An Afternoon with Karen at KARIMADON

While my friend Karen Wu was in town, she invited me and the SoMoms to her mom's store KARIMADON. 

When I told my mommy friends about it, they all started reminiscing about their high school years, when they shopped at Karimadon for party dresses. 

Michelle aka My Mom Friday remembers buying her party clothes at their store in Virra Mall, when Karimadon had square pants and cropped tops that were so right on trend (actually, cropped tops are back!), and Carmina Villaroel was the It Girl at the time, when the term "It Girl" was still unheard of, heehee!

Carmina with Ruffa & Aiko, via FashionPulis.com

Karen's parents started Karimadon in 1980, which is actually an acronym of their children's first names. So yes, Karen is the Kar in Karimadon!

Today it has grown into 16 boutiques in malls, with 4 department store locations. Admittedly, most of us moms haven't been inside Karimadon in years, associating it with special occasion clothes for younger girls with great figures, but we were in for a pleasant surprise.

I spotted chic cocktail dresses at unbelievably affordable price points. Nothing above Php3,000. Most of their cocktail dresses are in the Php1,500 to Php2,000 range.

 

This particular one had pretty crystal embellishments.

I especially loved this structured dress. Very Roland Mouret/Victoria Beckham. If I only knew that they would take photos of me in this dress, I would have put on makeup haha! Thanks for lending your YSL wooden heel pumps for dress-up, Karen!

There's a red version too, and it's unbelievable how this dress retails for Php2,500. I'll wear it with really great accessories, get my hair and makeup done, and it can easily look like a million bucks. Or Php20,000 heehee.

They also had jersey jumpsuits that are very Studio54, just like what Kris aka OC Mom in Manila is wearing (it's very party in the back aka backless!), and Grecian style gowns that are flattering for all body types. Apart from special occasion clothing, they have sheath dresses for work, tops & bottoms for everyday wear, and accessories.

Karen shares that 34 years later, her mom continues to work with the in-house design team and is very much involved in design up to now.  It was also great to know that apart from being locally designed, Karimadon clothes are made right here in the Philippines, which allows them to also take care of alterations, so customers are ensured of a great fit!

Thanks so much for having us over, Karen! We had such a great time re-discovering Karimadon!

For more on Karimadon check out www.karimadonfashion.com, Like them on Facebook, and follow @KarimadonPH on Twitter & Instagram.

Visit KARIMADON at Glorietta 5, Ayala Trinoma Mall, Ayala Center Cebu, Ayala Marquee Mall, Ayala Terraces Mall, Fairview, SM Megamall/North Edsa/Centerpoint/Fairview/Bacoor/Marilao/Pampanga/Cebu, Robinsons Galleria/Metro-East/Ermita and Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall and inside LANDMARK Makati, LANDMARK Trinoma, La Casa Grand in Laoag and Houseware Plaza Department Store in Daet. 

Camille for Cole Vintage

Holiday dressing isn't over yet, with Chinese New Year happening in two days! 

My friends at Cole Vintage have collaborated with blogger/designer Camille Co with a collection that will be sold exclusively at Cole Vintage for a limited time only.

If you are looking for something festive to wear for Chinese New Year, there are 6 styles to choose from the collection - 4 dresses, 1 top and 1 skirt that come in red and blue, all so versatile, you can wear them all throughout 2014!

Camila dress Php1,799 

Carmela top Php1,199 and Carmen skirt Php1,499 

Clara Dress Php1,499 

Chica dress Php1,999 (comes in red and black too)

Corazon Tunic Php1,699 

Shop the Camille Co for Cole Vintage Collection, HERE!

Pois Belly and Kids

Shopping for kids' clothes here in Manila ain't as limited as I thought it would be. Although I have to say, it's hard shopping for chic boys clothes talaga. It's not like I can just go to any children's boutique and instantly find something I'd like for Xavi to wear. But OMG. Girl's clothes? Here's my new discovery when I went to SM Megamall to run errands - Pois Belly & Kids:

They have these floral printed dresses that are like updated versions of the Laura Ashley dresses my younger sisters wore during the 1990s. They also have embellished pieces that look a lot of fun. I can imagine these to be quite adorable on little girls.

Oh! Here's an extra fun outfit. This striped "animal" top paired with lemon yellow scalloped shorts. Perfect for school and play dates:

But ahhh! When I spotted these, I thought of Berry right away: pink, ballerina-inspired and super tulled to the max. She would be so into these sort of wearable confections.

