By Nadine Kam

Sample entries at www.jimmychoo72.com.

Hey shoe lovers, put your head to work and you may win seven pairs of shoes and two handbags from Jimmy Choo.

The shoe company has partnered its Project PEP with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to support funding of the Simelela Rape Centre in Cape Town, South Africa, which provides victims of abuse with the HIV preventative PEP
medication (Post Exposure Prophylaxis) as well as other medical, counseling and legal support.

Proceeds raised by sales of a Jimmy Choo Project PEP capsule collection with punk rock print will enable the clinic to stay open day and night providing 24/7 access to treatment.

Sample entry by Tigzy.

To build awareness for the project, the public is being invited to submit photographs reflecting the PEP campaign slogan, “You, Your Shoes and 72.” The number reflects the time frame for administering the life-saving treatment, which must take place withing 72 hours of exposure to HIV.

Visit www.jimmychoo72.com to see more entries and enter. The deadline is Dec. 7, 2009.

Here’s a look at one possible grand prize, for encouragement. The overall winner will be given the ultimate Jimmy Choo VIP experience that includes a visit to the VIP Room at Jimmy Choo Headquarters to select seven pairs of shoes and two handbags of your choice. (Note that choices may be restricted due to availability and this offer does not include exotic skins or jeweled items.)

There will be 11 other place winners, with the second place winner receiving the medium sized Project PEP capsule collection Stevie bag below, valued at $795. One hundred runners up will receive a Project PEP Eco bag.

By Nadine Kam

Note to new readers: If you found me through InsidetheTents.com, my New York Fashion Week coverage begins Sept. 10 with the Nikolas K, Mara Hoffman, Ports 1961 and Rosa Chá shows. Until then, I am in sunny Hawaii.

Fighting Eel photo

To introduce its bridal collection, Fighting Eel is hosting a write-in contest with the winning bride-to-be receiving a gown and up to four bridesmaids dresses for her wedding party. For a story about the collection, follow this link.

All you need to do is write, in 250 words or less, why you would like to wear Fighting Eel designs on your big day, and include the date of your wedding.

Send entries to FE@starbulletin.com. Entries will be accepted through Sept. 25.

The winner must agree to provide Fighting Eel with a photo of her wedding party dressed in FE.

By Nadine Kam

Banana Republic

Do you see yourself in this picture? If so, stop into the Banana Republic store nearest you, where you can pick up an entry code for the chance to win a walk-on role in the AMC series “Mad Men,” plus a $1,000 BR gift card.

The catch is, you’ll have to submit a photo of yourself glammed up in your best “Mad Men” style, reflecting a time when men were men and it was OK for women to be curvy and voluptuous.

The contest ties in with Banana Republic’s “Mad About Style” guide to classic, tailored dressing in 1960 meets 2009 style. The guide is a great cheat sheet for achieving “Mad Men” style, pairing character profiles with looks off the rack.

By Nadine Kam

Kate Spade graphic

Kate Spade is opening at Ala Moana Center June 17, and to mark the occasion, the company is giving away a trip to Hawaii. You can also check out the store’s hula bags, made of raffia, when the store opens:

For readers outside our islands, enter at www.katespade.com by June 12.

Here’s what the prize entails:

By Nadine Kam

Among items up for grabs at the Dream Sequins blog is a Garfield artist-designed tote from Stand Up Comedy and LucyJ chic shopper.

I can imagine kids wondering how any of us survived in the pre-Internet age. It is especially wonderful for those of us on these isolated rocks, allowing us to feel connected to the bigger world out there.

It was otherwise an alienating feeling growing up in Waipahu with an interest in fashion, but no one around who shared similar interest. What I got from it was that I was a weird kid surrounded by palaka (Arakawa’s) and swimwear, who shopped with friends at Sera’s and H.I.C., but preferred solo sojourns to admire the vintage 1920s and ’40s clothing at Bailey’s, when it was in Waikiki, and enjoyed disappearing into the racks at Carol & Mary at Ala Moana. I enjoyed the way the clothes provided a window into other times, other lives and even into others’ heads as a reflection of how they viewed themselves.

