Secret Garden by Binky Pitogo (Wedding Belles Fashion Show)

The moment I was invited to participate in this bridal event, I already knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to showcase a collection that would clearly show my personal design aesthetic. I wanted to use a nicely printed fabric since I've always been so attracted to beautiful prints, and matched with crochet details instead of the usual bead work. Although the designs just came along while I was already in the process, the garden theme I had in mind was clear from the very start. I'm lucky to have found the perfect fabric. Without second thought I picked this fabric the moment I saw it. I also designed matching accessories to complete the look of my models so I had these gloves and extra flowers crocheted. Aside from the accessories, I designed matching cover-ups for the bridesmaids and cape for the bride to keep that conservative look. The bride's cape also served as the train of her gown.

I feel so lucky having been given the opportunity to participate in this event. My preparations were not as complete as the others since it was my first time but I definitely learned from it. I had this chance to push myself again and I'm proud of all the hardwork I put in to come up with all this. Of course, I would not be able to do all these without the creative hands of those who worked for me. And I thank the Lord for all the blessings and great opportunities that have come my way. I'm also very thankful and happy that I have my family and friends to back me up in everything. And of course, to my gorgeous models who came with me all the way from the other side of Manila to Alabang. I also would like to thank the organizers of Wedding Belles, SoFA, my fellow designers from SoFA, Jing Monis Salon and all the other sponsors. THANK YOU all and may God bless you all always! :)

Now, meet my gorgeous models!!

My cutie flower girl, Princess Espinosa

 

My bestfriend, the bridesmaid, Nychill Lalugan.

My friend since kindergarten, the maid of honor, Au Sitaca.

 My tita, the mother of the bride, Jewella Lavilla.

And my bride, also my friend since high school, Joannah Gonzales.

 And yours truly, with the bride.. :)

Me with the my models.. :)

 

All photos by my uncle, Jose Maria Lavilla

Full Bloom

This day has really got something to do with flowers! First, I wore a floral robe which I made (this particular design will also be part of my next collection for Binkydoodles).

Ms Loida made her top too! :)

floral robe, made by me,

yellow green tank top from Pinky Binky,

shoes from Jellybean,

acid washed cut-offs from 168 Mall,

jade braelet from Mom,

rings and bangles from my secret place

Second, the fabric I used for my toiling project had flowers and rhinestones all over it. I worked on this project for 2 sessions that I almost gave-up on it. But hey, I'm finally done with it! Whew! I think by looking at it, you'd understand why I had so much stress doing this project (haha)...

And the highlight of the day- Shen's ukay-ukay! Being one of those who convinced her to do a closet clean-up, I was given the privilege to be one of the first to choose from her stuffs. Guess what I bought? The very cute floral shoes I'm wearing in the picture above! She never wore that pair, lucky me huh?! Aside from this really cute pair of Jellybean flats, I also bought from her another never worn pair of black peeptoes from Dorothy Perkins! I'm just lucky to have the same shoe size as hers, so there's no competition at all!  I actually wore a different pair but I just had to change since the shoes I bought matched my outfit so well. :)

 Shen's trunk full of clothes, bags, and shoes!!! :)

Ms Loida bought all these bags! 

The girl behind all these... Shen Jarlega wearing her trouser project... :)

Twins for a Day

Last week, my friend Jed Orosa and I bought the same fabric for our midterms and we both agreed to wear our skirts with asymetric radiating gathers today for our make-up class. We didn't talk about what to wear exactly, but somehow aside from our skirts, our looks really matched. I guess we both succeeded in making Ms Loida happy. :)

 

peach top from Padini,

patchwork print skirt, made by me,

sandals from Nine West,

cuff and necklace from my secret place

 

matching colors with Ms Loida Hunter :)

Brasilipinas Event

Here's a picture of me and my Mom during Christmas Eve (December 24, 2010). In this picture, she wore a pleated midi dress which she also designed (my Mom designs her own outfits too! cool huh?).. As usual, I loved her fabric so I asked her for the "retaso".

 

Now, check out what I did to Mom's "retaso". I wore this outfit last Friday. :)

silk top, made by me,

electric blue bodycon skirt from Zara,

platform wedge from Charles and Keith,

leather bag from Liz Claiborne,

resin bangles from Cebu

The event was held at the Rockwell Tent. SoFA students from Ms Benet's Fashion Product Development class (which I'm not part of), plus Danika Navarro's collection (which was supposedly for the RISQ competition) opened the event with a fashion show. Here are some of the runway shots. I wasn't able to document everything though because I was far from the stage. Get ideas on what's hot this summer from the forecasts of my fellow SoFashionistas. :)

Danika's collection :)

...

Designs from Ms B's class :)

Midterms Week

I finally found a way to wear this pair of silver sandals which I got as one of the pasalubongs from my dear boyfriend. He describes it as "tiled" while I call it prom shoes (haha). Exactly the type of sandals one would wear to formal events such as proms, weddings, etc. But who knows when the next formal event would be? There's no way I'm going to wait for it to get old in my shoe rack! So I took the chance on wearing it to school with my latest personal sewing project and paired it with rugged faded jeans to create a "not so formal" look. Anyway, it's midterms week and we were asked to do skirts with asymetric radiating gathers for Pattern and Sewing class. Along with the other girls, we agreed to wear our projects next meeting... Watch out Ms Loids! hehe :)

Would you believe I got this fabulous fabric with a really cute print for only P15/yard? Yes, that's right. I got it for only P15!!!

Nico Aquino fitting Dan Duran's corset project (will post mine next week) :)

with Nico Aquino and Shen Jarlega :)

oversized ruched top, made by me,
jeans from 168 Mall,
"tiled" step-in from Madeline,
accessories from my secret place

Intertwined Dress

Here's one of the dresses I made just recently. If the style looks familiar to you or if you've been reading my previous blogs, you may notice that I used the same application with my swimsuit project to add style to this dress. I wore this summer inspired outfit to school. :)

I love the print and the color of the fabric plus the gold details on it. :)

 

with my classmates Shen and Keena :)

 intertwined dress, made by me,

crochet vest from Tutuban Mall,

pink sling bag from Nine West,

wedge from VNC,

assorted bangles from my secret place,

painted wooden bracelet from Cebu

fabric shopping for our midterm exam

Here's another personal project which I've been working on, a paisley printed high-waist shorts! :)

The One-Piece Swimsuit Project

Yeeessss, I'm officially back in SoFA and I'm now on my third term, though I only have two subjects for this term so it's just a one-day Tuesday class. For our first project in Sewing 3 and Pattern 3, our first task was to make swimsuits in two variations- basic, and color blocked. Since we didn't have enough time to look for fabrics, I had to stick with plain colors. For the basic swimsuit, I used silver and for my color blocked entry, I combined peach and cream. Since we were only asked to do the basic pattern for our first swimsuit, I just thought of a more challenging design for my color blocked swimsuit. I didn't want to stick with the cut-out patterns since I wanted to do something more difficult. And indeed I was challenged! Phew! I got stressed-out while sewing the styled parts since the fabric was spandex (whose properties are beyond normal). I've always wanted to design my own swimsuit line but I know I don't have the capacity to do all things at once. But I guess learning how to make my own swimsuit is a good start. :-)

Basic Swimsuit (the making, front and back details)

Color Blocked Swimsuit (the making, front and back details)

Projects for Basic Draping

 

....learning the basics....

 

one of my projects modeled by Hazel :)

....my design for finals....

 behind the scenes shots by Jean and Bea (with our teacher Ms. Ish Orendain :))

 

 .....this is it.... :)