Vanilla Ice Cream.

No no, not another food post ;)

I wanted to dedicate a post to the lovely Gizelle over at Vanilla Ice Cream. 

She held a giveaway competition the other week after reaching 200 followers (congrats my dear!) and I won!

  I'll be receiving a stone ring, stud earrings and dangling wooden earrings. These will look gorgeous with a couple of maxi dresses that I own so I'm really excited to receive the snail mail package from Cebu soon!

(PS Gizelle, my mum is originally from Cebu City :))

Follow her blog here. She's got great style plus she's such a sweetheart!

Fairy floss.

 Me eating fairy floss on Saturday 29 May 2010 at Festival City, Dubai

Two young girls eating fairy floss on Saturday 10 August 1946 in Brisbane, Australia. 

My dress is by E-vie - Peacocks.

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Photo courtesy John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

Lady Petrova Winter 2010.

Lady Petrova is a Melbourne based fashion designer who brings a breath of elegant and feminine air to the city's boutique shopping area, Flinders Lane.
Her new winter collection, 'The Collector, is available now at her online store: http://ladypetrova.com.

 

LADY PETROVA: WEBSITE

Fauchon and some discourteous fashion.

Last night went out to Dubai mall for dinner with some friends and after dinner, my best friend and I decided to have some dessert at Fauchon Cafe. While in Paris I was told that Fauchon's food jewelry (resembling 'jewelry' in small pieces of lovely coloured desserts) was the best in the city. So I was pretty excited to see if the Dubai version had equally tasty accessories.

Naturally, we tried the macarons - orange, vanilla, lemon, pistachio, raspberry and chocolate.

I've always been a fan of the chocolate but after trying the lemon from Fauchon I think I've changed my preference.
PS - doesn't Dee look gorgeous (and coordinated perfectly to the cafe) in hot pink?

AND ALL GONE.
Also, every night on the waterfront there is a gorgeous fountain show.
I snapped the following photos of the show which plays every 20 minutes between Souk Al Bahar, Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa Tower. 

These 'dancing waters' remind me so much of fireworks. It's amazing how high they shoot up.

As we were making our way back to the parking, a security guard approached us and handed us a small card.

Here's what it read:

I guess I kinda forgot that Dubai Mall is a little more strict than some others (obviously we 'broke' the first courtesy rule there) and I felt really bad about it. We rushed back to my car kinda quickly. Next time, must not forget my pashmina!

I've had a busy weekend packing, unpacking and moving into a new apartment. 

I hope you're all having a great one!

Blog to follow: ilegallcargo to go.

I've been naughty and haven't posted any photos from my holiday earlier this month like I said I would.

You should check out Crystalline's travel blog though: http://ilegallcargotogo.blogspot.com

She's taken the time to blog almost daily short stories and photos while she's on a family trip. Her gorgeous photos show us the easy, beautiful, tropical life that is a holiday in the Philippine Islands.

Jealous, jealous, jealous. I want to be back.

Enjoy the rest of your vacation CC! x

My Wednesday Wish - Sony's NEX-5 & NEX-3 Cameras!

Maybe I should start a new weekly feature called' Wednesday wishes'.
If you could have anything right now, what would it be? For me, it's currently a new digital camera.

My current (a gorgeous little black Canon Ixus100IS) is fully functioning but falling to pieces after a 'self-timer' slip up. Oops! I think I may treat myself to a present though, and purchase a Sony NEX-5 or NEX-3 when they launch in the Middle East soon. 

Basically it's a fashion bloggers dream: small and lightweight with DSLR quality (14.2-megapixel), interchangeable lenses, HD quality video and HDR effect features. This revolutionary design allows you to experience the performance of DSLR without the size and weight.

Dubai based fashion blogger Mahryska was lucky enough to get her hands on it before its release.
They look perfect together ;) this is totally my Wednesday wish!

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More about the NEX Camera's at Sony
Follow Mahryska's blog at mahryskadaily.blogspot.com/

Moving day.

