Diary of a Third World Fashionista Part II

I'll settle for poofy.

2009-10-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

Fashion Week was fun!

Take this in consideration, though:

A. The activities I usually dress up for consist of soccer games, fruit shopping, church, or deposit archiving and

B. in Honduras, Fashion related events don't just pop out of every corner!

I also must add that to my very much embarassment, even if my agenda was to be crowded with events, I wasn't exactly born with God-granted socializing skills and I'd end up staying at home anyway.

There. I said it.

Nowwww let's move on to the good & the bad of FW, and my latest sewing projects. Woo!:

FW attendees.

I really don't mean to start this on a negative note but WHERE ARE THE RISK TAKING PEOPLE?!! Not like I was expecting to see the outrageous McQueen "armadillo" heels or Rodarte dresses but I was definitely expecting a bit more pluckiness...perhaps neon? Or spikes&studs? Atleast? Anybody? Somewhere?

However, I did like these girls PLENTY. Electric blue+elegant shoulder pads+a superbly exposed back+vintage jewelry... .you know how I feel about that! Two best dressed girls of the night in my book! I believe the white shirt is from Zara.

A few boys rocked my boat as well, but no pics. Darn it.

As for the shows, my fave collection was Tirso Rubio's.

In my opinion, his collection was the most cohesive.

He sews all of his clothes HIMSELF and word on the street is he buys scraps of fabric, lives downtown, and went to school with who is now his muse...I'm in love!

Not that I underestimate designers who don't know how to sew or patternmake, but I definitely have a thing for those who are also craftsmen. HANDS ON all the way!

Muzzy Kafati SS10. Alot of cocktail & evening dresses. I'm pretty sure most girls in Honduras would wear them.

About 50%of the designers who presented shows were teenagers/early twenties, with the help of daddy's trust fund. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just saying.

Carlos Campos also presented his collection, but rather than looking at my terrible pictures here's his site with the professional ones from his NY FashionWeek show.

source: dannijo.com

Same with Mr.Miguel Chong.

And for all others here's the official site:

Fashion Week Honduras

Disappointments.

Honduras has plenty of artistic talent, so why on Earth would we have to imitate the big leagues?

The Estilo+FW09 tshirt. (Estilo is a national magazine):

Ring a bell?

Change of subject, PUH-LEASE!

A personal FW highlight:

I got to hang out with Marjee from La Joie de Vivre!

How cool is it to find someone you can have a conversation with that includes referrencing Ann Demeulemeester and "last season Chloé"?!! In my case, priceless!

I look angry...I was only hiding the excitement, ok?

Latest sewing projects.

Any picture of me from the show is hideously unflattering, but here's one from one of the nights. I made the dress from scratch...pattern and all. One sleeve only, gathers all over, a mustard-like color:

Necklace: vintage. Tights: Zara. (Can you believe there's not one, but two Zara stores in Honduras?!)

(took this one back home, heehee)

I've been looking for tailors around my town that I can work with and learn from, and I found a sir with good references. I took my drawings and he was soo excited (which doubled my own excitement) because he usually only gets hired for wedding gowns & prom dresses...

This was the dress I got him to make for me:

Dress: own design. Fauxfur bag: gift cousin got me in Thailand.

The dress looks very simple, but there was actually alot of work put into it due to all the pleating details. And yes, I have a thing for this color right now. =)

In Tegus, I stayed at Carol's apartment. She's currently working on the design of a building, so I'd hang out with her there.

Top and chain necklace: Vintage. Skirt: Thrifted.

The white spots on the pic are actually dust...my black tights became not so white!

So that's it. Even though I still have trouble feeling comfortable with the "fashion crowd" or with any crowd for that matter, I'm glad there's a Fashion Week. And even if there's still a SUPA long way to go, I'm glad there's people making clothes. Hoooooray for Honduras and for handmade shtuff. =)

xoxo,

Fabi

P.S. Photoshoot 'til next post or this one would last a universe. HUGS!

Caravan Girl.

2009-10-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Boy, oh boy...the things I've seen. In the midst of a political crisis and the most outrageous Human Rights violations I have ever seen (seen, as in I'm saying it not because I read it in the newspaper, or because I was brainwashed into believing so) it's been difficult trying to blog without rambling about the aforementioned...I'll try.

