Nadine Kam photos Many guests came prepared with their own masks.
Started Saturday night at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Starlight Ball, themed “Circo di Notte,” where it was a night of mystery and masquerade, with stilt walkers, jugglers and DJs, plus food in six courtyards by a whole slew of restaurants, including Cassis, E&O Trading Co., Michel’s at the Colony Surf, Pacific Club, Kevin’s Two Boots, and more.
One of the prosthetic/makeup artists from Prosperity Corner said he spent all day fashioning the horns glued to his head.
One of the booths was manned by Hokulani Bake Shop. Funny, I had eaten a Hokulani cookie and some homemade chili before leaving home, so wasn’t hungry. My boyfriend was like, “I don’t know why you did that,” as he snacked on E&O’s steak pupu.
Men were dressed as well as the women.
So we walked around, checked out the auctions, including the sponsor Prada auctions. Then I had to ditch the boyfriend so I could get over to the Indashio show being sponsored by our company at Honolulu Design Center.
When he got home, I found out he had bid on and won the biggest painting up for auction, and it looked much bigger in our tiny house than in the museum. I was like, “Why’d you buy that for?” But, since we were hanging art at midnight, I brought out a couple paintings I had bought at last year’s Showcase and was hiding from him.
Guests also entertained themselves on the dance floor, with balloons overhead.
Every now and then, you see a look that makes you go, “Huh?” and when I spied Judy’s hair in a sundry store, I had to ask, “What’s up?”
The former New Yorker said her Flora-Dec’d braids reflect Hawaii’s flowers, while the orange feather represents her part-Cherokee heritage.
“My husband doesn’t like it; he says I look like a clown, but I like it,” she said.
Well, everyone needs a vehicle for self-expression. Some paint, some blog, some make films, some dress.
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Meanwhile, now’s the time to pick up end-of-2007 bargains. Almost every garment retailer has a “Sale” sign in their window with the last of the season’s markdowns.
Mimi & Coco’s Web V dress.
>> Shasa Emporium at Kahala Mall is offering 25 percent off Mimi & Coco dresses through Jan. 13.
>> Nordstrom Rack is offering up to 75 percent its original prices, clearing the racks before new merch arrives Jan. 15, when doors open at 10:30 a.m.
>> Neiman Marcus is giving you the opportunity to shop its Last Call pre-sale this weekend, with up to 65 percent off its original prices. What this means is you pay for it now and pick it up when the sale begins Jan. 16, continuing through Jan. 22.
I always consider this sale something of a trap because I get distracted by what’s on the racks for the incoming season and end up paying full price for a couple of new pieces. But this time I scored a Robert Rodriguez purple shift for $114, marked down from $319. YES! He also had a pale sequin top I LOVED, but only from the front. The armholes were cut really deeply and strangely — it was a size 2, and the dress was a 0, so I guess it was a size too big and might fit someone else really well. It hurt to put it back because the front was so, so beautiful, but I don’t have enough space to house a clothing museum, so one of my 2008 mantras is to be hyper-critical of the way things look on me. I always make the mistake of falling in love with the piece, probably by imagining how it looks on the perfect body. Don’t we all? If we didn’t, you wouldn’t see as many belly button piercings attached to flab.
Other than that, there are still great pieces left from Alice + Olivia, Chloe, Marni, See by Chloe, Diane Von Furstenberg, Tory Burch and 3.1 Phillip Lim.
Nadine Kam photos Indashio dresses Nalani Itomura in a dress and Vegas-thened corset.
Met up with the designer Indashio at Hotel Renew in Waikiki during a fun chat and photo shoot in a very tiny room that had photographer Cindy Ellen Russell and I clamoring over the bed to get a look at his dresses on the rack.
Indashio will show his “Viva Las Vegas” 2008 Collection at Honolulu Design Center Saturday night, Jan. 12, with all the glitz you’d expect of Las Vegas “style.” The show had its official debut during New York Fashion Week in September 2007.
Nalani Itomura wears another of Indashio’s creations.
I have to give a lot of credit to this marketing phenom who came out of nowhere to make his fashion dreams come true in four short years, thanks to gigs with Lucire magazine, the MTV series “8th and Ocean” and “Made,” and the soon-to-debut VH1 series “Sew Good,” and he’s now only 22.
He has a great positive energy and larger-than-life personality that’s just made for TV and fun to be around. You can read all about his journey in my print story in the Star-Bulletin main pages.
Here’s a video of the designer talking up his show:
This one is for all the party/event planners out there. Last year a few hosts mentioned they wished they knew what other events were going on in town so they could better plan the dates for their own events. There’s always competition for guests, and when three events take place the same day, same time, well, hosts just hate to hear their regrets.
Here’s a few days that are taken. I’m hoping no big fashion events takes place March 21, when I’ll be at the Incubus concert at the Shell.
Feb. 16 and 17: Police concert at Blaisdell.
Feb. 24: Oscar party at Halekulani, 4 p.m. Tickets $225, $300, $500 and $1,000.
March 5: Nordstrom Grand Opening Party, $150; tickets available through Hawaii Theatre Center.
Early March: Ala Moana Center Fashion Week
March 8: Honolulu Chinese Women’s luncheon/fashion show.
March 15: La Pietra benefit at Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
April 12: Japanese Women’s Society luncheon/fashion show.
April 19: ConTempo at Neiman Marcus.
