Posts Tagged ‘fashion’
Monday, July 5th, 2010
I pride myself in having the best team in the world! I love my House of Laurel team because they are not just employees. To me they are my family! We see each other day in and day out often longer than we see our own immediate family so in many ways the bonding we have at work translates in my mind as what families are all about.
I was super excited to find out that we would be all here for the Preview Best dressed ball! Last year we could not make it because we all were in Tokyo. However this year we would be present and in full force! I decided to use my infamous insect collection as a starting point for our homage to the late Alexander McQueen. His bold use of cut and graphic detail was perfect for this. I then asked everyone to choose a dress from the collection and we all made them. The make up would be done by my sister Gela and I wanted to have this graphic quality to it. So we used heavy black paint to color block our faces. LOL!
This was the make up peg that I quickly sketched out for the team.
Gela's angels started on our store manager Renee!
Tags: Alexander McQueen, fashion, house of laurel, parties, preview ball, preview best dressed ball, rajo laurel, republiq
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Monday, July 5th, 2010
The next part of the show was from the country of Brazil and the continent of Africa. The Brazil segment began with an amazing number from the dancers from Los Angeles. Then a parade of the most beautiful Brazilian models began to fill up the stage. By this time my head and my hands did not know weather to tweet or to take photos. In the end I decided to take photos instead and to blog about it. LOL!
Nina, Liana and Jeremy begin the Brazil segment with some hot salsa!
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Tags: Aljur Abrenica, bench body, bench fashion show, bench uncut, carlo guevarra, enchong dee, Ezra Santos, fashion, Fashion Show, katrina halili, maggie wilson, melason, Pokwang, rafael rosell, rajo laurel, Val Taguba, wendell ramos
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Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
I am still reeling from all the exitement, energy and JOY from the BENCH UNCUT show last night! I have seen all the major shows of BENCH and I can definitely say that this was the ABSOLUTE BEST SHOW that BENCH has ever ever ever had! The show’s theme was “A bold look at the future”, in a sense it was what Bench would be like in 10 years. Globalization was where Mr. Ben Chan , who is actually one of my personal idols in the industry, would be taking his company!
These were the hardest tickets to get. The Stage this year was made so big that there were far less seats than the years before. These were literally like golden tickets! I was really so blessed and fortunate to get one.
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Tags: andrew wolf, ben chan, bench, bench body, bench fashion show, bench uncut, bench underwear, Cary Santiago, christian bautista, coco martin, fashion, furne one, Gerald Anderson, gino gonzalez, Ji Huan Bo, john avila, john pratts, karylle, kim ghiu, luke jickain, rajo laurel, Robby Carmona, vina morales, zanjoe marudao
Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Contrary to western beliefs, the Bridal season in the Philippines is not in June but begins in September, peaks in December through January and ends in Feb. However there are still a lot of brides who opt to get married in the “wedding” month of June. This month I am fortunate to be working on a couple of brides. Two of which decided to get married on the same day, barely 2 hours apart.
I Love Peonies! They are my most favorite flower!
You can just imagine how much of a whirling dervish I was on that day. My first bride walked the Aisle at 2pm while my second bride walked at around 330pm. Good thing that there was zero traffic because I was zipping back and forth from Makati to Quezon city the whole day! LOL! Here are some photos from my beautiful brides.
Check out My Maid of Honor Candy Sing Esteban and Tiny Kimmy Lauren Esteban as flower girl! I really liked the clarity of this Aqua shade it is crisp and very flattering!
This is my first Bride Cherie Sing. She wanted a very textured dress. I wanted something really light but still retaining the high texture.
- I love dressing up my brides on their special day, it makes my work so enjoyable as I am part of their memories forever.
The beautiful Haw women. That is the Mother of the Bride, she has such beautiful skin.
I love how the hem of the skirt moves, it makes this whole look so modern.
I love how the hem of the skirt moves, it makes this whole look so modern.
Cherie striking a pose! LOL!
A tender moment as the Mother gives her daughter her flowers.