........................
I moved into my grandma's place! Been living here for about a month now. Not relevant for this "fashion" blog?? Wrong! More than relevant...just wait.

YSL hot pink. vintage handbag and suitcase. $3.00 earrings from mall stand.

My bedroom is incredible: aqua walls covered in religious art, furniture twice my age, wooden floors so old there's heel punctures all over. Punctures are my fault, of course. ;) I wake up as in a Virgin Suicide's set and therefore dress as so. Been wearing plenty of frills, my cream vintage ankle booties and nightgowns for day.

thrifted belt, corset and high-waisted shorts I fixed up.

However, don't think it's all been rainbows, unicorns and icecream sundaes with overflowing chocolate syrup (I just had to, sorry). Turns out it's quite the challenge dressing up and expecting to get granny's approval! It bothers her that I wear hats around the house, she's pulled my hem down more than once and makes remarks like the following: "Oh dear, I'm sure you didn't actually mean to wear yellow earrings with that."

Dont' get me wrong, I'm not complaining! I looove it when she judges my sketches and handbags (most of them are vintage, so they usually get a high score).

living room, thrifted top and skirt.

I had also mentioned how I was finally able to get a workplace for sewing and it happens to be in a building a few houses away from grandma's house, so she occasionally visits and brings delicious pastries with her. Mmmmmhmmmm.

September brought alot of inspiration with it, in part thanks to living at grandma's, a weekend on an island, AND a boy (YESSS, there's a boy ladies and gentlemen!!!! And I have to add, he's quite the lad). I share these personal aspects of life because I'd be foolish to say that one thing has nothing to do with the other. =)

bridge on Utila. vintage onesie, skirt made by me.

sister and I sleeping on the ferry.

Updates!
I hadn't posted in a while because my camera broke, and I strongly dislike posts without pictures. :P

Ohhhh, and guess what-to-the-whaaat?? I'm pretty sure I'll be going to Tegus for Honduras Fashion Week (fashionweekhonduras.com) and I'll make sure to come back with all the lowdown. Yeahh!

As for my plans, I've been sketching, testing a couple of tailors, working on dresses myself...I have plenty of ideas, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to be honest. I like clothes, I'm going to makes them. Perhaps sell them. I'm completely okay with having a little bit of suspense in life. =) We'll see...keep posted!

xoxo by the dozen,

Fabi

p.s. next post: Fashion Week and a photoshoot. ;-)

EDIT: Honduras reached the World Cup!!!!!!!!! WOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!! Soooooo exciting!!!! It's quite the celebration outside, MUST go and join!!! Yayyyy! =D

ThriftTips Part II

2009-07-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

I posted something similar on PART I, but I've learned a couple more and figured I should share. No, really, I insist. The subject thrills me. =) I'll share some of my finds as we go. Take note, however, that I've only tested these tips in my town and I'm not sure if they can be applied anywhere else...

1. In most stores, items are priced at moment of request. So don't be surprised if the salesgirl scans the item, rolls her eyes and then adds an "ehhhh" before the numbers.

striped tee: thrifted.

no big deal, but I LOVE it, in all its faded glory. =)

2. Never EVER show excitement no matter how WONDERFULLY the vintage Dior gown shines in the midst of dust, boxes and fraternity tshirts! Bite your tongue if you have to!! Why? Keep reading...

highwaisted skirt:thrifted.

the pockets are the coolest.

3. Barter, barter BARTER!! Do business like you've never. If it doesn't work the first time, pretend you weren't even THAT interested in the item...point out the defects, perhaps even walk away! If you showed any excitement for the piece beforehand, prepare to do the ugly...pay full price ! If the price is still too high for an item that's too "weird" (according to locals, anyway) leave it. Come back a couple weeks or months later and the item will still be there and...oh yes...in the 10 lempira (less than a dollar!) bin!!! Emm...This last part is at your own risk! :P

chair: secondhand. wohooo! It wasn't really a bargain, more of a guilty pleasure. ;)

necklace: thrifted! 50 lempiras, about $2.00! love...

4. This should've been the first one: dress comfy. Flats, nothing too fancy or ostentatious. You'll fall in the "This one's rich, an eye for a top!" category if you do otherwise.

velvet vest: thrifted.

necklace: vintage, gift from grandma.