May 2: Hawaii Theatre Gala at Kahala Hotel.
May 4: Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders luncheon at Halekulani.
Dec. 13: Kamaaina Christmas at Hononlulu Academy of Arts.
I’ll add more when I find out the dates of some of the annual fashion shows.
Zabar’s Chicken Soup & Hearts basket for the sick and/or tired. Don’t we all need one?
I’ve been noticing at Twitter.com that a lot of posters have been complaining about being sick. I guess this is one of those seasons bugs travel.
New York’s culinary emporium Zabar’s has come up with a thoughtful, and stylish, idea for such occasions, a “Chicken Soup & Hearts” cloth-lined woven basket featuring homemade chicken soup, fresh-squeezed orange juice, heart-shaped lavosh, Tazo chamomile tea with honey bear, crisp apples and other edible goodies. Theirs is $159 at www.zabars.com, but you could probably whip up your own get-well basket as well.
It’s been two years since the Vera Wang boutique opened at Halekulani and tomorrow will likely be closing day.
Owner Donna Bebber cited the decision to end the company’s jewelry line as reason for the closing. “Without the jewelry, we couldn’t make rent. The margins weren’t there,” she said.
Tomorrow, Jan. 9, will likely be the store’s last day, but Bebber said little is left. The jewelry was the first to go.
“We still have lingerie, so if you really like lingerie, it’s really inexpensive now, and it’s gorgeous.”
Kiera Knightley in the attention-getting green bias-cut dress, in “Atonement.”
About a month ago, I wrote a little capsule review of one of the film award season’s frontrunners, “Atonement,” and mentioned the fabulous costumes.
Now, the emerald green dress worn by Keira Knightley in the pivotal library scene, has been voted “the best film costume of all time” in a survey done for Sky Movies and British InStyle.
“The bias-cut, backless silk gown had fashion editors raving,” the report said.
I don’t know that it’s really the best costume of all time or whether it will even be remembered along with the following memorable screen threads. I think it also depends on how iconic the film is.
Here are the other mentions:
Audrey Hepburn’s classic little black dress worn with pearls.
>> White dress worn by Marilyn Monroe,”The Seven Year Itch”
>> Little black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn, “Breakfast at Tiffany”
>> Skin-tight pants worn by Olivia Newton-John, “Grease”
>> Blue gown worn by Kate Winslet, “Titanic”
>> Tie and waistcoat combination worn by Diane Keaton,”Annie Hall”
>> Satin corset worn by Nicole Kidman, “Moulin Rouge”
>> Stockings and bowler hat worn by Liza Minnelli, “Cabaret”
>> Gown worn by Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth”
>> Dresses worn by Vivien Leigh, “Gone with the Wind”
Liza Minnelli in bowler, and not much else in “Cabaret.”
Courtesy Marylea Conrad Kiele Thalia Conrad appears to have been born ready for her closeup.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had run into swimwear designer Marylea Conrad while holiday shopping, and was surprised that she was out walking around two days prior to her due date, and looking ready to burst. She’s sent a photo of her baby girl Kiele Thalia Conrad, who weighed in at a very healthy 8 pounds and 23 ounces, and measured 20 inches. Congratulations Marylea!
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On Thursday in the paper I had mentioned Maggie Coulombe’s showroom sample sale Friday; it’s now continuing through Tuesday by appointment. Email promotions@blaineashley.com.
One of Rico Leffanta’s photos from the F.A.C.E. of Nuuanu fashion show in October.
The day after new year. I think I’ll try to have less stress in my life and let some of you do some of my work for me.
>> No. 1: After seeing my story on the year in fashion in Hawaii in the Dec. 27 Star-Bulletin, reader Rico said he was hoping I could direct others to his event photos at paparico.multiply.com, where you can see about 44 great portraits of the models. Would be especially great for the models to see them. I know I hate it when people snap my photos at events and I never know where they go or how they’re used. So Rico, consider it done!
>> No. 2: Another reader has a fashion dilemma requiring your assistance. It seems she has one of those separated-at-birth friendships where she and a friend have similar tastes. They can go to the mall on different dates and go home with the same handbag or shoes.
Anyway, she has this one pair of Betsey Johnson stiletto heels that she absolutely loves and would wear more often … if it wasn’t for said friend who has, natch, the same pair of shoes.
So she wanted to know if it was OK to wear them at the same time. At first I told her it’s OK to go out in groups — distraction in numbers sort of thing — plus it’s kind of cute in a Romy and Michele sort of way.
Then she was like, what if she was only with this friend. So I said that might be a little weird. What do you think?
It might help to know that the friend had the shoes first. (When you have all the details it sort of changes things, right?)
>> No. 3: Were you watching the devastating UH game New Year’s Day? I’m not much of a sports fan at all, and knowing that, the sports ed. is always making fun of my lack of sports knowledge, grilling me on names and events I just don’t know, except through osmosis. To me, Superbowl day is a great holiday because no one’s crowding my favorite restaurants.
But this time even I was alternating between yelling “DOH!” “NO!” and “OW!” while watching the game, mostly because I was spending New Year’s at my brother’s and so had to while everyone else was glued to the big screen.
That was quite painful, stressful and depressing to watch. You Tube newbie pojiboy helped dull the pain with the following video of pre-game (we were so happy then) warring helmets, that was waiting in my inbox the day after. Thanks pojiboy!
