boyfriend dresses
Cute, comfy and laid back. Usually perfect for weekends but can also be worn at the office for those who do not have strict dress codes (like in my office!). Wear alone or with a belt, with flats or wedges!
Printed cotton fabric
crochet dress
It’s been raining for the past couple of days but I already have summer on my mind! I’ve been rushing pieces perfect for summer and here’s one of our prototypes — a crochet dress that can be customized for kids and adults alike. I can’t wait for mine to be finished so that Talia and I can have matching outfits! Yes, I’m that type of mom. Haha!
vertical color blocking
One of my recent best sellers are dresses or gowns with vertical color blocking. Why? Because it’s super slimming! Not only will the vertical lines elongate your body, but the darker color at the sides also gives you the illusion of a tinier waist.
I blogged about a couple of gowns with vertical color blocking here and here. And below are a couple of short dresses I’ve made recently.
Miko (right) in a black shantung silk and gray faux leather dress.
holidaze 2011
I’ve had so many blessings this year, both work-related and in my personal life.
I’ve made more dresses and gowns for you this year as compared to the past years.
Aimee in a brocade and shantung silk swing dress
swing dresses
It’s great how a lot of my clients are asking me to make retro dresses for their holiday parties! Majority of the designs requested are for swing dresses — whether it be inspired by the ladies of Mad Men, Jessie of New Girl or the retro outfits in Hairspray.
I think swing dresses are really fun to wear to parties, especially if you’re going to hit the dance floor! Here are just a few of the swing dresses that I’ve been making for the past few weeks.
Jacquard and shantung silk (with petticoat)
roy + cathy funky rebellious wedding
Here are some snapshots of the clothes that I made for an 11-11-11 wedding. I designed for the bride, moms of groom and bride, bridesmaids, secondary sponsors, flower girls and a couple of the female godparents. Thanks so much to The 12Masters Photography for letting me upload their photos here! More shots from the event can be found on their Facebook page.
abi
Abi has been one of my clients for three years already. Every year, she’d ask me to make a gown for her event and she’d end up taking home the best dressed award! Last October was the third time for her to win, and again, she was wearing a gown that I made for her.
2009
cathy: the rebellious bride
I spent 11-11-11 at a wedding of a dear cousin not just as a guest but also as her designer for her bridal and entourage gowns. I was actually not supposed to be at the wedding because my due date for kid 2 was supposed to be yesterday, but the baby decided to come out early! Anyway, I’d like to share with you guys a teaser from Roy and Cathy’s photographer, Marvin of The 12Masters Photography.
I can’t wait to see the rest of the photos from The 12Masters Photography! I love their work!
business world high life feature
Thanks so much to stylist KC Leyco for including my dress in her editorial for the October – November 2011 issue of BusinessWorld High Life Magazine!
From my Art to Wear Collection
remix report
Remix Report is A NEWStertainment show hitting the metro TODAY, Sunday 3:20PM at GMA News TV (former QTV channel 11). Produced by Salt Lab Creative and Bigtop Entertainment Inc., the show is hosted by Joaqui Tupas and Abby Asistio with guest field reporters Nicole & Bea of General Luna and Ian Tayao of WilaBaliw, who’ll cover news events through musical performances.
The show will air its premiere telecast TODAY 3:20PM – 3:50PM and I had the privilege of dressing up the female host, Abby, for their pilot episode. Here are some screenshots from the pilot.
karla in switzerland
Wedding in a castle. In Switzerland. Ivory and black maid of honor gown. I love it! Looking forward to making your next gown, Karla! 
Beautiful venue, gorgeous Karla & an elegant gown.
jersey + crochet top
I was rummaging through my cabinet for something to wear when I saw this top I made sometime last year. Currently 9 months pregnant, I was hoping I could squeeze into this blouson top but it didn’t look as good as expected (haha). Talia, on the other hand, thought she looked great when she tried it on!