5. Prepare yourself. For what? A serious arm & back workout, cockroaches (that might sweep up your arm at some point), rats, soar throats caused by dust, and the occasional attitude from salesgirls.

Jumpsuit: thrifted. not good for peeing urges, though. Heehee :P

That's it.

Now, enjoy ladies! Enjoy the salesgirl's grin as you pay for the hideous item she thought know one would ever buy. Enjoy knowing that she has no idea how good you're gonna look in the silky Moschino skirt as soon as you fix the zipper.

xoxo,

Fabi

p.s. next post? guess who's FINALLY getting her own sewing room? MEEEE!!!!!! =D

edit:You can now follow my blog with bloglovin! =)

How ugly...

2009-06-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Quite the times for my country...earthquakes, swine flu, our President kidnapped and now destituted by Congress...we find ourselves in a political turmoil that, for the sake of this blog's purpose, are subjects I've decided not to rant about. More info here.

My thoughts are everywhere, but dry style-wise perhaps due to the current situation. :P
However, the good thing is that I WILL use this post to please a couple of requests from lovely readers:
Here are two somewhat clearer pictures of the ruffles on my dress from last post, just as asked for!

And as for the questions on the outfit from this post, what I did was I layered a white, sleeveless (thrifted) BCBG dress and the blue, strapless vintage one over that. Quite simple...big fan of dress layering! Here's a better pic, not very flattering but ehhh...

and here, the white dress:

I have to run home now because apparently there's a national curfew at 6pm! XOXO to all!! Please pray for Honduras!
'Til next post...

Fabs =)

Beeyuti queen.

2009-05-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my sewing teacher, Dario, asked me and my friend Courtney if we would come with him to Olanchito (a small town an hour away from Ceiba). He was dressing about six girls that were competing to be the Carnaval Queen of said town and needed assistants to help with the sewing and the backstage stuff.

We arrived early for the fittings and turned out that pretty much all the girls were C-cups so seams had to be ripped and re-sewn...and fast! Tulle and satin was EVERYWHERE and an incident with a lit candle+dress made us burst into nervous laughter for about 15 minutes!
The event was at the "hottest" club in Olanchito. The crowds cheered while the girls modeled under a discoball...

The ladies in casual wear!

Check out the bathrooms...heehee :P
To the event, Courtney wore the purple skirt I made a while back and I ended up wearing the muslin I made for last post's pink dress. All I did was add a lining,a random polkadotted ruffle on the front and then hemmed it on the bus to Olanchito. =)

Our favorite girl of the night turned out to be the winner and after a game of pool and the witnessing of a catfight we called it a night and headed back to our cute little hotel. =)

To be completely honest with you, I have always considered Honduran beauty pageants to be quite...ehh...funny. With the demanding mothers, cheesy stage decorations, poofy dresses and all...it's quite difficult to take them seriously!
However, after I saw how much effort Dario put into the dresses and how excited all the girls were I must admit I really got into the whole thing! I'm now officially a hardcore pageant fan!! It's a part of our culture that I have definitely learned to enjoy.

xoxo to all...

sunsmooched Fabi ;)

Sew sweet.

2009-03-31T15:50:00.000-07:00

Happy!!
My sewing machine has been acting quite friendly and here are a couple of the more recent results of such acts of kindness. ;)

I was soon to be attending wedding in Tegus and I insisted on a strapless dress with boning. I wanted it in a cheesy pink because I never went to prom. I had to torture myself with little food so the zipper would close. It did.

I didn't get ONE decent picture of me in the dress, so please ignore the face. :P Hehe, the face did not come out how planned but the night sure did.
The winning compliment of the day?: "Your dress is...ehh...different" HaHA!
Next morning, sisters and I hopped on a bus back home.

Before I continue, let me formally introduce you to Diana. I have already talked about her before...Youngest sister, trouble, flaming red hair. I love her with ALL my heart! However, I am SO not kidding on the 'trouble' part...hehehe...

I am trying to beat my sewing instructor's time record for making a skirt...and Diana gets to keep my trials. Here's her favorite. She wore it to school today.

As for me and my recent purchases let me emphasize ONCE more on one word: thrifting! I was going to come up with a (darn good) excuse like "I'm on a budget so I thrift", and I am on a budget but please: I thrift because I LOVE it. period. :P

dress: cheap. cheap!!
La Ceiba is INCREDIBLY HOT right now. Skimpy clothes and the beach are pretty much requirements for summer survival (we have two seasons down here, rainness and summer. and I make words up during both).
So anywayyyy when thrifting, I keep that in mind.