Today my sister moved out (taking my kitty cat with her.. :( ) hence the bare room in the background.

I'm moving out in a few weeks time as well. All that's left is pretty much my bed and my closet. But who needs anything else!;)
I'll miss this place. Such a perfect location: just 10 minutes from work, the beach, the biggest mall, and a 10 minute walk from my favourite one, Mall of the Emirates.

But - must keep moving - on to bigger and better things!

Dress from H&M, Shoes from Aldo.

A Chanel Paradise.

Farewell Lily Allen. Although your short stint with Chanel last year was great, the newest model for Coco Cocoon has planted her feet firmly in your place, spreading her wings as Karl Lagerfeld's new muse.
Vanessa Paradis modeling the Coco Cocoon handbag selection.

Already the face for Chanel's Coco Rouge campaign and fragrances, she is obviously the new favourite on the Chanel block.
Oozing a ultra cool vibe, the French actress/singer looks sexy but keeps it classy, lounging about in this casual shoot.

Illustrations of Vanessa by Karl featured in Madame Figaro magazine, May issue. 

What an honour it would be, to be handpicked and idolized by someone so big in the fashion industry as Karl Lagerfeld.

 As for Lily, she has gone from designing for New Look to modeling with Chanel in just a few years, so shouldn't feel to bad about being dropped from the major fashion house. She's a very busy girl, we no doubt can except much more from her (fashionwise) in the near future.

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Images via http://www.sassybella.com/

No sex in this city.

I may be committing some kind of sacrilege by saying what I'm about to say, but I'll say it anyway! I am not a fan of Sex and The City.
(mg, a fashion blogger who is NOT a fan, is this even possible?) 

Let me explain... Firstly, I'm not a big TV person, but I've probably seen a majority of the episodes. I drool over all the clothing and consider Carrie to be one of the biggest trendsetters we've seen over the last decade. But at the same time I just find her so ANNOYING and WHINY. And that is reason enough for me not to watch it! 

Sex And The City 2 premiered in New York tonight and the ladies looked vibrant.

Kim Cattrall in a Naeem Khan gown, Kristin Davis, pretty in pink in Jean Desses for Decades, Cynthia Nixon in Carolina Herrera and Sarah Jessica Parker in GORGEOUS Valentino.

The first SATC movie was never shown in the UAE and up until now, word in the local presses is that SATC2 won't be shown here either, despite being based in the nation's capital Abu Dhabi! Strange enough, but no real surprise considering that when they wanted to film (apparently Dubai was first pick, and Abu Dhabi second) the local authorities didn't allow them access. The film crew set off across the desert to Morocco to shoot instead. 

For now, let me just admire the fashion thanks to these speak peak shots courtesy of E! Online.

Hopefully they've toned down a bit and the movie is in good taste, by being culturally considerate. At the end of the day, Abu Dhabi is an Islamic state and even if it wasn't filmed there, the name of the city is all over the film.
Personally, I think the UAE should be welcoming the hype that SATC2 will bring to the country (that's depending on how it's depicted though). Women all over the world adore it, who knows how many will decide to 'book a trip to Abu Dhabi' because they've seen it in the film. But I do also see the other side of the story and know how much the the SATC franchise represents a lot of things that are against the Islamic religion.  This will be an interesting one to watch. I guess I'll just have to wait until the DVD lady comes knocking on my door to get my hands on a copy.

Edit: After watching SATC2 - UH! Worst movie ever! I don't blame UAE government for refusing to let them film here!

Independent artists versus the fashion world.

Imagine you're out at the mall, or browsing online and suddenly see something very familiar. Something that belongs to YOU! How would you feel? Cheated, ripped off, maybe flattered? It's happened to many independent fashion bloggers, and happens more and more frequently as the number of influential bloggers increase (along with the number of their followers)!

