I Love Fashion!!

A few days back I was at my sister's house when she was getting ready to go to the "I Love Fashion" boutique opening at Dubai Mall and invited me to go along with her. I'd received an invitation from a PR agency but hadn't realized it was another one of Sarah Belhasa's ventures. I was sure it would be a fabulous evening out and decided to tag along.
The store is right across from Bloomingdales and is the Fashion TV store with all FTV clothing and merchandise. The store itself is very funky and fabulous and has mannequins wearing different outfits going around in a ceiling train through the store. I only realized this by the way while watching the fashion show taking place down the makeshift ramp when I kept getting hit by the mannequins. I turned to see a mannequin wearing black when I almost got knocked over again to see it wearing gray! "How did she change?!"I stupidly asked my friend Gayatri which is when she pointed the train and moving mannequins out. With all the people watching I'd busied myself in, I hadn't even noticed but instead kept wondering why I kept getting bumped by mannequins!
I hadn't unfortunately carried my camera but managed to snap a few blurry images of the clothes on my iPhone. They're not couture pieces for sure, but are more funky, slinky dresses that would look glam on a much younger dresser. Think Fashion TV and you've got an idea of their stuff!

The gorgeous Jessica struts her stuff!

The models

Sarah Belhasa and Michel Adam

Gayathrie Zaveri (right) and I at the Fishfayce booth!

Do head on over and check out their stuff especially if you're a fan of leather.. they have a lot of fun, going out wear especially for the younger lot.
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Thanks for a great evening Sarah!
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Essa @ Soiree!

In the past I've covered my dear friend, Mariya Kassam's store Soiree and its' events a few times, like for example the Umar Sayeed fashion show or the more recent Umar Sayeed Sadequain collection at DFW. I don't really like covering events though as a) I rarely go to any, b) there are a lot of other great blogs out there who do the job a lot better, and most importantly, c) once you cover one friends' event, you'll be expected to cover everyone's, whether you're in attendance or not. My friends know better now than to ask or to expect a post from me on their event... unless of course it's ultra fabulous and I would do a post regardless. The last week saw two such great events take place in the UAE.. One was a dinner with Carolina Herrera in Abu Dhabi (which will be my next post), and the other was Soiree's third anniversary which also saw the launch of the freshly designed boutique and the introduction of a new partnership with the fabulous designer Essa!!

Fans of the boutique Sauce would be very familiar with Essa's designs and I dare say he is one of the most popular local designers in the UAE. He's known for his funky take on classic Arabic attire, or the reverse, using "ghutra" fabric in some very quirky tops and dresses. Though born in the UAE, Essa's parents are of Indian origin, and so it was only natural for him to take his design expertise and launch his first Transnational collection... and it was just a natural fit for him to partner with Soiree to do just that. It was the first time I met the designer and although I've seen his pieces all over the place, I'd never actually owned any of them myself... I fell in love on both counts! Not only is he an absolute darling who is so full of life and energy (and one of the funniest people I've met in a long time), he is also such a fabulous designer and his creations are crazy whacky, and just SO much fun! While the store was absolutely packed and I didn't get to take too many pictures, here are some of my favourites that I snapped up. If you want some really funky, different pieces for Diwali and want to be the talk of the party (in a good way that is!) definitely check out his work, selling exclusively at Soiree.

The pictures were taken on my iPhone so you can't really tell these are NEON colours in the outfit! A very trendy take on a classic look

This is my favourite piece of the collection! I couldn't snap a picture of it properly, but it's gorgeous baby pink, elasticated at the waist with a full sequins inner skirt that shows through the bottom.

I fell in love with the prints on the kaftans! Here's the man himself holding the one I bought

There were many floor length flowy more traditional outfits as well... I loved this one on the mannequin 

Here's Mariya with Essa!

The event was organized by the fabulous Image Nation, and you can check out Red Velvet Nation's coverage of the event here to see what all the fashionistas at the event had on!
Also do go "like" Soiree's facebook page to be up to date on all the events of the store, here
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Missoni-Target tie up! Pictures now available!!!

Remember I'd written about the Missoni-Target tie-up waaay back in May??  Well, pictures are now finally available of the entire collection, and I must say.. WOW. The collection is going to be available from September 13 to October 22 and is almost a 400 plus piece collection! On looking at the pictures I'm really blown away by how similar to the original Missoni line it is! I know they also have the M for Missoni line which sort of carries the same print and same style, but this seems to look like even more like the original than that in a very strange way! I would be curious to see what the quality of these pieces are as they look absolutely amazing in the pictures! My favourite piece? It's a cross between the bicycle and the teacups for sure!! Now if only I knew how to cycle.. or drank tea...

Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's!!

So sometime last week I was chatting with my best friend on the phone while getting ready and she asked me where I was heading to. "Macy's??!!" she repeated after me in a scoffing tone. "And what's wrong with Macy's?!" I snapped back. While Macy's has always been a great place to shop for every day clothing, it's not a place that is looked upon as being trendy or a desirable place to shop. That's all about to change with it's Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's line!
Lagerfeld is looked upon as the High Priest of Fashion and everything he touches, seemingly turns into fashion gold, so it'll be interesting to see how this new tie up pans out. It is a limited edition collection, so expect a stampede on August 31st, the day it launches. Here are some pics of the pieces from the collection. I hope I manage to get some of the t-shirts with an illustration of him on front! Also LOVE some of the dresses!

