FIRST PHILIPPINE FASHION BALL

I got the invitation to the Philippine Fashion Ball in an understated white envelope, inside: a simple white card with my name handwritten on it. What got my attention was that aside from it being obviously a fashion event, there were no sponsors printed on the card. Clean borders without any logos! That's ultra rare for a fashion party--not unless of course that party was a private one thrown by a non commercial sector. So my thought balloon was: CLASSSSSS!! Di kelangan ng sponsors??!! Syempre, that made me even more curious. What was it? Who's throwing it? Anong ganap?!! So i trotted off to Mother P's desk and asked, are we going to this ball? And she goes, yah, I'm presenting something. Bonggah! May awards pa. CURIOUS!!!!



So anyway, didn't ask any more question, I guess we had to wait till the night itself to see what the whole thing was about. First thing first, had to have an outfit made. racked my brain for silhouettes to wear--should be easy given that the theme was black and white--but no!!! Ang hirap! Didn't want to do black coz that was so predictable. So white nalang, pero what design?!



On the night itself we had makeup done at Paulines. Thanks to MAC's Owen Sarmiento and Byron Velasquez. I wanted my signature smoky eyes, which believe it or not, I can't do myself. Go figure. I know, diba? And pale lips.



And then matched with the outfits, Ta-dah!! Linear pattern bustier, fit-and-flare dress on Pauline by Francis Libiran and me in a pleated ruff-neck dress with cape by Jun Escario. Thanks Ma!



Got to the Peninsula and was happy to see that everyone miling around were ALL dressed fit for a ball. Bumped into dear friends Marlon Rivera and Robi Lolin.



Mark Nicdao in this ultraslim suit, again, by Marlon Rivera.



No need for introductions.



And then Pam walks in in this stunning dress thats too hot! How do you wear anything underneath that landscape of sheer? It's not like you can liquify unwanted bulges in real life! This is toned physique at its best. RRowr.



Model Jasmine Maierhoffer in feathers and tiered flounce.



Jeweler Joyce Makitalo, surprisingly wearing an OS bone necklace along with her own creation.



Mond.



Georgina in Sassa Jimenez.



Candid yan. Haha.



Gorgeous couple Fatima and Hideo. Hideo won best dressed male of the night. Didn't get to ask who he was wearing though.



Designer Noel Crisostomo's muses: Jessica, Natasha, Michelle



Tim with his models: Justin and Jade



Liz in couture. She looks fittingly beautiful with the whole feel of the place. AC says this dress is very unforgiving, I agree. But Liz rocks its socks out. Which means her current frame is perfect. Model size lang mads??!! Haha. Dress by Dubai based designer Ezra Santos.





And guess who won best dressed female of the night? Hahahaha. Thats my trophy. As you've noticed, I've taken out my belt. Now what do you think is better, AC goes: "You need to cinch." (refer to second picture) and Vince goes: "Mas fashyon and a-line!". What do you think?



Heres a full look of my gown sans the belt. I thank whoever chose me because obviously, this is NOT typical best dressed fodder.

It's anti-cling. Anti-skin. Anti-shape. Anti everything. And yet I was awarded the huge-ass bottle of Belvedere. (So now you know who's the sponsor. Haha)



I hope you don't mind me putting in this quote from Raf Simons in his latest Elle Magazine interview: "Let's say you are in an environment where 50 women are dressed in mini-dresses, body stretch, or something with a clear accentuation of the body, and then there is this woman who is very much the opposite--she would have a white shirt on, say, and a huge, couture inspired skirt. Me, as a person, automatically I would be much more attracted to that woman, because she has a fascinating and different approach. She stands against all others. I think, Who is she? What is she about? What's her psychology? Why does she do this?"



So I'm thinking, it must have been an artist or a creative thinker who chose me, or someone with a really broad sense of aesthetics? Whoever you are, thank you. It feels good when being atypical and unconventional actually gets a bit of credit. Heeeeh. (photo credit: Mark Alvarez)



Mark, Pauline, Jake



That flash means serious business.



