TOPAZ HORIZON

I am on shoe-shopping mode. I haven't bought shoes in a while, mostly because there was no reason to buy new shoes last year since I hardly went out last year.

Woah. Did I just say there was no reason to buy new shoes? There is always a reason to buy new shoes! Who is this woman who says there's no reason to buy new shoes?!

Well, the old me must've stirred from her style slumber because I feel the itch to scratch the credit card on shoe shopping, and the first shoes that caught my eye are schu's new styles. Here are my favorites:

For daytime events...

For nighttime events...

For errands...

For meetings...

For when I want to feel pretty...
There are so many more colors and styles so perfect for the summer! You can check out all of Chocolate schubar's Spring-Summer 2014 line and the TYCA line at their Facebook page. But be warned: That's what I did and now I'm a mess, just thinking about shoes! All the styles are available at all schu shops so I guess I'll bump into you at schu if you shop for shoes, too!

*all photos grabbed from schu's Facebook page

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While the OK! magazine staff have all gone our separate ways and are all the better for it, when something big happens in Hollywood (like a hook-up, a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death), we all still discuss it like we're still making a living out of it! The current discussion was, of course, on the recently concluded Oscars red carpet fashion, and started, of course, by our former red carpet columnist, Jay Santiago, with this video.



I am oh so glad that my fashion idol, Hal Rubenstein of InStyle, finally said what I've been thinking all along: that the red carpet is oh so boring!

"The myth is that the Oscars is the biggest fashion show in the world. Not true. When we go to a fashion show, what we're looking for is innovation, fresh ideas, new concepts. The red carpet is about familiar garments, the glamour that we were brought up on in the movies. Do something odd, do something different, do something tilted, and the viewers get shocked."

I couldn't say that when I was still a Hollywood celebrity magazine editor haha. I mean, what kind of editor would say, "Oh hey, guys, it's red carpet season again and guess what? It's all so boring!"

Since the rise of the stylist, there is no personality on the red carpet anymore. Save for fashion-forward stars like Tilda Swinton, Kate Bosworth, Sarah Jessica Parker and my favorite Cate Blanchett, there's just glamour on the red carpet. Just glamour. Style is gone. Gone are the swans of Bjork, the men's shirts of Sharon Stone, the safety pins of Elizabeth Hurley, the threads of Rose McGowan, the homemade designs of Demi Moore.

Ok, these are not all from the Oscars red carpet but just wanted to point out that style can be crazy!

Everyone looks gorgeous and glamorous and divine. Well, that's what movie stars are supposed to look like! I'll just watch the Grammys then. You can always count on musicians to be authentic (Rihanna! JLo! Lady Gaga!) and to give us all a spectacular show!

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I'm blogging about this because while I love the idea of bloggers collaborating with brands, I want to point out that Camille Co is actually a real fashion designer. She designed and sold clothes under her Coexist label way before she became a blogger. I've also wanted to do brand collaborations before, mostly create maternity and nursing wear, but since I have no fashion design background, I just don't know if I can actually do it (Elin.ph, maybe we can discuss this? Haha).

Now I don't follow Camille's blog but I don't really follow fashion bloggers waaaaaay younger than me. I know of her because I've read about Coexist in magazines and I admire her talent and business acumen. So when I talk about Camille Co designing a line of dresses for Cole Vintage, it's because I know it's a good collaboration!

The dresses were launched a few weeks ago but are still available today. Here they are:
 And here is the dress I'm dying to have but can't because it's no longer available on their online store!
I love the flirty hem, the bold color, and that deep deep V in the back! Dear Camille and Cole Vintage, please please please make one more like this for me!
The Camille Co line is exclusively available at Cole Vintage stores at The Ramp Glorietta, The Ramp Shangri-la Plaza Mall, The Ramp Trinoma, SM Makati, SM North Edsa, SM Mall Of Asia, SM Aura, SM BF Paranaque, and at The Podium Mall. Visit www.colevintage.com to see more colors and the prices.

My dear friend Kat Dy is getting married in exactly 3 weeks. Vince and I are ninong and ninang!!! We're just a few years older than Kat and Pat so we were really surprised haha, but the couple explained that they got people who are happily married. Besides, if they got old people, by the time they might need guidance in their marriage, the oldies would be dead!

