When Chic Hits The Fun

We all live such busy lives, that sometimes the lack of time takes the fun out of shopping and dressing up. 

Thankfully, online shopping keeps me sane. It's a great way to de-stress, and even the mere act of browsing online late at night, when everyone in the entire household is asleep, is so relaxing. 

So when Chin Joson of Chicify invited me to be part of Chicify's re-launch, it felt like a siren call. So enticing, and yet potentially dangerous. It was like walking into temptation central.

In a Chicify bib tunic, during our shopping party. One of my fave easy, slip-on pieces

For one, our goal was to fill Chicify with brands and products we would personally vouch for. Great finds, curated selections, so you don't have to sift through shit.

Second, Chin and I got to design the clothes we've always wanted to wear, but couldn't find elsewhere, or at least, at pocket-friendly price points. 

Third, we had a ton of criteria: The clothes we make had to be easy to slip on, comfortable, and made from quality fabrics. 

But they also had to fit well, and had to have the ability to make us look like we made an effort to dress up, even if it only took us five minutes to get dressed.

True enough, I ended up buying most of the clothes we designed for Chicify. I'd try them on and fall in love, and never want to let go. Maybe it's self-love? A subjective appreciation of our work? Or healthy narcissism. I don't know. All I know is, I can practically live in these clothes, not just this summer, but the whole year round. 

1) The best-selling Chicify culottes. We are obsessed with culottes. Obsessed.  They're just so easy to wear, makes us look instantly stylish, and is so perfect for summer. This is version 2.0 and we've had to re-stock this because the initial batch sold out quick! Currently available in white...

and chambray.

Instead of wearing jeans, I'd wear these chambray culottes, and they're just so perfectly breezy! My friend Maymay says she loves to wear this to work, especially during summer, because it is so forgiving in this heat. Let's put it this way. Culottes vs Skinny Jeans under the scorching summer sun. What would you pick?

2) The Shirt Dress. It was love at first sight for my friend Karrots, that she wanted to buy the sample I had at home. I was planning to send it back to the office, but when Karrots bought one, and wore this exact same shirt dress with black wedge sneakers, I decided to keep it for myself. Ahihihi. When I spotted these old school Nike running shoes, BOOM! Bagay na bagay.

But pair it with pumps or ballet flats, and they're work appropriate in an instant.

3) The Painter Dress. Inspired by a painter's smock that you button all the way at the back, this is the everyday dress version. Rendered in navy linen and also in chambray, they look so mahal that it looked right at home at homme et femme in Shang. But mind you, it's just Php1,699. Where to find a heavy linen dress for Php1,699 pray tell? At Chicify, saan pa.

4) The Donya Dress. Technically, it's called the Tunic Maxi, but once worn, it has this magical effect of making me look tall, and Donyatique.

If a dress can make you look like you lived in a private island 165 out of 365 days of the year, or at least in a rambling house with a huge pool and a cabana on your sprawling backyard, you've got to believe in magic.

Lucky for you, I don't need to tell you how you and this magic dress can find each other. In a world that's full of strange brands, you've only got to believe in magic. Something's stronger than the moon above. 

Because it's magic when you and Chicify fall in love.

Promise. Cross My Heart. I don't want to die, but lightning strike me for telling a lie.

Say Hi! to Chicify

If I've been quiet here in the blog, it's mostly because I've been busy with the Dada and kids, getting ready for our bun in the oven arriving next month, holiday preps, and a couple of other fun projects I've been working on, one of which is the relaunch of online shopping site, Chicify!

Chin Joson of Chicify and I have been working on getting the site ready for a couple of months now, and it has finally, finally hatched. Yay!

Many of you are probably familiar with the site, I've even run a Chicify giveaway years ago, and while it did well, Chin realized that over the years, Chicify needed some creative direction and curation, and a fresh new look to keep its old customers happy, attract new ones, and get everyone coming back for more.

So we decided to trim the brand list down to the labels that fit into our concept of chic, come up with a whole new look for the site that is fresh, fun and full of great finds, and relaunch with the in-house label, Chicify, which allowed us to come up with pieces we've always wanted to wear, but couldn't find locally.

We thought of ourselves, our sisters, and friends, and decided on this capsule collection of easy-to-wear pieces that take out the stress of asking ourselves, "What do I wear?"

There's a billowy Racerback maxi dress with pockets that we can wear with flip flops to weekend markets at the park, but may also be dressed up with a long gold chain, a stack of bangles and gold wedge sandals for a dressy beach house party.

We loved this flouncy Cropped ruffle top at first sight, straight from the sewer's sample room. It instantly dresses up a basic pair of shorts or denims, and can transition from day to night with ease.