Oh well, this would be perfect for when after I give birth. Perfect for hiding my mid-section!
roy and cathy’s pre-nup shoot
Roy and Cathy rented Ever Gotesco’s cinema for their funky Old Hollywood pre-nup shoot. I loved, loved, loved the concept and the venue! Cathy wore a couple of my pieces during their shoot and I’d like to share some of the photos with you guys.
11-11-11
Rush, rush, rushing to finish the bridal and entourage gowns for an 11-11-11 wedding, which also turns out to be my due date! Aaargh, the pressure. Here’s a dress for one of the members of the entourage . . . .
Our inspiration is 1950s fashion meets rock ‘n roll. Colors for the entourage are black, white, gray and silver . . . . I love it! Sometimes the absence of color can make things more elegant, don’t you think?
our take on lilo and stitch
Made this Lilo costume for Talia for last year’s Halloween party but she never got around to wearing it — she opted to wear the Minnie Mouse dress that I also made for her.
lojo-acena nuptials
Congratulations and best wishes, Sarah and Jet! Thanks so much for getting me to make the gowns for your entourage.
style manila feature: sasha in gray
Finally, a full length pic of the dress that I made for Sasha of Style Manila for her birthday! Click here for more photos and Sasha’s thoughts on the dress.
revisiting old collections
Sometimes I still can’t believe that I still get orders from old collections . . . take this dress, for example, from my first ever collection.
Model: Andrea Torres
pretty preggy nina
Who says you have to wear tent-like dresses when pregnant? I say embrace your curves NOW…..while you still can, because you’ll have the chance to wear all the loose fitting clothes that you want after you give birth! At more than seven months pregnant, I’m proud to say that I’ve only purchased the following maternity items: belly band (so I can wear my regular jeans and skirts), one pair of black leggings and a maternity belt (to help support my huge and heavy belly). I’ve gotten away with wearing most of my regular clothes, especially maxi dresses….I’ll try to post pics soon in another post.
I’ve known Nina since my styling days and I was so happy to hear that she’s also pregnant! Here she is wearing one of my dresses at a recent event. This dress was definitely not made for a pregnant woman but I loved how it looked on her. I also loved the comment of her hubby Mike….he said, “My wife is still pretty sexy maski 5 months preggy! Wootwoot!” I definitely agree, Mike!
cathy at WCOPA 2011
I can’t believe my niece is all grown up! Makes me feel really, really, really old . . . . hahaha! Anyway, I was thrilled to be asked to make some of Cathy’s outfits for the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA). I believe WCOPA is considered as the olympics for performing arts, with over 75,000 applicants from 40 countries!
girls’ line
I received a request this morning for some photos of my designs for toddlers / girls and I just realized that I failed to post them here! Anyway, I’m transferring now some photos of my girls’ line from my old Multiply site. Most of you know that my model is my daughter, Natalia and I had a blast just going through these photos and seeing her grow up. My favorite is the last picture in this post, which is the first photo of her as my model. Pretty soon I’ll have another little girl to dress up and I can’t wait!
amia
Amia (I absolutely love her name) is usually more comfortable in neutrals but when her first color of choice (midnight blue) was not available in the fabric that we wanted, I was able to convince her to try out my favorite shade of teal instead. Good thing she agreed to experiment with color because she looked great!
andrea torres on chika minute
Andrea Torres was one of Pia Guanio’s substitutes for 24 Oras’ Chika Minute and I must say that Andrea did a great job. Yes, not just because she was wearing one of my dresses in one of the episodes haha.
Andrea wore this dress a couple of days from one of my past collections. Thanks, Andrea!
inquirer entertainment feature on andrea torres (may 27, 2011)
Who exactly is Andrea Torres? Aside from being one of the recently signed talents under GMA 7, she’s also one of my favorite models for my line. She’s fun, professional, talented and of course, very beautiful!
I was pleasantly surprised to hear earlier that I was mentioned in the Inquirer article featuring Andrea. Click on the link to view the article, or buy today’s issue and look for the article under the Entertainment section. I’m also posting a screenshot of the online article here (click on the photo for a larger version).
The article reminded me of our video shoot we had back in 2009 (Playing Dress-Up). Let’s shoot again soon, Andrea! And thanks for the mention!