Confessions of a Fashiontista

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Fashion magazine advertisements and lifestyle features would report discernible changes, as they introduce newfangled designs, novel colors and plush accessories, which are part of the fashion evolution. On the other hand, technology constantly brings about better, faster, and more affordable gadgets.

The high investment a woman places on fashion necessitates taking care of these “assets”. After all, if a “fashionista” is to spend thousands (or hundreds of thousands!) on shoes and bags, she may as well get her money’s worth!

SHOES

Carrie of Sex and the City loves shoes. So does Imelda Marcos. My collection may not be as vast, but I’ve got a handful which needs managing especially with my hectic lifestyle.

Shoes are best kept in their original boxes to protect them from getting scratched or deformed. However, storing them in boxes makes it difficult to identify them, especially when one is in a hurry to leave (calling out to busy fashionistas).

Another potential problem is misidentification: putting the right brand — but not the right pair — into the box. This happens often for a woman who follows a certain brand or brands (like me!). I amass Nine West, Aldo and Charles & Keith chaussure. With my love for technology and my quest to preserve my shoes, I established a way to ‘file’ them in my own fashionista way.

Using my pink Nokia 3250 mobile phone, I would take pictures of different pairs of shoes. Then, connect my phone via Bluetooth to my HP DeskJet 450cbi printer. This gave me the power of wireless printing within seconds. No computers needed! After quick printing, I tape each printed picture onto its corresponding box. Voila! No more shoe-and-box mismatch. It takes me less than 10 minutes to complete my shoe-preservation-and-identification mission!

BAGS
Prada. Gucci. Dior. Louis Vuitton. Bags, bags, and more bags! They’re a necessity to match every mood and to complete every look.

Expensive bags usually come with cloth-bag protectors. But for some of my bags which do not come with these protective things, I store them in separate paper bags (usually the original store paper bag) to help keep their shape and quality. No folding or deforming allowed girls!

Similar to the concept of shoe filing, I will take pictures of my bags using my Nokia phone, print them out, and tape the photos onto the paper bags. This way, I know exactly which bag to pull out of my closet, without having to look through several bags. You can even store more that 1 bag in every paper bag. With this space-saver, you can buy more bags! As for my fellow fashionistas with Prada’s and alike: I store them in their cloth-bags, and secure them inside paper bags individually. It preserves the shape, and allows easy filing.

This is my own quick and fun way of keeping fashion accessories in tip-top shape. To my fellow shoes-and-bags enthusiasts, the revelation of a merger!

I wrote this article a year ago and it was released in some magazines and newsletters. One of the topics in Philmug caught my attention and so I thought of re-publishing my old article in my blog. http://www.philmug.ph/forum/archive/index.php/t-7987.html

Back in Manila

Tweet A few days back in my home -- Manila, was a good break, and it still is ... we won't be flying out until next week. I was away just for a few months (left Manila officially OCT 15) to go prep for my wedding stuff in Singapore...it was weeks and weeks of preparation, happiness, visitiors and pure bliss! Last November was busy being a housewife in Singapore, honeymoon in Indo, a short visit to KL, and arrived in sunny Manila just before the Xmas month. So being back home was actually my vacation from all that!

My visit to Fort surprised me as I walked down the newly developed commercial area around Serendra. We stopped by A Different Bookstore, had some donuts at Krispy Kreme and surveyed the other establishments. I'm sure that area will be a big hit when it is completed. Another new hang-out place. Well I guess that's a new thing in Manila, but what's still the same: the bad roads and traffic in EDSA. As I was driving around, I couldn't help but think why our government can't "spend wisely" and dedicate resources to improve road infrastucture. Why can't we have wide roads like Singapore and KL, where cars won't have damaged suspensions after a few years of city driving. How I wish that will improve as our currency is improving against the dollar. Maybe there is hope?

Talking about the economy, it seems that the tourism / hotel industry is doing quite well, namely Edsa Shangri-la and Makati Shangri-la Hotel. Me and my hubby stayed in Edsa Shang a few days before spending a few days in my house, and the hotel was F-U-L-L-Y booked! The breakfast buffets were packed. December is really a good month of hotel stays I guess. We almost didn't get bookings for our next stay, which is Makati Shangri-la. We wanted a change of area for this week, and it's also my chance to catch up with some old friends who are in Makati. It's nice to be back in Makati, I kind of miss it. I used to drive to Makati every single day (for my past job). As we check in later today, I'll get the chance to ring up (and SMS) some of my good friends, schedule lunch get-togethers and "coffee chats" to catch up.

It's good to be home.