As I cannot live without button down shirts, we came up with a Square cropped version that has a longer back. I suggest you button it up all the way to the top, and wear it with your favorite denims. It has an insouciance about it, and totally goes against the standard preppy aesthetic that button down shirts are associated with.

Both tops would look great with the Chin culottes, inspired by Chicify founder Chin, who has a pair from so many years ago that is still a favorite to this day, they've lived around long enough to see a style resurgence. We think Chicify's version should become long-term staples in your closets as well.

I fell in love with Madewell's poncho dress from a season or so back, and loved the striped accents it had going on. But I found it too tent like, I wished it came in a slimmer tunic version. The result is the Santorini tunic, which makes for a super stylish piece to wear to grocery errands, brunch with girlfriends, or for what it's named after, an essential summer piece for your Mediterranean getaway.

The Bib tunic is a more subtle version of Santorini, perfect for school pick-ups, mall runs, weekend lunches at your parents' place, or  Sunday get togethers with the in laws. 

Lastly, the Piped dress, is an inspired piece that aims to solve your corporate dressing woes. It's polished enough to wear to work, just pair it with pumps and a structured bag. But come weekend, it also works as a comfy dress that you can pair with flats and a slouchy cabas tote. Finally, a dress that can take you from your work desk, to dinner date, to weekend downtime. Hopefully not in a span of 24 hours.

These pieces are all limited runs, as with all the other styles we have on our pipeline. Expect to be delighted and surprised with new designs from Chicify as the weeks progress. Because we're always dreaming up perfect pieces for us girls to wear, for every imaginable occasion.

Of course, don't forget to check out the other brands we have on board! 

There's Anthill, Cole Vintage, 12Twelve Maternity, Sexy White Shirt, Ziggy and Zooey. We think they make great additions to your wardrobe. 

From L to R: Anthill Panyo Kapa, Cole Vintage Ilaria dress paired with Ziggy & Zooey flats, 12Twelve Maternity Goddess dress, Sexy White Shirt

With the holidays coming up, we're also beefing up our Accessories and Chic Objects category to take the guess work out of gift giving. 

Check out Magpie's Nest, a line of gorgeous accessories from Bangkok which is also stocked at Anthropologie, House of Heirloom's fun, affordable line of neck pieces, canvas bags from FEED and Baggu, and our latest discovery, Tangle Teezer brushes, because tangled hair is so not chic. Heehee.

From top L to R, clockwise: Magpie's Nest bib necklace, House of Heirloom rope necklace, Baggu backpack, FEED tote, Tangle Teezer hair brush

We've got more brands coming on board, so check soon and check often. We hope you enjoy browsing and shopping the new Chicify as much as we had fun putting everything together!

Model: Jackie Go
Styling: Me
Hair & Makeup: Eliza Santiago-Ypon
Photography: Anthony Co

The Wicked Matter, Wine & More

We keep our wines inside our buffet table which is the darkest place I could store them, away from the pantry where food odors could contaminate the wine.

My only issue with it though is that our bottles are laid out in a single row, taking up precious space. It is not uncommon to see trays, placemats and table napkins stacked on top of bottles of wine. I kind of get nervous too whenever we open it, afraid that with bottles rolling around, one bottle is bound to bump into another and break.

So when Raquel Ong Sue of The Wicked Matter sent over their "wine glass bottle stack" made from slip free silicone, I was just so excited to use it!

 

With the wine stacker, I eventually managed to stack 7 bottles where there only used to be 4 bottles. Theoretically, I could in fact use it to stack up to 10 bottles, except that the storage space was low and I couldn't squeeze in a third layer. 

So pleased that I could stack bottles without fear of having them roll around inside the buffet table

If you think the wine glass bottle stack is wonderful, here's something that solves the issue of drinking from another guest's wine glass - "bird wine glass markers"!

When we had my cousins over for dinner, and I whipped out these cute little birds to put on their wine glasses, they just loved it. They're cute and practical to boot!

Apart from silicone wine bottle stackers and wine markers, Raquel also brought in these handy dandy kitchen products like environment friendly food wraps you can use in lieu of plastic cling wraps, glass coasters, tea infusers and ice/chocolate/jelly molds, among others:

The Wicked Matter's selection of fun and practical products is mompreneur Raquel's brainchild. She shares she used to have a 9-5 job, but felt frustrated for not being able to spend time with her son. Thanks to her supportive husband who encouraged her to go into business so she would be able to control her time, she decided to look for something interesting and came up with The Wicked Matter. 

Whether you love to entertain, or simply need a great hostess gift, remember, The Wicked Matter has the answer!