I just made in time to assist me second bride Mindy See. She wanted something super simple and minimal. I told her I wanted to make her back really interesting and sparkly! LOL!
The back had lots of clear crystals and glass beads!
My dear Friend Jessie Mendez who is practically an icon in the beauty world did her hair and make up! I remember asking him if he would take my sister Gela as his apprentice way back when. He was so kind enough to take her under his wing. For this I am eternally grateful.
I then rushed back to the first wedding just in time to see the entourage march down. I love the Grecian theme with all the ladies sporting various necklines and subtle differences in the turquoise/aqua color theme.
Minutes before walking down the aisle, this is the most exciting moment.
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HUGS!
RAJO!
Tags: Brides, fashion, rajo laurel
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Monday, June 28th, 2010
I was so tickled pink when Ms. Shalani Soledad asked me to design her gown for the swearing in of her boyfriend. Unless your living under a rock you would know that Shalani is the girlfriend of our incoming President of the Republic of the Philippines! I have never really met her before and I only get to see her on TV or in the newspapers. I was so mesmerized by her beauty! She is STUNNING!
She was just a breath of fresh air! Such a really lovely woman. So nice but a bit on the shy side. I did a couple of studies for her until she decided on one. I am showing the sketches of the Ternos that she did not choose and will leave the final as a surprise! LOL!
Tags: fashion, noy noy aquino, rajo laurel, shalani soledad
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Monday, June 28th, 2010
Leave it to my dear friend Malu Gamboa to sniff out one of the best Mexican cantinas we have in the metropolis! After our Legally Blonde show we all were famished! Malu loves Mexican food! So I really trust her when it comes to this cuisine. The place was really close to the Ortigas area and we gave it a go.
Looking at this just makes me hungry!
The place is called TJ’s Tijuana Mexican grill! It is a quaint little place located in a corner of the City Golf Plaza ( weird name?! LOL!) Our waiter was one of the best that I have ever experienced. Well informed, gracious and quite charming. A rarity now a days! Come to think of it, the entire staff was pretty good! We Pinoys have the best smiles!
The quaint interiors! They open late till 3am!
We ordered immediately! Some Nachos, Burito’s ,chicken tenders and a fish taco! Then we had some lovely frozen margaritas to go with the meal! The meal arrived within minutes! Everything was excellent except for the Chicken Tenders which were drenched with fat and the oil oozing out of the basket! NOT PRETTY!
- Nix ready to dive in! LOL!
- Our lovely Margaritas
- Cheers!
The rest of the meal was wonderful and we all really enjoyed it! The waiter gave us extra nachos to boot! I love this place because when Nix’s margarita was not to his liking the waiter changed it immediately without hesitation. You don’t get that in Manila too often. Making this place a winner to me! If you’re all looking for your Mexican fix then head on over to TJ’s. I hear they have a branch in Makati, but I forgot the area.
This was a bit hard to eat! Double fried chicken skin with a ton of oil! Avoid this at all cost if you wish to live longer! LOL! I am sure it tastes great but it will clog up your arteries big time!
A yummy and healthy alternative, a grilled fish taco.
This is their regular burrito! It was nicely done.
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HUGS!
RAJO!
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TJ’s Tijuana Mexican Grill
City Golf Plaza Ortigas, Pasig City
Brngy Ugong
tel. 02-4706179
Tags: fashion, food, Malu Gamboa, Nix Alanon, rajo laurel, tjs tijuana mexican grill
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Friday, June 25th, 2010
I am super excited to share with all of you the photos from the launch of my newest project with Rags2rRiches! It is called the Tree Bag Project!
Presenting....MY TREEBAG!!!!
The packaging! All eco-friedly!
We launched the bag in the very posh Travel Cafe at Greenbelt 5!
The Travel Cafe was so kind to lend us their beautiful space.
