Shopping : Party-tastic at LULU

 By: Unknown    04:30  No comments

Some time ago I wrote a post about a shop I'd visited that's a little bit out of the normal shopping route - Lulu Boutique. I know that quite a few of you popped by and visited the shop and loved how quaint it is. A lot of you also sent me messages inquiring about 'formal or special' dresses for weddings and parties. 

It's not really a shop I'd send people to that are looking for a special dress to wear to a wedding but there are some lovely dresses that are great for parties and can easily be dressed up with some accessories and made to look a bit more fabulous. I know a lot of you would prefer seeing some more photos before making the trip so I stopped by the store again and took a few more stock photos, focusing mainly on those dresses that are a bit more 'party-tastic'.

P.S - the all-cream/ white ones are NOT good for weddings :)

And here's a slideshow with many more party dress options

A couple of photos of the lovely place - because it needs to be snapped on each visit

And for those not interested in party dresses - I spotted some other items around the shop that are very interesting

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Malta Fashion Week : New Designers : 2015

 By: Unknown    00:44  No comments

The New Designer's Show is the longest show at Malta Fashion Week and a demonstration of what Malta's up and coming talent has to offer. There are some promising new designers that I will eagerly watch out for but unfortunately there were some others that I feel need to give their concepts a bit more thought next time round.

A few general comments

• Quality of tailoring and finishing is important - if you're putting a collection out onto the catwalk, you need to ensure that the pieces are finished properly.
• Quality of fabric is important - I realise that money may be tight but some of the fabrics I saw today should not be used in a fashion collection.
• Stick to a concept - you might be bursting with hundreds of ideas but you need to be selective and choose 1 or 2 concepts to work with. Too many ideas presented at one go can leave the audience feeling disconnected and confused.
• Don't just use any music - the music accompanying your show needs to match the mood of your collection.

First up was Margo de Vidal - Spanish designer based in Malta. Her accessories earn her a big 10 on 10, the belts are brilliant and the fanny pack has my name written all over it.

I did also quite like the tie dye long, flowing concept and the two piece crop top and trousers which had a very sharp look.

MC Fashion presented a neon collection. Viewing the collection as a whole, it did feel a bit too bright and dandy but some standalone items have an interesting vibe that I could see being worked into an outfit and paired with more basic pieces.

Fretka also presented a very bright collection. However, I felt that it didn't quite meet the expected standard. The material, tailoring and general design concept didn't feel very mature and it felt a bit lackluster and lacking in quality.

Mari Ahoy - I really liked one piece in this collection, a very interesting catsuit with cutout pieces.





The rest of the collection had way too many different things going on - with some sleek pieces, strange hats and even cartoon-like fabrics. I especially didn't like the skirt with side ties - way too much exposed flesh that really didn't work well on the catwalk and was quite unflattering.

Lukka - I would have liked to see more of a collection from Lukka, there was no real flow of a conceptual story or colour concept across the different pieces. Also, I felt some of the individual looks were over-accessorised and could have done with being a bit plainer, allowing more focus on the clothes. As individual items, there were a couple of looks I quite liked - my favourite was this metallic dress below - it is very wearable and I think a collection built around this sort of style could be quite successful for him.

Gaetano was my favourite of the night - his work was interesting, of good quality and great tailoring. It is also highly wearable and sellable. These are all important qualities to look for within a collection, I think he has a very exciting future as a designer ahead of him. There was a short dress that really caught my eye as something I would enjoy wearing but this dress below was the one that looked most  impressive from the audience.

Sarah Caruana Dingli earns a lot of points for a brilliant story concept, I loved the whole Alice in Wonderland direction she went for. Not all the pieces are wearable, some of them felt a bit theatrical but I really enjoyed watching this part of the New Designers show.

Gabrielle Fenech's pieces felt quite fresh and innovative. From what I overheard in the audience, they also appealed to a lot of people. Her prints are hand painted and she obviously spent quite a bit of of time ensuring that the little details on each of the pieces were exactly the way she wanted them to be. She's definitely one to watch out for.

Daze presented a highly sellable collection, the slogan t-shirts were fun and interesting and a lot of people will relate to and appreciate the vibe of their show.

Edith is a skilled, imaginative designer, her pieces have a certain sophisticated style about them and I love how she incorporates her costume design background into creating fashion pieces that are wearable and simultaneously dramatic.

Pochet! - this collection was very basic and didn't really bring anything new or innovative to the table. There's nothing wrong with it and I would wear a couple of pieces but I do feel that however sellable you want your collection to be,  there needs to be a bit more of an oomph at a fashion week show.

