Tag Archives: cebuana style

blanc magazine online

on january 12,  Cebu’s underground youth and stylistas gathered for the launching of blanc, an online magazine that chronicles the latest fashion, art, androgyny, culture and most importantly, street style of Cebu. according to blanc‘s editor-in-chief, josei ouano cuizon, the magazine started a year ago after a group of stylish friends were talking about what they wanted and didn’t want in a fashion magazine. well surely, after hours of talking, one of them may have strongly suggested that they start their own. 
apart from Bloggers United 2, never have i attended an event where street style was so rich and prominent, i didn’t feel odd wearing an overly-colorblocked outfit. we were surrounded by strong individual styles and not with the usual identical body-con or bondage dresses. and with my CFB sisters there, even rain couldn’t stop us from having fun. 
the fashion show of creations from a few of Cebu’s young designers
the amazing blanc magazine staff
cebu fashion bloggers in action — garbed in our distinct styles

here it is: the first official issue of blanc magazine with the queen of cebu, bee urgello, on the cover



for a lethal dose of underground fashion and art by Cebu’s youth, it is imperative that you:

♥ bookmark blanc magazine‘s website
♥ like the facebook page
♥ follow the magazine on twitter

photos grabbed from:
 toni of perfumed red shoes | jeemah of cupcakes and choices | gillian of by details
phil of the fourth kid | angeli of miss enthusiast

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cebu fashion bloggers x parade of dresses

finally got to meet Cherie of Parade of Dresses ♥
i have always been in awe of Cherie’s blog and the style and photos it contains. the colorful and soft outfits, the breezy beach photos and the gorgeous afternoon sun are all elements of her blog that never cease to take my stress away. so you can imagine how excited i was, actually all of us, when she asked if it was okay to meet on january 7. in perfect timing, the meet-up was right after the maze event so even without sleep, i pushed myself to survive the night and survive i did. this is all to bond with the cebu fashion bloggers and of course, to meet the gorgeous Cherie. ♥
here the photos and i have to warn you, it’s really heavy. well, what do you expect when stylish people convene. 

 Cherie and her equally pretty sister — she’s still 17 and so cute!

jerrick, a young cebuano designer , whose necklace i covet and the gomez sisters — liezyl and chyrel 

 gillian in her tribal printed body con dress & ombre denim vest | mildred in her mixed print outfit & jaw-dropping leather skirt

 chyrel in her ooh lala red jeans and sky-high booties | vanessa in her chic navy blazer & fun earrings

 mildred and me | toni in her yummy fringe bag & gold glitter oxfords from shoe etiquette (me wants one)

chyrel, gillian, me and jerrick
mildred, eden, philip, chyrel & gillian
the super-talented wonder kid of our group, philip lapinid and me
me with the uber gorgeous toni in her pixie hair (doesn’t it suit her perfectly?)
group shot! the cebu fashion bloggers with Cherie and her sister
from the left: jerrick, eden, chyrel, cherie’s sister, cherie, me, jem and liezyl
the outfit:


my gecko ring, tassel earrings and woven cuffs

my hilariously high-maintenance fringe knit top — it was getting in everything i wore LOL


       giraffe meets leopard — my giraffe printed wedge from shoe etiquette & mildred’s leopard wedges from F21

fringe knit top – primal rave wholesale | sheer printed maxi skirt – thrifted | giraffe-printed wedges – shoe etiquette | tassel earrings – DIY | woven cuff – downtown find | gecko ring – bangkok find | chain clutch – vintage from mom 

photos courtesy of toni pino & mildred zapanta

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the maze teen model search

in my resolution to be a better blogger, a Cebuana fashion blogger at that, by doing more posts, saying yes to more events and supporting the local fashion industry in any way i can, i said “yes” to Eden’s invite to attend as one of the guests for The Maze Teen Image Model Search which was held at the Ayala Activity Center last January 7, 2012. 
Maze, which coincidentally is where my sister’s retail shop Props is located, is a one-stop hip shop in Ayala Cebu where one can find every fashionista’s needs, from chic dresses & accessories and even tech gadgets. 
the cebu fashion bloggers on front row
i gotta’ hand it to yves camingue for the styling in this segment of the show. tribal prints overload, layered on each other — i drool! i was literally bouncing in my seat!
the fans were the funnest part of the search — they went crazy for their model bets!
the talented hosts, eden and mark in their costume changes — of course styled by yves. turquoise is the peg for the night and i love it!
the lovely ladies in their gowns designed by Cebu’s Young Designers and wearing shoes by Shandar
my favorite in the search — she was chic, she had potential and best of all, she tripped so many times in this dress and even fell but she picked herself up and forged ahead. ♥

kudos goes to the Carolyn Tan, the CEO of Hype Management and Development Corp., for donating P15,000 to Clothes for Life — an association of fashion designers spearheaded by Cary Santiago and Wendell Quisido and supports several beneficiaries, including the Little Lamb Children’s Center (source: http://www.everythingcebu.com/sidebar-photoblog/queen-of-cebu-2010/)

and the winners are…

naomi grace and john paul
congratulations!

