By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photo
Brian Aubert comfortable on local stage for a reason.

The Silversun Pickups—Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao and Joe Lester—presented an intimate concert in the Road Runner Music Hall in the Castle & Cooke Building at Dole Cannery March 19. I was one of the lucky 100 or so who got to see the band up close and in advance of the band’s Friday concert with Incubus at Waikiki Shell. I was there because a friend won a Road Runner contest and could bring one other person. Yay! Otherwise, I would have seen them at the Shell, but it’s always so much nicer when you can listen to music in a pleasant setting without getting jostled in a crowd.

I was shooting video, and there was one moment in my video where it got shaky because photographer Tina Lau tried to nicely move me while taking her seat in a nice plushy sofa.

Sorry to all who visited this site from the promo on our Today cover, but I was asked to remove it. (Not by the band in case you’re wondering, so please continue to consider them a friend to fans.)

Before the show, Brian was interviewed by DJ Maleko, who admitted on stage to some nervousness in talking to Brian, who seemed as if he might have had a future in comedy if music had not been his calling. Looking forward to seeing what they do on a bigger stage tomorrow!

Nadine Kam photo
Check Nikki’s shoe. I liked her skull bass strap too, though you can’t see it in this photo.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Jane Lyman blows out the candles on her birthday cake.

While working out details of a fashion show that may take place later this year, Kensei Takeda, along with Dale Young, decided to treat birthday girl Jane Lyman to an intimate, private fashion show for 14 women on March 16, four days after Jane’s 86th birthday.

The “Art of Jewelry” fashion show featured models Tara Chanel, Tania de Jesus and Iwalani Ynigues wearing designer dresses that showcased Kensei’s handmade hats and jewelry. In between segments divided into “Modern,” “Ethnic” and “Classic” pieces, Cheryl Bartlett entertained the group with songs from “Phantom of the Opera” and Disney, as well as one of her own compositions.

Models Tania de Jesus, Tara Chanel and Iwalani Ynigues, plus hosts Kensei Takeda and Dale Young, and singer Cheryl Bartlett are photographed with the birthday girl, Jane Lyman.

Kensei, a hair stylist who works with royals when they’re in town, is a Renaissance man who’s also known for making fabulous meals, though this time, he was too busy for that. So, guests enjoyed pupu from Jon Matsubara of Stage restaurant, along with champagne, cake and ice cream too—what more could a girl want?

Nadine Kam video

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam video

If you checked out the Easter hats from Catherine’s Closet in the paper today, here’s the companion vid that shows more of the hats available in Catherine Fong’s cozy little boutique at 2733 E. Manoa Road, Suite 204, at Keama Street, with parking right behind the building. She can be reached at 988-0044.

I ended up going home with five hats, and like any collector she sometimes has trouble parting with her treasures and kept trying to make sure, “You’re going to wear it right?”

Guess I have to now. Coz just like any collector, she probably knows that half the time we buy is because we like the look and idea of an object, rather than any practical reason. She was especially reluctant to sell to me because I told her the hats I do have are in a box “somewhere” in my closet. But I agree with her, that these hats should be seen, and if ya’ll wear yours, I’ll wear mine!

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
One of the 2Couture designs from the Chinese Women’s Club of Honolulu’s “Cherished Heritage II” fashion show.

Hi,

Sorry I’ve been AWOL for so long but was feeling a little drained, moreso because I lost a whole bunch of photos from the Shop A Le’a Preview Night March 6, a fashion show at Escada March 7, and the opening segments of the Chinese Women’s Club of Honolulu’s “Cherished Heritage II” fashion show at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on March 8.

It’s such a Journ 101 thing to do, but as new tools evolve, there’s always a new way to blunder. In the olden days, when I started in journ, our fear was losing a roll a film, somehow exposing it before hitting the darkroom, or mangled interview cassette tapes. These days, it’s the dreaded delete button, and how it happened was at the Sunday fashion show, I had shot pieces from Andy South’s, Katrina Bodnyk’s and Allen Carrell’s collections, plus a performance by Jordan Segundo, who’s got a CD due to be released soon.

Aureana Tseu in a 2Couture design from the “Cherished Heritage” fashion show. Below, Miss Hawaii Teen USA Emma Wo in a wedding gown by Eric Chandler.

Jordan sounds great, and just goes to show you how experience pays off, his presence is so much better than when he competed on “American Idol.” I decided I wanted to use his second song, so thought I’d delete the first since I had a lot of images from four days of events and didn’t know how much space I had left on the media card.

Well, usually I don’t delete until I’ve downloaded everything, then I “Trash All.” So I instinctively went to “Trash All,” and poof! All gone. Works just like that dreaded “Send” button when you catch it at that moment you hit it and send it to the wrong person. (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Have all five winners for the M.A. C contest. Thanks for entering. I’ll be in touch with you all.

By Nadine Kam

Memorabilia and Frisco.

To go along with today’s color cosmetic story in the paper, I’m giving away some lip and eye color from M.A.C, some from the Originals line.