The Gucci bomber jacket you covet...

... Is now being sported by a 4 month old. Rachel Zoe's 4 month old son, Skylar, has a walk in closet that most grown ups would die for. Not only does he have said bomber jacket, but Margerita Missoni custom made him his own sweaters! Most fashionable kid ever?? Not a chance! I know I've talked about her a whole bunch of times, but really can ANYONE ever get cuter than this kid? She has a wardrobe Rachel Zoe herself would die for! And then of course, there's her Mother whose Facebook pictures I flick through just as you would the American Vogue. Coveting!
But I digress... Here's a little snippet from the ABC interview that gives us a peak of Skylar's closet as well as his Mother's-

Dior Post Galliano

There are a few fashion news items a year that even the most unfashionable are aware of. This year has seen Sarah Burton become a household name (it amuses me how everyone pretends they knew exactly who she was way before Kate Middleton stepped out of that car on her way to that church) and John Galliano become the new Mel Gibson- the man everyone seems to love to hate. Whether he's making news for his anti Semitic slurs or for designing Kate Moss's wedding dress, he's absolutely everywhere these days. Except for Dior that is. So how is the brand going to get on without him? Not very well, if the Dior Couture show held a few days back in Paris was anything to go by.

"Dior kicked off Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week with what can only be described as extras outfits from Katy Perry's California Gurls video. Not exactly what we were expecting from a fall/winter collection, the colours were bright, bold and in every shade and stripe imaginable," said one fashion blog
Online fashion bible Style.com proclaimed, "On the evidence of today's first Dior couture show without John Galliano, what happens is a misjudged effort to impress an alien thumbprint on an aesthetic that, for better or worse, is one of the fashion industry's most clearly defined."
"Things must be very strange these days at the House of Dior, judging by the haute couture show we saw Monday afternoon at the Musée Rodin. All sorts of weird vibes, along with a lack of design leadership, have a way of surfacing in clothes. A runway is like a shrink’s couch; stuff just comes out."- This quote was from Cathy Horyn of the New York Times who said of Dior's interim designer, Bill Gaytten, "He’s a sweetheart, but he is not a designer."

"How bad could the clothes be?" I thought to myself while reading the horrible reviews being Tweeted during the duration of the show. I've seen fashion shows in the past where I've shuddered at the clothes being shown, only for the clothes to have gotten raves reviews from the press. And sometimes, I've seen clothes that are quite pretty being worn by a celebrity and had the fashion critics slam it for being too safe or boring. To put it bluntly, I'm really no expert! Looking at the clothes though, I sort of understood what the fuss was about. Here are some pics of it below-

 The collection seemed disjointed and a complete mish-mash of colours and patterns- and not in a cool colour-blocking kinda way. The theme too seems to be all over the place with use of every single colour in the designers colour palette being put to good use. Yes we've seen designers come up with crazy fantastical, completely unwearable stuff on runways in the past, but think what your reaction would be if your favourite movie star wore one of these crazy designs on the red carpet? Exactly!

While some may argue that Galliano deserves whatever is coming to him, it's really sad to see Dior lose it's luster in the way that it has. I don't think I've ever witnessed a fashion show being slammed as publicly or universally as this one... And in the outspoken, fickle world of fashion, that sure is saying a lot!
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Have dress.. Will repeat!

So I was never a huge fan of Waity Katy... oops sorry I mean Kate Middleton... until of course one short carriage ride later she transformed herself into Catherine Duchess of Cambridge. You've gotta love fairy tales and happy endings! You've all seen the picture of her with her Prince shot by Mario Testino, and have no doubt heard the story of how the dress suddenly made the High Street brand Reiss popular again.

Since then Kate has favoured the store's designs for a lot of official functions (including one I'd featured here) and the Princess once again chose a Reiss design to wear while out with her hubby in Canada. Only this time, she put on a repeat performance and wore the same dress as she had for her engagement picture shown above. I really have to give the girl credit for not only wearing high street, but wearing it with such aplomb and as tastefully as she does. The fact that she doesn't shy away from repeating, makes me love her even more.

And yes, those are Canadian maple leaves on her hat! I know.. maybe a bit much, but she just is so cute!

Sneak peek at Kate's wedding dress!

Do I need to even specify which Kate I'm talking about? I think the ad for Agent Provocateur says it all-

So after weeks (if not months) of speculation, Kate Moss finally stepped out in her John Galliano wedding gown. I thought it was pretty and fresh and very much indicative of what Kate's style has always been- cool without being overly fussy. Had she stepped out in a short "November rain" type of white dress I'd have thought she was trying way too hard, and anything too styled would have not been her style at all.