The Wicked Matter products are available at Hobbes and Landes (Bonifacio High Street, Greenbelt 5 and Power Plant Mall), Crossings Dept Store (Shangri-la Mall and Quezon Avenue), www.chicify.com, www.qrius.ph, www.zalora.com.ph, The Landmark (Trinoma and Makati). For inquiries and updates, like The Wicked Matter on Facebook.

Chicify at Miss Match

Better late than never, and this is still worth sharing!

miss-match, our favorite virtual styling site has met its shopping match! Last month, miss-match tied up with the treasure trove of well-priced finds Chicify.com, which means that all the items on Chicify are now featured on miss-match, so you can easily Style & Shop in one go!

Now it'll be a breeze to visualize how your favorite pieces from Chicify can be styled a myriad of ways.  All the better to justify that purchase, my dears!

PS - Watcha waiting for? Head on over to miss-match.com.ph na!

Piecing Together

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments about Berry's attempt at styling! While Berry has a future as a stylist, the little girl needs more training in taking photos, heehee. She offered, no insisted to take this photo when we met up with our friends Bel & Karen, who were in town for the holidays. She looked so serious taking the photo, then showed us my phone as if to ask us if we liked it. All three of us started giggling when we saw this:

Thankfully, Berry's Nana was there to take this photo for posterity:

It was great seeing you Bel & Karen! Let's do this again when you are back in town! Berry, your efforts are still much appreciated of course! We love you!

Pregnancy Style Tip: For pregnant women looking for non-maternity clothes that you can wear after giving birth, I find the Athena tunic dress from Cole Vintage (also available online at Chicify) to be a great first trimester dress. It's slimming but with enough room for a growing bump! Wore mine with sandals from K.Jacques, Chloe sunnies, necklace from Kenneth Jay Lane, Fallon cuff, and Celine tote. And a supot of Hizon's ensaymada. Hee!

Tunic dresses are so presko and when the Little One finally comes out, they're a great beach cover-up or a lazy weekend/errands dress that you can just throw on and pair with sandals and sunnies. Effortless diba?

Who Got Chicified?

Berry chose the winners. Prizes will be given out based on order of drawing (first pick gets her first choice, 2nd pick gets her choice, if not available, then her second choice, third pick gets the remaining item).

Congratulations to:

1 - Rlyn: Menca Mischka yellow tunic (please advise size)
2 - Rhea Nel: Substance Feres Clutch
3 - The Phenomenal Woman: Handbag Fund Pouch

Please expect an email from me, so that we can make arrangements for Chicify to ship your prize to your preferred address. Congratulations again!

Thanks so much to everyone who joined, and watch out for more contests here in the blog! 

Oh, btw, Chicify's Facebook Promotion is still ongoing until June 23, so check their page on how you can get your pick from Chicify too!

Blog Giveaway from Chicify: CLOSED

Dear Readers! Here's a great way to start the week. We've got a blog giveaway sponsored by Chicify and yours truly. If you haven't been Chicified yet, read on:

Chicify is an online shopping mecca for all things chic and stylish. Well-curated and filled to the brim with great finds at pocket friendly prices, most of their items are proudly Filipino designed and made. Everything is no less than fabulous.

Yes, Chicify stocks homegrown labels: shoes & dresses from Cole Vintage, bikinis from Salsa Trends, accessories from Mikka Padua, Substance and much more. My favorite pieces from Chicify are their totes and pouches, which come in different colors. They also come labeled with either "Weekend", "Yoga", "Baby Stuff, "Handbag Fund", "Receipts", etc. So adorbs! And prices aren't bad at all! These make the perfect gifts for girl friends if you are on a budget!

Chicify "Weekend" Canvas Tote Php890

Chicify "Receipts" Pouch Php 280

So here's the sweetest deal! The ladies behind Chicify have carefully picked out items from their online store for three lucky readers. We will raffle off the following prizes:

Handbag Fund pouch:

Menca Mischka Yellow tunic:

Substance Feres clutch in Plum:

Here's how to join:

1. Visit CHICIFY.COM
2. Like them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/chicify)
3. Follow @chicify on Twitter

4. Leave a comment on this post telling us your top pick of the three items here (either the pouch, tunic or clutch - hopefully you get your first choice!), what else you liked in Chicify, plus your email address. Like this:

I want the ______.
I also want the _____.
My email address is _____.

Contest starts today, May 23 and we will accept entries until May 30. Winners will be announced on May 31. Items will be shipped out to the winners c/o Chicify.

Incidentally, Chicify is simultaneously holding a Facebook Promotion “Get CHICIFIED for FREE!”

Yes, you can join that too for more chances of winning! To find out how to join as well, click HERE!