So the motif colors are gold, blush pink, navy and cream. I don't have dresses yet (there are two ceremonies). I'm putting off shopping because my pregnant shape is changing. I'm always heavily bloated during my first trimester, then weirdly enough, when I hit the 4th month, my body becomes nice and shapely. The bloat goes, the boobs come, the fat transfers to where curves should go. So weird.

While I may not be getting a dress yet, I'm definitely buying my gowns from Karimadon. I've always shopped at Karimadon for special occasions, beginning with my high school graduation 19 years ago. Thank goodness for online shopping, I've checked out Karimadon's online shop and narrowed down my choices to these lovelies:
Say hello to Felicity. This is my top pick! It's so goddess! Of course, I don't look anything like Marian Rivera but this is just so gorgeous! It comes in many colors but of course I'll get royal blue for the wedding. Only P2,499!

My second choice is Rose. I love the soft drape, the simple embellished belt, the exposed shoulder. Available in red and black, too, for only P2,999.

If I'm not too big by next week and if I can squeeze into this corset gown, maybe I'll get Juliet. But this one I actually want to check in the store first. Kat wants gold or cream. I have to see the color in person to see if it's just what the bride wants. This is also available in teal for P4,999.

I love this! This is Alexia. I need to see this in the store, too, because this is actually violet (the other colors are black and red). If it's a blue violet, I think I'll get this. It's just P3,299! Plus, the V-neckline will make it easy to breastfeed Iñigo.

Thanks, Marian, for modeling these lovely gowns. You are quite fetching yourself!

Go check out Karimadon's online shop to see more fab dresses. Just please don't buy all the ones I like! I'm shopping next week!

Been feeling under the weather but I still had to work! So I trimmed off the the meetings and events that weren't really urgent. But for those times I had to really really work, these are what I wore:

Lunch meeting at Il Terrazo with a new major blog partner (announced on Topaz Mommy!) and then off to a Levi's house party in Forbes. I wore my Ojay raw silk blouse, Uniqlo jeans, Karimadon woven belt, Dune London loafers, Charles & Keith sunglasses and Fino bag.

Check out my red red hair! It's so clown red! I love it!

Gosh, this is such a comfy outfit. I love those jeans. The shoes are so buttery soft. Must buy more Uniqlo jeans and loafers from Dune!

Hosting duties as the new Vicks VapoRub Mommy (click here for the story)! I wore my K & Company wrap dress and Zara pumps. I bought both summer of last year, right after giving birth to Iñigo. The dress looks navy but it's actually a blue-green hue.

Also, the dress has such a plunging neckline that I had to ask the Vicks people for double-sided tape to prevent a wardrobe malfunction. Well, either the neckline was too low or my boobs got too big for the dress. You see, when I left the house, my cleavage was fine. But two hours later, my breastfeeding boobs were filling up with milk and they were just spilling out of my dress!

I want to proudly say that I did my own hair and makeup!

Photo shoot at Louis Phillip Keep Premier Salon for my Manila Bulletin column. That's my photo shoots uniform: soft shirt, skinny jeans. I wore my old, thin, gray Topshop shirt (I wore a red bra underneath that in bright light, you can see through the shirt), skinny Guess jeans, Nine West heels. Really comfy!

That's my iPad Mini from SMART. (Thanks, SMART! I love that I can now #LiveMore!) It's my latest fashion accessory, mommy tool, blogger and writer necessity!

I actually was planning to blog about my latest online shopping purchases from Zalora and Sammy Dress but I'm soooo lazy to take photos. I'll blog about those as soon as I have the pics. Happy weekend!

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For this week's edition of Topaz Fashion*, I'll be showing you our new shoes! Yes, we had gift certificates that were expiring so off my little family went for some shoe shopping.

First off, do you know Dune London is finally here??? I got to interview the CEO, Mohammed Yacoobali, for my Manila Bulletin column. I was sooo excited when he described Dune's shoes and bags as "affordable luxury."

It's true. I had a hard time picking the shoes I wanted because everything was classic, well made, elegant and comfortable. The shoes are made of the finest materials. They are so soft and wonderful on my feet. They feel so cushy, they smell so fabulous, the craftsmanship is incredible. So luxurious and yet so affordable! Prices start at P1,250 but most of the shoes are at the P2,500-P3,950 range.