 

So when it was first rumoured that Galliano would be designing her dress, like all others with an interest in fashion, I wondered what the message was that Moss was sending. I'm sure she has been and will be slammed for her decision to go with Galliano considering the mess he's in right now. But I read an article in The Daily Beast  that said- 

"Some might think that in wearing the dress, Moss was making a symbolic statement about Galliano's skill as a designer, his importance in the fashion industry, or even the justice—or injustice—of his being fired. But Moss would be a flawed messenger. She is not some rarefied doyenne whose choices carry moral clout. She is not a power broker who speaks for the establishment. And she is not some surprising outlier whose decision to wear Galliano required complex and painful intellectual gymnastics."

 It's true... Galliano is a fabulous designer and Moss isn't exactly the poster-child of Morality herself! You may remember a few years back pictures of Kate doing Cocaine had been released after which she had been dropped as the face of a lot of major labels. Even if she isn't trying to make a statement with the dress, it's nice that she chose to support a friend and be with him in his time of crisis... especially if he had been there to support her during hers.

H&M-Versace collaboration announced!

Over the past few weeks there has been a buzz in the air about who would be the next designer of the moment to be collaboration with H&M. If you remember the Lanvin-H&M collaboration that happened a few months back, you'll remember the kind of manic fanfare that revolves around these tie-ups! Therefor there was much speculation about WHO the designer would be and finally it was announced that it is Donatella Versace who will be lending her creative ideas to the retail giant!
This is HUGE! Especially since the designer had gone on record in 2008 saying she didn't believe in diffusion lines and that, "a Versace line in H&M would confuse the brand."
Here is the video announcing the tie-up-

Singapore Exclusive!

Greetings from Singapore! I'm here for a couple of days for a bit of work with my Mother and will be back in Dubai by the end of the week. I'm trying to snap up a few pictures for you guys while I'm out and about but it's virtually impossible for me to have long posts for you guys while I'm away as I'm pretty much out of my room the entire time. I'm going to have a post prepared for you on bits of the sights and sounds of Singapore with a collection of photographs and videos that I've taken and another post doing a hotel review (I'm staying at the gorgeous Ritz Carlton). For now, I'll just leave with you this picture of a Chanel jacket I took at the store in Takashimaya earlier today. I guess the store is new and therefor to promote it they had a gorgeous jacket that was exclusive to Singapore. However nice it looks in the picture, it looks at least ten times nicer in person.. alas, with a really nice price tag (or rather not so nice, depending on who you're asking) to match! While I've collected quite a few Chanel jackets over the years, this one came in at approximately over 12,000 USD which is almost twice a regular one! Thanks, but I think I'll stare at the picture instead. Also a friend earlier today mentioned that a shoe that she liked back at the Chanel store in Dubai was 200 USD (approximately 800 Dhs) more expensive in Singapore!!! That's CRAZY! If any of my readers have a Singapore-Dubai connection and can throw some light on pricing for designer stuff, I'd love to hear what you guys have to say... especially on watches, as I'm thinking of buying myself one while here :)

Anyhow, back to the jacket... Isn't it gorgeous?!

Why I'm waiting for Tom Ford to turn 85...

He needs to publish a book NOW! I think he's SO fabulous and is not only such a brilliant designer, but a great case study in marketing. It's such a pleasure to read or watch interviews by either him or Carine Roitfeld as they are such creative spirits that are both driven by an internal spirit that is about SO much more than success or money.
Tom Ford has received a lot of flak recently for not allowing the media and bloggers to cover his fashion shows as he doesn't want the clothes to lose their thrill factor (and of course be copied to death) before they're actually produced. I also read in an interview of his that while he was fine being addressed as "Tom" earlier, he now likes to be called, "Mr Ford." Some people may call him arrogant but I just think he deserves to be! There are so many people in this world who are arrogant without any reason but just because they're pretty or happen to be born/married into wealth or even worse, for no reason except they think it makes them look cool or appear desirable, that I think someone who actually HAS accomplished a lot in life can go ahead and love themselves to the point of pompousness! Tom Ford is one of those people. Oh and not allowing media into his shows- again, fabulous marketing! I recently saw a pair of snake printed trousers on someone and thought, "ooh I recognize those Zara pants".. till I read that they were Stella McCartney. It's not like Tom Ford's clothes won't be copied, but at least it will have received adequate attention as being designed by HIM before it gets reproduced.
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Time for Presale on Handbags at Bergdorfs!

Are you stuck back home and are missing the glorious sales in New York? Here's a way for you to browse all the latest items from Bergdorf Goodman's BEFORE they go on sale! Yes you heard me right.. all these fabulous handbags show below are actually the pre-sale stock that you can reserve before they go on sale in NYC on Monday!! All the items that you see here are going to be 40% off, so get on your email NOW to find out the price off the product before and after the sale price. It actually might work out even slightly cheaper for you as you will save on the tax that you'd have to pay if you were in NYC and will only have to pay for duty when it comes in (which is slightly less) and the shipping charge which brings you your favourite items to your doorstep!! Happy Shopping!! 

VALENTINO

BOTTEGA VENETA


NANCY GONZALEZ




FENDI

CARLOS FALCHI

BALENCIAGA


LANVIN

STELLA MCARTNEY

GUCCI

 FENDI

 

 

   

Please contact Linda at lindamdpreston@yahoo.com for prices, reservations of purchasing of any of the products listed above

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