Five people will get one of the following, with the first to come up with the right answers to get first pick, and so forth:

>> Frisco, soft pastel peachy pink eyeshadow

>> Memorabilia mauve/dusty purple eyeshadow

>> Sinnamon peachy bronze shimmer Lustreglass lipgloss

>> Sandy B, a light peachy shell pink frost lipstick

>> Twig Twig, a neutral brown plum Lustre lipstick

To win one, answer the following questions based on a past blog entry:

1. What is the name of the M.A.C head artist I interviewed about the spring color collection at New York Fashion Week last September?

2. Whose fashion show was she working on at the time?

Thanks for trying. Please note that responses will not appear immediately unless you’ve posted before.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam video

Diehard shopaholics lined up as early as 6:30 a.m. to be the first in the door when Nordstrom opened Friday morning.

I had the feeling people put off their purchases in anticipation of the store opening. I overheard one woman say, “I want to buy five pairs of shoes.”

I thought I would just shoot a little video and post as soon as I got back to the office, but there was so much going on, I felt compelled to videotape many aspects, and well, it got out of hand. Plus, this ain’t TV news, so don’t mind the editing, as with a crowd shot that may have gone on too long. I really wanted to show the stream of people coming through the doors.

That was such a crazy day. I got there at a sane 8:30 a.m., enough time to see the frenzy of the Cosmetics Tailgate Party. So funny how little I see of reality when shooting video. Fellow SB’er Nina Wu passed in front of the camera several times and I didn’t see her until starting to edit. I guess it involves different parts of the brain. So to tell you the truth, I used to think photographers were a little dense because I’d ask them to give me certain pictures I knew they’d taken, and they’d be, like, “Huh?” as if they’d never seen it. Now I realize they were composing shots, but not seeing, if that makes sense.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam videoHere’s the Nordstrom March 5 fashion show footage for those who weren’t there, and the many who were there but still missed both runs because of the size of the venue and the general feeding frenzy (of both edible and material sort)!

The show was divided into several cohesive segments. My apologies for the show coordinators, but I’ve mashed segments together so people with the worst Internet connections won’t think it’s too much of a chore to download. The real show had about four times as many outfits. Could have been more. I’m really bad at math, but you’ll get the gist as far as the size of the stage, the pacing and general ambience.I also made a separate video of the men’s segment, again, for easy downloading.

Nadine Kam video

By Nadine Kam

Oh, crazy day this morning since waking up to go to the Nordstrom Cosmetic Tailgate Party. It was early for me so I must have been in a daze. By the end I couldn’t find my car and was certain someone had stolen it. Called security and everything. Of course, they have bicycle guys to search for cars in such cases, and mine was just behind another red convertible BMW where I stopped looking! I didn’t remember parking that far.

Left at 11 for office stuff, but IT department had wisely carted off my computer without warning, so I had no access to saved emails or attachments I needed. So Dilbert. Then had to be back at mall at noon, when the parking lot was so full had to park in “Siberia” past Sears.

Posts will come later, but in celebration of the opening of the free-standing Bare Escentuals boutique in the new expansion, the company is giving away one Blendable Eye Kit, and one new bronzer through this blog.

To win one, just be the first two to answer a couple of questions for me:

1. Who is the Bare Escentuals makeup artist with Hawaii ties I interviewed a few months ago, and who is back in town for the opening?

2. What is the name of the lipgloss inspired by Hawaii?

First winner will get first pick. Good luck.

By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Easter colors on the runway at Nordstrom.

New faces on the runway. All but two of the 40 models were flown in for the fashion show. Guests were asking why there was a need to import models. Height plays a part, but it’s also all about the walk, which has become more apparent to me while attempting to shoot video and photographs. These models look good with every step.

Still recovering from the fun of the Nordstrom fashion show gala last night. Amazing! About 2,500 people paid $150 to be at the event, which raised $400,000 to benefit Hawaii Theatre Center, Bishop Museum and HUGS.

Guests had the run of all three levels of the store, with performances by Amy Hanaiali’i and Matt Catingub, Jimmy Borges and Mihana Souza centered around the First Floor piano, with attendees dancing when the mood struck. Food and dessert stations, with selections by Chai Chaowasaree, Elua’s Donato Loperfido and Philippe Padovani, and JJ Pastry, were set up all around the store, and cash register counters and makeup counters were turned into makeshift bars.

Guests rode the escalator from floor to floor to see all the store had to offer.

I could tell who reads this blog because they were the ones who came up to me and seeing I was wearing a black (after all) Alice + Olivia dress, told me, “Hey, you’re not wearing what you said you were going to wear!”

Yeah, well, there are always last-minute snafus. I got there close to 8, though I had planned to be there at 7.

For me, the runway show on the third floor was the highlight, and I rushed into the tent for the first show at 8 p.m. When I was told earlier that the show would repeat at 9 p.m., I didn’t understand the rationale, but as large as the venue was—almost as big as many of the New York Fashion Week Bryant Park shows—it would not have been able to contain all the guests, many of whom missed in show in favor of shopping, flirting, noshing, getting foot massages, etc., etc. Those who missed the show said they’d wait for my video. Ooh, the pressure! (more…)