Beyond Couture - these dresses are quite lovely. I like the flowing fit, the choice of fabric and the way the colours and patterns were worked together. One point I will make is that there were a couple pieces that didn't quite fit the models right. This is a pity as it makes it harder to see the piece properly.

Maria Cutajar was another favourite, I loved the checked graphical designs and turbans but fell in absolute love with these wide hipped catsuits below. General good concepts and good designs, another one to watch out for.

All Photos by KURT PARIS

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Outfit Post : Featuring Carlton Agius

 By: Unknown    07:37  No comments

As mentioned here,  twice a month I will be featuring special outfit posts (not of myself but of different people). The idea is that you get the chance to see and learn from different styles and people not just mine. The focus will be mainly on Maltese people but there will be some international guests at some points too.

Our second guest  is Carlton Agius

Name : Carlton Agius

Job : Personal/Creative Assistant at Charles & Ron and freelance Photographer

Style Description : At the moment I’m obsessed with everything Western inspired. I love the cowboy-chic Saint Laurent introduced the last few seasons. Saying this, my style is not constant, meaning that generally with every season or two, I extract my favorite trends from the runways and incorporate them into my wardrobe.

Breakfast each Morning : I don't really make time for breakfast everyday, but when I do, i have a full English breakfast

Time to get Ready each Morning : Normally I plan an outfit in my mind before I go somewhere, so that makes it not much more than 5 minutes to get dressed.

Outfit Details : Top : Givenchy / Shoes : Saint Laurent / Bag : Charles & Ron / Jeans : Thrifted

What do you think of Carlton's style ? Leave a comment and let me know 

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What To Wear : How to Wear : Shopping and Wearing Catwalk Designer Pieces

 By: Unknown    02:15  No comments

Malta Fashion Week has come and gone and whilst we sit down lamenting the fact that there isn't a nightly fashion show to attend, an outfit to plan or a post to hurry up and write, we must not forget the fact that that we are left with something great - brilliant new collections by many talented local designers.

A lot of Maltese people don’t quite know how to shop from a local designer, some don’t understand how to go about it and others don’t understand how to wear the pieces. Truth be told, shopping off a catwalk is a very new concept to Malta and like with everything else there is a time period in which people need to be weaned into a new idea.

It is important to understand that there are different designers – some designers design pure ready-to-wear collections, this means you can simply take an outfit and wear it exactly as it was worn on the catwalk, these pieces are highly wearable and usually not overly outrageous. Caroline Hili, Charles and Ron, Mosca, CF7, Danijela Bozic (International Designer), Marco Parascandalo are all designers that exhibited at this year’s fashion week that showcased many pieces that fell in this category (although some of them did have a couple of more outrageous designs). These designers are very important to our fashion industry and they present us with more choices to shop from other than simply always buying mass market brands.

Then there were other designers (Rosemarie Abela, Ritienne Zammit, Judy Clark (International Designer) ) that designed more outrageous designs, designed to be regarded as inspirational fashion ideas, as highly artistic pieces designed to evoke the senses if you wish – there are very few people who would wear such head-to-toe looks (internationally, Anna Dello Russo and Rihanna are probably the most renowned for this) and very few occasions were even such people who enjoy getting in character for a night and wearing something outrageous, will actually do it. In Malta, fashion week is probably one of the only occasions were one can really give up all the rules for a night and enjoy wearing fashion as art.  

In the top picture, in the leftmost pic (both fashion week outfits), I wore just one piece from the Charles and Ron Summer 2014 collection whilst in the second picture I decided to go all out and wear Ritenne Zammit head-to-toe. Had a lot of fun wearing both and I really enjoy supporting and wearing local designers to local fashion-related events but such a head-to-toe look is only appropriate for something like fashion week and even then might not appeal to more conservative tastes.

Anna Dello Russo - head-to-toe Prada

Rita Ora in Alexandre Vauthier and Rihanna in Lanvin

 Anna Dello Russo in Fausto Puglisi

Does this mean these more outrageous pieces are not sellable? Noooo, it simply means you have to stop looking at the look head-to-toe and instead take the time to regard each element in the outfit as a separate piece, start thinking about how you could style these individual pieces with basic elements already in your wardrobe. For example - a knitwear dress from Rosemarie Abela’s collection does not have to be worn over a huge wide skirt and paired with an artistic hat – it can simply be paired with leather trousers / black jeans, a leather jacket and plain shoes. The important thing is not to be scared to try something new, as much as I think high street brands are great and give us common folk a chance to wear latest trends at affordable prices, I also think that sometimes they inhibit our creativity and limit our appreciation for more unconventional designs.

As a side note and parting thought, I really fell in love with Judy R Clark (International Designer)’s collection especially her frock coats with pheasant feathers – I asked her if she had ever actually sold a coat with feathers and the answer was yes, apparently she has and the person buying wasn't buying it to model in a photo shoot or a costume party but to a gala party – so just goes to show, fashion is all about expressing yourself and having fun.