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freeman feature x the humanizer

on the day we left for Manila to attend the Bloggers United 2 event, Freeman released a feature of us, the Cebu bloggers attending the event, written by Kristine Roa (online article here). the miracle it took for us to get a copy of this article was so funny because Mildred and Alexa literally had to steal this page from a coffee shop at the airport. some photos used on the article were submitted by the bloggers who were not able to do the photo shoot with us the week prior. as for some of us, we did an afternoon shoot with Rolan Icban, the humanizer. 
i have to say, it was really fun doing the shoot with the girls and Roland. as talkative as i am with my friends but i don’t do well with strangers because i tend do be too shy but Roland knew how to direct our poses and amazingly captured the light in all of our photos. i definitely look forward to getting another chance to do a shoot with the humanizer. 

printed vintage dress – thrifted | black tights – sm department store | black lace-up booties – parisian, sm department store | black floppy hat – shopyapi.com | bangles & rings – downtown finds
gillian uang ♥ vanessa east ♥ eden villarba ♥ gizelle sembrano

we ♥ the humanizer!

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be kind, rewind three | animalia

printed cape tunic – thrifted | over-worn jeans – chillypapa | strappy animal printed wedges – gifted | cutout layered necklace & feather necklace – downtown finds | brass bangles, studded wood bangle, bead bracelet & square bangle – downtown finds | lion & alligator ring – downtown finds (all accessories are only worth P300) | brown sunnies – borrowed from Aimee

i know it’s not just me when i say this: most days, i plan my outfit around what pair of shoes i decide to wear. despite the serious lack of sleep, when i woke up today, i knew i wanted to wear the strappy animal-printed wedges that Harry gave me for Christmas. i felt i needed to be loose and free or i’d get tantrums at work so i immediately thought of my over-worn cape tunic and more overly worn jeans which incidentally paired well with my new pair of shoes. (would you believe i own only 1 pair of jeans? believe it, because i really do). and when undecided on what accessories to wear, i say wear them all as long as the outfit can accommodate it. so voila, i’m set for work!
speaking of over-worn, this post will now serve as my third installment of my “be kind, rewind” series. i’ve worn these pair of jeans and the same cape tunic while walking snickers here and i’ve worn the cape tunic over a neon bikini here. all these posts were done in 2010 by the way. i can’t believe it’s been that long. 

i hope everyone is having an awesome new year! the world might end in 2012 so let’s live everyday as if it’s our last!

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cheers to 2012!

Good morning 2012!
the Sembrano tres marias — meeting 2012’s first sunrise! (forgive my sister Aimee, she doesn’t realize Cebu pavements are not as clean as Aussie’s..LOL!)
Mr. and Mrs. B’s first new year as a married couple! ♥ ♥ ♥
Harry, me and my kulit sister, Aimee!
Sam, Kate, Armand, Aimee, Me and Harry
i miss Armand! 
family’s night out? LOL.
Mr. and Mrs. B ~ Harry & Gizelle + Aimee + Mr. and Mrs. Tan ~ Warren & Charm
with the super hilarious Mary Ty, one of the amazing designers of MEGA YDC. our jaws hurt from laughing!

now, on to the outfit…

polka tent blouse – primal rave | bandage skirt – primal rave | black strappy heels – people are people
brass cuff – shopyapi.com | feather necklace & brass layered necklace – downtown finds | rings – downtown finds

Aimee’s outfit: pink bandage dress with sleeve cutouts – primal rave | chain bag – vintage
leopard heels – people are people | necklace and bangles – downtown finds

can you guess what those things are beside the lion?


the polka dressing tradition continues! this is my 4th new year wearing polka — they say it’s good luck and brings in more money for the year! here’s to not just more money but more love, guidance from God, opportunities to seize and risks to take…
2011 was definitely a roller coaster ride for me. half the year were mornings where i didn’t know whether i wanted to wake up or just sleep through the day but i was blessed enough to realize life is too short and took mine back. 2011 blessed me with a job that i loved [all this time], a promotion, a fiance, a family reunion and fiinally, a husband. 
to 2012, may you bring as many opportunities and adventures as you’ve given in 2011 — only less confusion, heartache and drama. ♥ ♥ ♥