I don’t remember specific garments, but I thought the room, in addition to being very pink, felt very cozy, like sitting in a giant jewelry box. Its centerpiece was a plush round bench settee and its salespeople, thankfully, left me alone with my studies. The “old lady” clothes I couldn’t afford were intriguing, and though I had no intention of wearing them, I understood, through sewing, a little bit about fabrication and construction, and recognized that they were better than what anyone my age was wearing.

All this is a long way of saying, now, through blogs and Twitter, I meet like-spirited people all the time, and sharing a passion for fashion is no longer geographically exclusive.

One of my Tweeps, Deanne aka @DreamSequins, who I “met” while in a quandary pondering the cost vs. value of a Balenciaga City bag (she was the enabler who, from 5,000 miles away, finally convinced me to get it), is marking her 100th post with a giveaway on her blog, and you can check out her blog and her list of prizes and rules here: http://tinyurl.com/pfy7yv

Good luck!

By Nadine Kam

Photo courtesy Phillip and Susan Lauer
From left, Blue, Bono and Roxy model parkas with decorative buckles stitched up by Susan Lauer of Pupstar Sonoma. The photo won the family third place in a contest at www.valentinomovie.com

As far as some dog owners are concerned, Valentino’s pugs stole the show in the film “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” still playing at Kahala Theatres.

Winners were recently named in the movie Web sit’s Pug-o-Vision contest, and the third place finishers happen to have Hawaii ties. Susan and Phillip Lauer started a small clothing company for dogs, Pupstar Sonoma, after Susan’s designs got the attention of other dog owners in Northern California. Before they moved to Hawaii, Phillip worked at Crazy Shirts, and Susan, a University of Hawaii fashion graduate worked throughout in the fashion industry, continuing to do pattern making and grading for a local company after the move.

Here’s my story in today’s print edition: http://www.hsblinks.com/a2

Also, today, some tips from the book “How Not to Look Old.” http://www.hsblinks.com/a3

By Nadine Kam

Congratulations to Shayna, mINCe and dimwit who won the Geir Ness kits. I will contact you soon.

By Nadine Kam

Miu Miu photo
Miu Miu’s Hawaii Exclusive bag is $795.

To mark the opening of its new Ala Moana Center boutique, Miu Miu is offering a Hawaii Exclusive purse, of which only 50 are available.

There will be a lot of exclusives and specials at the center in the coming week as Nordstrom and the Nordstrom Wing prepare to celebrate their anniversaries, and as the mall gears up for the start of Shop A Le’a Monday.

Nordstrom gets the party rolling with its Day of Beauty event Saturday, beginning with an early morning fashion show that sold out last week.

Win one of three gift kits from Laila Essence of Norway creator Geir Ness.

One of the special guests for the event is the perfumer behind Laila — the essence of Norway, Geir Ness. He sent in advance a few kits containing samples of his products, including mini Laila (for women) and Geir (for men) fragrances, hand-and-body cream, and Luscious Lip Tingle lipgloss in a Watermelon Breeze color. They come in a cute leopard-trimmed envelope and I have three to give away. Just let me know via comment if you want to be included, by noon March 20, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for one of the kits. (more…)

By Nadine Kam

Valerie Joseph is offering the opportunity to win a $50 gift certificate from the Ala Moana Center boutique, just by submitting your confession as a shopaholic, to coincide with the Friday opening of the movie.

How easy is that. Hit the red block above and confess away!

By Nadine Kam

To add to yesterday’s post, Ideeli.com’s giveaway of this Prada pouchette has started and there’s about 4 hours left to enter, though you have to join the community to do so (it’s free for “second row” status). Log on and use my invitation code: “fashiontribe” to join.

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Meanwhile, Flash and Smart magazine are calling for designers willing to show off their skills and brave a “Project Runway”-style fashion design competition.

You will be asked to design and sew one look that reflects your vision as a fashion designer. This look will be modeled on the model of your choice, who will be runway ready (hair and makeup will be your choice and your responsibility for your model) for the Dec. 5 competition at Pearl Ultralounge.

Blayne Walsh from “Project Runway” will be in Hawaii for the exclusive fashion event, and will be among the judges

Prize details will be announced soon. The winner will receive press coverage and will have his or her winning look displayed on Dec. 6 at Skyline at the Sheraton Waikiki.

To enter, contact Sarah Honda at 277-4484 or sarah@smartmagonline.com. You must be 21 or older. The number of entrants will be limited, so contact Sarah ASAP to find out whether you’re in or you’re out.