While I kept trying on the gorgeous heels, I had to accept that heels no longer fit my lifestyle as a work-at-home mom. So these lovely leather loafers are what I finally got. They are the bomb! I want to get all the colors now!

Sleek, classic, and ultra comfortable!

Gotta love that ribbon detail!

I also noticed this under the lid:
How cool is that? No more of those anti-humidity packets that little kiddies can accidentally eat! Speaking of little kiddies...

On our way to prayer meeting at our neighbor's so nakapambahay ako and no makeup!

I also got these studded jelly sandals from Dune. I was hesitant to get them actually because I used to have jelly sandals. They were yucky. First, the plastic rubbing against your feet can be painful. And diba malibag? Gross!

Wore these when I had my salon day at the new Louis Phillip Kee Premier Salon at Legaspi St., Makati.

But these Dune jellies are sooo cool! They feel soft! They are so comfy! And your feet stay clean! And they don't look like cheap jelly sandals, too. I wore them once and I am now in love.

After Dune, we went to Converse to get new kicks for Vito.

Iñigo waking up from his nap!

Vito never likes shopping but he did love his new shoes!

This is Iñigo at dinner. Not happy anymore haha

Chucks are classic. Everyone should have a pair. We started our boys young, too! Vito now has three Chucks! He loves them!

Lastly, these lovely flats from Charles & Keith. I love pleats. I love pleated anything. So when I saw these nude flats, I had to have them. Bonus points for the mesh material!
I'm thinking of getting the blue pair, too! This also comes in heels, by the way.

Oh, I love my new flat shoes! Thanks so much for my GCs, PR friends!

Next Friday, I'll talk about new clothes and online shopping. Happy weekend!


P.S. Vince has new shoes, too! But his weren't because of a GC. He wishes haha. Running shoes are so expensive! Anyway, these are his new Asics GEL-Kayano 19 in awesome red and lime!

Haha, believe you me, Vince almost didn't get this because of the colors. He was saying at the store, "Why do running shoes come in such horrible colors?" But he got them anyway for the performance and he's currently breaking them in. After running for fitness for two straight years, my husband is running his first marathon next weekend! I'm so excited for him!

*I renamed Fashion Friday to Topaz Fashion. Will tell you why in another blog post!

And I don't know why I'm bringing it back because it's not like I'm dressed fashionably every day! Being a work-at-home mom, I'm usually in a soft shirt and denim shorts. I suddenly recalled recently that before I gave up my job last year, I promised WAHM guru Dainty Mom that I will never be reduced to that horrid uniform of ratty shirt and shorts! So, like I said before, maybe Topaz Fashion will help me make an effort to look good again, if only once a week!

Here's what I wore recently:
Vince calls this my Day Off Outfit because I look like I just threw on things haha. I kinda did actually. Then just before I ran out of the house, I saw myself in the mirror, thought I looked so boring, so I wrapped a scarf around my neck and changed into heels. That's a Sexy White Shirt V-neck, Uniqlo jeggings, Pedro heels and the softest, thinnest, fluffiest scarf from Muji. Oh, and my Cole Haan bag.
That's a little style tip for ya: If you're feeling absolutely lazy, a scarf is a great accessory to a plain outfit and nice heels always makes people think you're going somewhere nice, even if you're not necessarily dressed up! Plus, a scarf is useful when you're a breastfeeding mommy!

This is what I wore to a meeting. I wore my Ojay raw silk blouse, Uniqlo jeans, Karimadon woven belt, VNC sandals, Charles & Keith sunnies and my Fino doctor's bag.

I like that my blouse and jeans are a bit roomy. I have a mommy body now so I need space haha but here's a style tip: Don't wear clothes that are too baggy since those will make you look even fatter. Try clothes that skim your figure, not hide it. That way, you still look like you have some shape!

This is what I wore to the events of Pampers and Sangobion (I'm a brand ambassador to both), which happened on the same day and almost at the same time! Lagare ang beauty ko grabe!

I'm wearing a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress, Zara pumps, and I carried my Kate Spade tote (it's on the crib). My style peg was Kate Middleton. Wrap dresses are super nice. I love them! They're perfect for any kind of body!

And that's Topaz Fashion this week! Yes, I know. Sooo stunning in its ho-hum-ness. See you next week for (hopefully) more fabulous fashion!