But my favorite pieces in the store above all are these relatively understated pieces. Loving the pink & gray story here:

I particularly fell for the striped top & tulle skirt outfit and the chic party dress. I am pretty sure Berry will love these too:

Pois Belly & Kids also has clothes for tweens and expecting mamas:

Price range is from about Php550 and up. When I visited this afternoon, they even had a sale section that was at 50% to 70% OFF! ;)

Pois Belly & Kids is the brainchild of Clement & Rowena Velasco of Eurowear Marketing Corporation. They currently have six stores located at: Trinoma, SM Megamall Atrium, Glorietta 3, SM Mall of Asia, SM City Cebu and SM City Iloilo. 

For more about Pois Belly & Kids, visit and like their Facebook page, HERE!

J.Crew Looks I Love: S/S 2012

I love espadrilles with shorts, the striped button down shirt, bright yellow pants and the pointy nude flats. Those printed trousers.

The striped dress with pointy orange flats, the unexpected twist of an embroidered dress and snakeskin flats, and the freshness of a white dress with gold "sandelles"(as Berry would say)

These looks make me want to wear a cropped jacket. The one in the middle is my fave.

Pregnancy Style

I have so many beauty related posts lined up, but before we go there, I just wanted to share that I have no urge to shop for clothes these days. But I am so enthralled with makeup, skincare and massages. To my fellow preggy ladies, do you feel the same? 

Maybe I don't feel like shopping since I still fit into my shirts and tops, and just wear jeans, shorts and trousers that were bought a size too big. Since I buy a lot of my stuff online, I usually end up with pieces that are big for me, but since I am tamad to return sometimes, I just keep them anyway. They're not a lot, but these sure come in handy during times like these, hehe. So pregnancy style tip, just get bottoms that are a size/ a few sizes bigger than your usual. You can always belt the bottoms or wear them slung on your hip when you go back to your pre-pregnancy weight.

Anyhoo, I know the day will come when I would want to dress up. I thought I'd share with you this super cool line called Hatch Collection that I bookmarked way before I got pregnant with Dragon Dychiao. Hatch Collection is based out of New York and makes these maternity but not maternity looking clothes. Check these out!

I miss the days tuloy when I was walking around New York, pregnant with Berry. My daily dose of exercise was pounding the streets of SoHo, Madison Ave and Fifth Ave. Window shopping lang. Manila is not exactly the place for walking around, all layered like above, hehehe.

You know who else look cute while pregnant? Japanese women. Who apparently also frequent the Clarins Spa in Rustan's for pre-natal massage treatments. No wonder they get to keep their figure. I remember they would wear these loose linen or peasant style dresses. It's not my style, it's too cutesy for my taste, but they get away with it. Just check the Japanese magazines. They would wear these over jeans and pair it with clogs and layer it with long sleeved tees underneath. So cute!

I will research next what French women wear while pregnant. Now that is totally gonna rock my world.

Photos from Hatch Collection and Joe Browns

Fashion Forum at SM Megamall

Fashion Forum at SM Megamall has been open for a few months now, but the formal launch happened last October 11. I swear, right about now is the time to go, especially now that it's party season and we'll all need something nice to wear that won't break the bank. 

Like I always say here in the blog, Fashion Forum has a great selection of dresses and tops, all the time. Apart from Jeffrey Campbell shoes that is, and you all know about that ;). I have this sleeveless BB Dakota top with a long back that is very "Equipment-esque" and I love how simple yet different it is.

Oh! And there was this pretty shift dress from Max & Cleo that I cannot forget to this day, and I often remember it when I have an occasion to go to and that dress would have been perfect, tsk. Sometimes, you really just have to buy the dress and then wait for the party to happen. 

Before I ramble on, let me share with you some of the dresses you'll find at SM Fashion Forum. If you need a responsible looking shift dress for work, a cocktail dress or a long gown for an important occasion, or just a pretty printed dress to wear to weekend brunches, Fashion Forum's got it all!

Not a print person, but Oooh! I love that dress in the middle!

Again, dress in the middle! I'll totally wear that with tan sandals or nude pumps and a long gold chain

Office appropriate, and yet can totally go from day to night, right?

This one too! Just wear with pumps for day, and strappy sandals by night.

As with these three in shades of grey.

Ok, this is definitely for night! Love the fun layers of scalloped fabric.

This is quite elegant, and wedding guest appropriate

Another fun evening dress with a dramatic flair.

A great mix of pretty dresses right? SM Fashion Forum carries sizes 0 to 16, and prices hover at around Php5000 for a dress. Affordable really, considering you can wear these over and over, because the dresses truly are classic. If you're gasping for time, and need a dress stat, Fashion Forum is simply the way to go!

Fashion Forum's Carissa Chan with Amina Aranaz-Alunan

Daphne Osena-Paez, the host for the day, with Fashion Forum's CarRet Lindayag

(They are both wearing dresses from Fashion Forum)

(Photos taken by Tammy David)