow shopper. It doesn’t help that I’m a Gemini and the deciding alone doubles the shopping time. My personal favorites were the bodysuits, the satin clutches, the pink mules, the embroidered boleros (which I would’ve gotten had I not been so drawn to about twenty-thousand other things), and the gold pleated skirt, which thankfully I did end up leaving with. I kid you not, by the end of the day stocks were running low. That skirt was a hit, I’m glad I snagged my size before others did. My competitiveness comes in handy in the smallest (but most relevant) of ways.