To go about buying any catwalk pieces you might wish to own, the best thing is to contact the designer, either through email/phone/facebook (let me know if you need any contact details) – don’t be scared to ask prices, and don’t be scared to explain that something isn't affordable or you don’t like it quite as much upon close inspection – everyone understands that people have different tastes and budgets.

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Interview Spotlight : Adrian J Mizzi

 By: Unknown    06:18  No comments

It’s official, this is without doubt the post which has taken me the longest time to write, ever. It’s taken about three months. I am annoyed at myself for taking this long but I do have a weak sort of defence...first defence: This is the first ‘proper’ interview I have ever conducted, in this case I did not ask the person to type out answers to my questions, I spoke to him, listened to him and wrote down the answers myself. Second defence: I know Adrian and although he is quite an honest, straight speaking person, he has a multi-dimensional character and set of different skills which have made his life within the local fashion industry extremely interesting….capturing all this in words wasn't the easiest of tasks and I can be a bit of a perfectionist....however, at some point you must publish...and with this in mind…

Meet Adrian J Mizzi the founder of our fashion week, fashion awards, Venere lifestyle program and probably the ‘grandfather’ of fashion in Malta.

So, who is Adrian J Mizzi?

Adrian describes himself as an ambitious and determined person, a person whose brain is constantly working, nineteen to the dozen, at all times of the day. 

He is a workaholic who barely sleeps and is constantly thinking up new ideas and projects; as you can probably imagine, for him it is not just enough to think up these ideas - they must then of course become his reality.

He also admits to being a bad loser and being unable to accept defeat, he also states that he is not always able to ‘forget’ and whilst he can be immune to many things he knows there are times when something slight can really offend him

.

Where does your passion and ambition towards the fashion industry stem from?

Interestingly, Adrian’s beginnings were in the realm of beauty contests. He made a bet with a friend that he would organise and produce a beauty contest in aid of cash for cancer, the organising committee started out as three people but two dropped out and he remained there by himself.

The contest was a success and more came after but at some point Adrian started to realise that beauty contests were not going to last forever and he started looking towards other opportunities and areas..and his eyes landed on fashion…to be exact fashion in Malta..which at that time (over 15 years ago) was virtually non-existent

At this point, however, his interest were not purely business but more creative and artistic inclinations. He researched the subject worldwide and in his words ’saw an opportunity to break out of the mould’. And well we all know the rest...

15 years ago the Malta Fashion Awardswas born...of course there were many sceptics and a foreign journalist even went as far as to say  ... “There is a crazy person trying to organise a fashion event in a country where there is no fashion”

This of course paved the way to his eventual founding of the Malta Fashion Week which is becoming more and more popular every year and showcases both local and international designers.

I’ve heard some people say that for the vast majority, fashion in Malta is a lost cause. Do you agree with them?

His immediate reply - Definitely not. He goes on to elaborate - put it this way fashion as an industry, there is a still a lot of work to be done, however, economically, investment is very strong within the fashion industry. Maltese people are showing a lot more interest in their personal upkeep, even men have now started to do facials and really show interest in what they are wearing. Both men and women are even resorting to Botox and laser for cosmetic improvements.

In terms of Maltese designers, there are many that have a lot of talent but maybe not enough of them with enough guts to take risks and specialise; very few are actually specialising in fashion design. 

However again, compared to what there was 15 years ago when the concept of a ‘designer ‘didn't even exist (it was just tailors and seamstresses) we have come a long, long way.

In your opinion, how has fashion in Malta evolved since the inception of the Malta Fashion Awards?

Adrian doesn't hesitate to answer this question either, the words ‘in many ways and it has evolved a lot’ literally fly out his mouth. He goes on to explain his logic - when we started out, there was no real fashion industry,  but we created an awards event at which awards were given out based on the work being done throughout the year, so for someone to win they needed to work, which in turn means an industry in which to work in was needed.  So basically, we created an event that needed an industry to exist. 

Another point is that with a concept of awards there also comes a concept of higher quality and of regulations which is what an industry needs to thrive.

What has been the proudest moment of your career within the fashion industry?

Adrian gave me more than one answer to this question, one of his proudest achievements is creating Venere the TVM lifestyle program, that has had huge local success and has really established itself as a niche program with a cult following and one of his related proudest moments was when it won an award over 30 lifestyle programs across all stations.

He also mentions his satisfaction at being accepted as Full member in the European Fashion Council, and at a later stage became Member of the Presidential Board of same council and last but definitely not least his very recent work in establishing and founding the Malta Fashion Association

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