Trendwatch 2009: More Blouses, in a Formal Vein

One of my many sorry attempts to copy pay homage to Cecile Van Straten on this blog.

Like the little blousie I'm wearing in this picture? I also got that from X-Quisite.


I just fell in love right away with the color and the material which reminded me a lot of the colorful rice-paper leaves that usually come out during Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon (still in Southern Tagalog, but a little further south from Hacienda de Meimei - click on the image on the right to see more detail). I was surprised at how the translucent fabric worked so well with the conservative cut of the neckline and the detailed embroidery on the hem.

Unfortunately for me and this blouse, we ended up running into a little problem concerning the hem, which - upon close inspection - wasn't exactly as well-embroidered as I thought it was. Now, before you folks lecture me about buying my clothes at the mall, I must remind you that I still have some sewing and embroidery knowledge knocking about in my pretty little head, thanks to my home-ec classes in fifth grade. Long story short, I was able to reinforce the ends with tiny whipstitches, and do away with the excess backing material that was coming off the back of the blouse in such grody chunks.

Anyway, back to the blouse. Embroidery problems aside, it was still super pretty, and I couldn't afford to see all that gorgeousness go to waste. In fact, considering the shorts that I'm wearing in the photo above, I immediately realized that it was way too pretty to wear out and about on a regular day. I'm planning to wear it as part of my "Sunday best" repertoire, with my usual dangly earrings.

And here's another blouse that I'm saving for an inevitable special occasion...


I bought this Maxine cotton blouse from Landmark during my last trip to Makati - that place, BTW, is another great resource for the curvy gals among us - and, like the pink blouse above, it has puffy short sleeves: yet another Filipiniana-inspired detail. It also shares a similarly smock-like V-neck with my blue Micronesian blouse from X-Quisite, although this looks more like a formally pleated front panel. Either way, I've decided that this is going to be the top I'm wearing to an upcoming wedding with a plum-colored embroidered Laura Ashley skirt (which would've clashed with the pink top) and the sunset-colored wrap from Bangladesh (pictured here), along with some nice shoes and formal jewelry. Ladylike, yes, but also a bit edgy... and dare I say it, still within appropriate bounds. :)