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different but it’s Christmas all the same

star printed sweater dress – thrifted | blue tights – gifted | flap booties – shopyapi.com |
fedora hat – metro ayala | dog tag necklace – custom made | brown sunnies – downtown find |
oversized ring – downtown find | work watch – gifted by my dad
true, this year was a different Christmas than all the others i’ve spent. for one, i missed a whole lot of misa de gallo because of work. i shopped too late for gifts because i was waiting for additional funds — like, 3 days before Christmas and i’m not done yet. it was the first time i decorated our tree on my own because my mom got sick with flu and it was already December 20 — Christmas is not complete without an overly decorated tree in our house. we didn’t have a big noche buena like we used to but my sisters (and i helped a little) cooked yummy seafood and hungarian pasta and we had our fill of my tita’s home-made ham. lastly, we didn’t open gifts after midnight because we didn’t wrap our gifts this year. to sum it all up, my Christmas was a lot simpler than it used to but you know what? what mattered most is that i had 85% of my family complete — with my little sister back from Australia but minus Harry who was in Bohol with his family. being in the company of people who will love you unconditionally is still the best Christmas one can have. i am, indeed, lucky. ♥

merry christmas everyone! ♥

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cebu and manila style bloggers meet!

even with an energy level that of a one bar on a mobile phone, we pulled ourselves out of bed the day after the long event to meet and have a sit-down dinner at the Borough in the Podium. everyone came in their own styles, the food was good and conversations were even better. ♥

outfit details: tiered boho dress – bangkok find | black wedges – shoe etiquette | feather necklace – downtown find | brass bangles + wooden bangles – downtown finds | orange polka bangle – gifted | turquoise ring – bangkok find | skull ring and bow ring – downtown finds
mildred zapanta of dred reveries
group photo! we look like we’ve been friends for sooo long ~ like a high school reunion photo.
from left: mike magallanes of toxic disco boy | melai entuna of style and soul | aisa ipac of drowning equilibriums | jeff, a levi’s PR | eden villarba of chic in the tropics | ava of artsy fartsy ava | sarah tirona of ms. eggplant’s chronicles | vanessa east of the detritus of an earthbound goddess | mildred zapanta of dred reveries
and the winner for the most supportive partner goes to mich! ♥

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our sponsors: how we managed to go to Manila

before i do a post on our quick-dinner-before-leaving with the Manila Bloggers, i’d like to first feature our sponsors and the goodies we received from the event. of course, without these amazing sponsors, the Cebu Fashion Bloggers wouldn’t have been able to travel to Manila. we are eternally grateful. mind you, these are just a few of them as i’ve already tucked away or given away some. that’s how blessed we were.
Bloggers United loot:
♥ Lorys Hair Cream in Duo Chocolate — smells so yummy!
♥ Rio Mints in very cool packaging — i super love them! not only do they taste good, they’re very stylish too.
♥ An Ashley’s lippie in a cupcake — very cute!
♥ A few packs of Kotex Luxe — they’re like style items on their own as the pads are lined in floral prints!
♥ Nivea products — classic and undying staples. 
♥ Accessorize Sunnies — a timeless shape and shade. Very Audrey Hepburn. 

i would also like to especially thank Multiply for partnering with Bloggers United. their new site is just amazing and super easy for shopaholics like me to shop.

here are the links to the rest of our sponsors:
Bloggers United is in partnership with:
Multiply Philippines (http://multiply.com/)
GMA Kapuso Foundation (http://www.kapusofoundation.com/)
Treston International College (http://www.treston.edu.ph/)


Event is co-presented by:
In cooperation with:
Xend Business Solutions (http://www.xend.com.ph/)


Special thanks to:


Online Shop Donors:
Shop Dainty (www.shopdainty.com)
F-STOP (Fashion Stop) (http://fashionstopshop.multiply.com/)