It was a lovely gathering of people all supporting this beautiful cause. What makes this project even more significant is that we have fused 4 communities in creation of the bag. We have the weavers of Abra who created the linen fabric of the bag made from scrap thread. Then we have the women of Payatas who braided the handle made from scrap fabric . Then we have the wood carvers of Banglos who created all the wood elements in the bag also from scrap wood. The bag is then sewn in Cebu using out of work factory workers due to the recession. The bags are then shipped back to Manila so that the Rags2Riches team do their quality control, labeling, inventory, costing and packaging!
- Some of the Nanays were there!
The full line! I think that it is so chic?!
One of the biggest bonus of the bag is that for each bag that is bought a tree is planted in a watershed to fight against deforestation! A portion of the sales go to this cause! So really EVERYBODY WINS!!!! Right now the bag will be available in my store the
House of Laurel as well as the home website of
rags2riches.ph.
Guests were encouraged to sign our tree board.
The great news is that we have already orders from ECO stores in Singapore, Hong Kong and Zurich( all totalling 250 bags) meaning more work and jobs for the communities. We are still working for more areas of distribution and I expect the bags to be sold in
Firma and the
Echostore in the Fort. If anyone else is interested in buying or distributing the TreeBag please email our R2R president
Reese Fernandes at
reese.fernadez@gmail.com I am certan that she will be more than welcome to help you!
Spotted my beautiful friend Amina Aranaz-Alunan with her son Lucas. She too has lent her invaluable talents to the program. My wish is more people could help us develop more ideas and designs! Paging all the talented designers out there?!!!!!
Lucas is sooooo cute!!!!!
The party scene!
They had a lovely video to start the program.
We started the program with a moving poetry reading by members of the R2R team! I really liked that touch.
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I encourage all of you to PAY IT FORWARD! There is a lot one person can do all it takes in one teeny tiny nudge for an avalanche of miracles to happen!
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BIG HUGS!
RAJO!
Tags: amina aranaz alunan, fashion, house of laurel, r2r, Rags2rRiches, rajo laurel, Reese Fernandes, riir, tree bag project
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Friday, June 25th, 2010
I just received this email and it really made me think? I think it was a really cool experiment and it makes me wonder what I would do in the same situation? Honestly I would probably stop for a few minutes and move along as being in the Subway often creeps me out! LOL! However PERCEPTION is a very powerful thing.
. . . Something To Think About . . .
THE SITUATION
In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 6 minutes
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At 10 minutes
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.
At 45 minutes
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognitionat all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .
How many other things are we have been missing as we rush through life?
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Have a great day ahead!
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HUGS!
RAJO!
Tags: fashion, rajo laurel
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 21st, 2010
I was recently invited to the 60th anniversary bash of GMA! It was held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Tags: 60th anniversary, Celia Rodriguez, Dolce & Gabbana, Edwin Tan, Fabio Ide, fashion, Geoff Eigenmann, German Moreno, gma, Heart Evangelista, Kuh Ledesma, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Michael V, Ogie Alcasid, Pia Guanio, rajo laurel, Raymond Guttierez, Regine Velasquez, Rhian Ramos, tim yap, Vera Wang
Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
I am sure you know by now that traveling is one of my passions. There is something to be said about being on an airplane and having to be still for a few hours! I find it very therapeutic being in my chair with just my thoughts and nothing to do. For me this is luxury. I tend to read a lot when I am on a journey and totally enjoy the newspaper. I don’t get to read newspapers very often because I am too busy, most of my news come from the internet. So Imagine my surprise when I was enjoying my Philippine Star. There was an article written by my friend’s (Maricel Laxa-Panglinan) daughter . Her name is Ella and ever since I met her she has always been fascinated by the world of fashion! She even came to watch my anniversary fashion show. We had a nice chat and I told her what books she needed in order to learn more about fashion. I felt so wonderful reading the article and making an impact to her. I felt good and all warm inside. I wish Ella the very best in her future and perhaps one day I too will visit her in her studio and reminisce about her visit to mine!
HUGS!
RAJO!
Tags: ella pangilinan, fashion, maricel laxa pangilinan, philippine star, Rajito, rajo laurel
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