The latest one, discovered by Parisien blogger Betty of le blog de betty, left her puzzled and unsettled.
It seems that Zara's TRF line 'borrowed' her photo and used it for a tshirt design.

While under the right circumstances, finding a tshirt with obvious inspiration from something that you had created would be amazing. If the company had approached you and you agreed to your image being used and all that. But if you come across it by surprise, I can't imagine the emotions you'd feel. The resemblance is too uncanny to ignore.

Other OBVIOUS examples of plagiarism by large companies: 

Boyfriend tshirt by Thrasher Store (which they say they have been selling for 20 years now) and on the right, an Urban Outfitters tshirt, only on sale sometime in 2009.

On the left - cute earrings by LolaPop and on the right, Hello Sailor earrings by Topshop, which coincidentally were released a few months after LolaPop was featured in NME magazine in 2009! These LolaPop designs are CUTE AS HELL by the way! I'm definitely checking back at the store when it's open again (early June).

The design above originally by Tabitha Emma to be used in a Leeloo event, was blatantly copied by Alannah Hill for window displays around Australia. Shortly after the Leeloo blog and definatalie spread the word, Alannah Hill sent an apology letter, but the opinion of most other independent artists was that Tabitha should receive monetary compensation for her work being used by such a well known design house.

At the end of the day, plagiarism is rampant in all parts of the art community. Not just by bloggers or fashion design; also in multimedia, advertisements, novels, music, poetry, films and games. And it's not always the brands fault - they could just be buying the artwork off a hired illustrator that has claimed the work as their own. I'm sure most of these big brands wouldn't want to sell 'stolen' artwork... I hope honest young designers and creative minds aren't deterred from doing what they love out of fear/the expectation that someone else will profit off it!

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Original Sources

Betty's blog: leblogdebetty.com

Tabitha Emma/Alannah Hill: definatalie.com and leeloo.com.au

Thrasher store and LolaPop xamples from this interesting website (open for public submission):

http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com

Fishtails and fake flowers.

Headed out to Mall of the Emirates today for lunch and a movie.
I watched City Of Life again (an Emirati directed film based in Dubai. Amazing by the way, click the link for the trailer).

Do you like what I did to my hair? I thought I'd try tie it up into a fishtail braid. A very messy one though.
It unfortunately didn't last all day, because my hair is layered, I guess it all came undone.

 Also wanted to put a close up on the racerback I was wearing. Bought this in the markets called Greenhills, in Manila.

Before the movie, I stopped by DUCTAC, which is a theatre and arts community centre at the mall.
My first time there and I was surprised to see so many kids in art classes and artwork by those kids displayed on the walls. Never really knew what this centre did, thought they just hosted exhibitions from time to time. But well done to them for encouraging the creativity of those young and old.

In the artspace called Gallery of Light, I came across these interesting pieces.

By Liz Ramos. These are for sale at AED200 each.

Love this one. By Rebecca Rendell. Also for sale.

Portraits of a family. Not sure who these pieces are by,

Also met up with new friend, digital artist and photographer Jmerts (http://www.edaydreamer.com/).
We've got some cool stuff lined up together so watch this space!

Rock and roll queen.

Watched The Subways play an hour + set at Alpha SYNF club last night. Great getting out and seeing some real live music in Dubai. Also supported by local band Beat Antennae, the whole night was rockin'.

 Awesome pictures of the band thanks to my buddy Riksa. Turned out real nice eh?

 Not too excited for my outfit for the night (can you tell?) hahaha.

Things I learnt last night:
1. Don't wear lace to a rock show. Especially when you love getting involved up in front of the stage.
2. The humidity levels in Dubai have been turned up to the max, I'm sure of it!
3. I can rock about for 3 hours and go home with happy feet. Even in these high laced Forever 21 heels.
Pretty proud of myself for that.

Never without my bag.

For those of us that can't afford the actual bags. Wear them close to the heart.

Or just for those of us purely obsessed.

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Photo source: Never Without My Bag  Vogue Pelle