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bloggers united 2: the amazing day that was

last May, as Bloggers United took place, all i can do was hold on to my iPod and check real-time updates of the bloggers who were participating and check their posts days later to continue to stalk even more — i think i drooled a bit too. this December, i drooled but i was there. (yeah baby!) and it was one of the funnest, exhilarating and exhausting yet most memorable event of my year. after months of stalking the fabulous Manila bloggers, i finally got to meet them in person. since it was a one-time event, i took my shyness aside and got the courage to smile at people i don’t personally know and it was just amazing to have met new friends. *crossing fingers* i do hope we’re still invited on the next Bloggers United event. even if we haven’t left Manila, we were all already thinking of what to do the next time. ♥
our space. our label. the CFB representatives. ♥
mildred and i were one of the firsts to arrive. those are our luggages that we almost carried through the long flight of stairs. good thing a kind guy helped us carry them.
our clothes for sale on the table. we didn’t have clothes racks but we had no regrets. people flocked to our booth because ours looked un-intimidating? i don’t know but we’re just glad we sold a lot of items.
the long line of bloggers united attendees…whoot! ♥
the cebu fashion bloggers with the gorgeous bloggers united organizers and founders, Melai and Aisa.
(we should have waited for Ana too)
with my sunshine and most supportive friend — pyangee
wrapping up! all the clothes we had unsold were donated to GMA Kapuso ♥

time for outfit shots!
eden villarba of chic in the tropics
alexa en tan luna of i am alexa
vanessa east of the detritus of an earthbound goddess
moi — looking very sleepy and more haggard without make-up..LOL.
mildred zapanta of dred reveries — she was also my roommate and we had loads of fun! 

my outfit details: tiered black electro-pleated skirt – thrifted (P50!) | studded sheer top – primal rave wholesale | green braided belt – thrifted | black wedges – shoe etiquette | feather necklace – downtown find | bangles – downtown finds + gifted | rings – downtown finds

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color blocked arrival | manila trip day 1

photos courtesy of Mildred and Eden

green maxi skirt – thrifted | denim jacket – borrowed from Aimee | white tank top – thrifted | blue and white striped flats – bangkok find | necklaces – vintage & bangkok find

these photos were taken upon our arrival at Manila on December 2, 2011 to join the Bloggers United 2. is it obvious that i haven’t slept for 24 hours and that what was keeping me alive was a bottle of energy drink and my excitement for the event?
i love how we all traveled and went through the hassle of airport security in not just any casual outfit but something that was what we called our own version of comfort and style. i also loved that we came garbed in our own distinct styles — with me turning to my fail safe maxi skirt, white tank top and long necklace, Alexa in her cool sleeveless top and tulip skirt, Mildred in her bright blazer and denim cut-offs and of course, Eden in her grunged up sweater and studded cut-offs. i’ve never traveled with so many stares before because not only were people staring at me for wearing such a bright colored skirt and fuchsia lipstick but at my fabulous companions as well. 
well, we’ve been joking about blogging about our Manila trip for days on end (maybe in a span of 2 weeks, right Van?) but maybe it just might happen. LOL. hold on to your seats for my post on the actual day of the Blogger’s United 2 event and on our 3rd day in Manila. ♥

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bowtie love x blogger’s united 2 ticket winners!

cardigan with polka cutouts – bangkok find | sheer top with bowtie – bangkok find | pleated skirt – thrifted | studded white belt – primal rave wholesale | nude wedge booties – gold dot
chain-linked necklace – gifted by Eden | gunmetal cuffs & rings – downtown finds 

i know i’ve neglected this blog for more than a week now. hey, it’s not my fault. although work got to best of me last week and i ended up working 12 – 14 hours a day, i did intend to blog last weekend. i caught the flu though and was on bed rest til’ today. i got to stay at home on a Monday but it wasn’t fun and games at all. my head seemed like it was going to split and it was throbbing with pain every time i move. i’m all well now after religiously taking pain medication and antibiotics. 
anyway, these photos were taken 2 weekends ago after the ‘meet the parents’ lunch we had at our place. yes, Harry has met my parents and i have met his but this time, both our parents were meeting for the first time. it was tense, awkward and funny the first few minutes but once everyone got to talking, we hardly noticed that almost 3 hours has gone by. ♥ parents who get along well together is just the bestest thing to happen to a wedding-in-the-making! ♥
so the Bloggers United 2 event is in 4 days and i can’t wait for it! i don’t know if i’m prepared enough but i am very much looking forward to meeting other fabulous bloggers and meeting Vanilla Ice Cream’s Manila readers too. so without further adieu, here are the winners of the Bloggers United 2 entrance tickets:

Lilli Elizabeth Abatayo
Audrey Noreen Deza
Rovie Divinagracia
Cez Quijada
Kristina Marie Letada
Kristabel F. Penafuerte
Sumi Go
Banegrace Malate
Grace Siy
Loty Rhae Pascua
Mae Angelie Jinang
Erna De Jesus
Diane Pancho


i’ll e-mail you guys tomorrow (and tweet you too!) see you soon and make sure to drop by our booth! ♥

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