I was interviewed that night by ETC and they asked me what my favorite gown was so far. If I had seen Jo-Ann Bitagcols outfit by Joji Loren, I would have said that it was this one.



Kim, Myrhh, Boop.



Eug, Dong, Vince.



Lotho who wears the many hats and the only Comme des Garcon outfit.



Erwan.



Davao based designer Dodjie Batu.



Charmaine and Julius.



Etong mga fashion rebels talaga! Ayaw mag black and white! Liquid bronze lang on Nix.



Mich, i soooooper love that blue ribbon hat.



Tessa.



At ang pasabog ng gabing yown. The almost naked, stylist Pam Quinones and Anne Curtis both dressed by Rajo Laurel. Phhhhaaaaaaak!!! Sila na.



Definitely a night for the industriya. Fun, fun, FUN! 2am and the bar still wasn't dry! I would have taken more photos but my camera died at about midnight. Na Cinderella lang ako dun. KAINIS. least all the photos didnt turn into pumpkins. Heeh.

To Keren Pascual, Noel Manapat and the rest of your team who made the party possible, it ROCKED!!

APHRODITE

We were so excited, that AC was there at 4, Vince and I were there at 5 and Epoy was there already in the morning setting up because they were one of the major sponsors. Heeh, What's a concert without all your good friends? And ironically, even though we were such nerds beating the traffic and getting there a good 3 hours before the start, we still missed the opening because we were buying beer. Hahahaha. Hoewellz. Not too much of the first part really, just a few minutes prior to this:

Naked guys swimming in a pool. Obviously, Kylie's a gay icon.

But before anything else, rewind to the pre-concert crowd. We had dinner at Cibo, and then went down to the gate to check if was starting on time. Only to find out that most of the Industry was in Adriatico. Kaya pala ang ingay! All the beckys were there.

P.S. I'm so annoyed at how my photos are so uneven! Sorry about that, the cameras new photo size is not compatible with my blog settings hence the reason its all fluctuating. *Cringe* Will fix in my next.

Stylist Pam Q looking ultra hot in a sheer number.

Makeup artist Lala Flores.

Paolo Castro in the first of many shiny, shimmering, glittering sequined outfits worn by fans.

Jujiin echoing the drape sans the shine.

Jake Galvex in Nix Marquez.

Blade runners on AC. They're real too. Chos.

Disco Ball number 2. Pokwang bringing the light of Galadriel. Heeeh.

Okay, atat lang ako to wear my concert shirt. Baket ba! It goes naman with ze outfit. Porchi bought one too while AC and Bincht bought the book--which was sold out by end of the night.

The boys in my life: Bincht (Vince), Doitch (AC), Porchi (Epoy). I have a way of giving my friends pet names.

Gian and Asela

Laureen and more winking shine on Liz.

Vic and Divine

And we were interviewed for Kylie's APhrodite Tour Video. Woooohoooooo!!!
Watch it here in our: 2 seconds of fame.

Last photos before my camera died. Ano buzz.


The End.

WE GOT THE MEMO

Remember when I said that we were shooting the Reunion special for Star World's Behind The Byline?

Well, on the day of shoot, Vince, Liz and I came waving the Philippine flag! hahaha. Seriously, we didn't discuss our outfit options. We just came in complementing brights. I personally think its quite brilliant. Heeeeeh.

Getting way ahead of myself. Call time was at 9am at Mother P's house for makeup with the fabulous Omar Ermita of Shu Uemura.

His weapons.

Mond was there in his Joey Samson jacket.

Tweed and Alpine spliced. I like.

I also liked Cindy's make-up. A line of bright turquoise in the eyes and orange lips.

At the shoot, this was our view for 7 hours.

My view on the left. Mother and her Celadon nails.

Thats our blocking.

And yes, it was soooper fun.


A lot more revelations in this one-hour episode. i won't do any spoilers but be sure to catch the reunion special of Behind The Bylines only in Star World.