Flowerprint onesie was about Lps. 60.00 (aprox. $3.00) Comfyyyyy

Sewing school is good. Both that and the patient (how long has it been??) wonderful people who comment keep me motivated! I'll be posting other "skirt trials" on my next post!!
I'm off to dinner, mama is calling as usual!!!

xoxo

Fabi

who by the way is NOT letting go of that sewing tape =D

Crimes? Me?!

2009-01-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Key suggested I add "post on my blog more often" to my new year's resolutions...but considering it's already March and hot enough for snowballs down here I'm just going to add it to a random, rest of the year list of resolutions...it's the job, I'm tellin' ya! I missed the obligated "It's my birthday" post in December, the 2008 recap and the "Happy Valentine's Day" post. I've always been bad with the whole traditions thing so who am I kidding?! I don't feel that bad...but I do, however, hope everyone has had a great year so far!

I personally started mine realizing even more that I absolutely do NOT believe in fashion-related rules. There's always an exception for anything!! (perhaps even clogs hehehe)
I've been doing many things I once thought I NEVER would and I think it's best best if I come clean! But please fellow bloggers, do have mercy on me!...Here's the list:

1.-Owning a pair of Paris Hilton boots! I didn't buy them myself, they were a bday present and yes, I am loooving them! They're purple and perfect and I wear them all the time! GUILTY!!
2.-Legging as pants. I always considered them to be incredibly unflattering but turns out shorts just added bulk under my thrifted tee. I'm hispanic and as a result have hispanic hips...so I'll do with no bulk. :P 3.-And this one...I've been doing some online shopping, and not at etsy! Instead? Forever21! Dont' hate me Anna Sui, but I couldn't resist that the HEATHER GREY TSHIRTS ARE ONLY 5 DOLLARS!!!!!..my paycheck is too tiny. And I can handwash. And then this hat...seriously, if I would've found this in my grandma's closet I wouldn't have had the need...
side note: a boy at work calls me "merri popings" whenever I wear it...heehehee
4.- And last but not least...I was asked to model for both a local clothing comercial and a local jewelry shop's ads. I agreed to it but had NO say in the clothes I wore. One of the dresses was a Diane Von Furstenberg knock-off and I'm not to keen on knock-offs (which is why #3 bothers me a bit :P). I just stood there and tried to look pretty! Hey, where else would a clumsy 5'2er be asked to model?! Only in Honduras! Heehehee
For the jewelry ads they did agree to let me wear 2 of my own dresses(seen below). It was tons of fun, I admit. =)
Besides everyyyything, I'm back in sewing school!! We're starting with the basics, and I already know most of the basics from my old school, but the teacher is nice enough to teach me some other stuff individually. He is incredibly talented with patternamking and I'm so excited! Most of my classmates are 40+...such nice ladies!!!
I've made a couple of dresses+skirts and bought tons of thrift finds...pictures of all, soon!!

tons of kisses

Fabi

P.S. Anything you might want to come clean about? ;)

Sheesh..

2008-09-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

That "coming right up" deal turned into 6 months..hehe..
Summer is now long gone...

But boy has it been QUITE the six months. See, the tv show has consumed half my time, half my energy and it has been almost ALMOST like selling my soul to the anti-fashion devil.
I mean, what was I thinking?!! If I wanted to be taken seriously as a "fashion consultant" in my town, I couldn't go all Carrie Bradshaw on them! :P

It has been great for all the other stuff, though. The public speaking fear is almost gone, I'm learning how to react to negative criticism...apparently, drowning in tears is not an option! Hahaha...However, a ton of unexpected events: main presenter had an emergency operation done (kidney removal), a few cat fights with a troubled presenter who got kicked out (I was just a spectator, really) etc...

Bottom line: Carolina and myself are the only 2 presenters left, in charge of ALL sections: health, fashion, home, social life! And what in the world do I know about social life?! Or health?...Only a couple of tips picked up from Vanidades or Cosmo, perhaps. :P
I have fallen in love with hectic days, the people and the running around everywhere and going nuts.

The vintage clothing for the vintage online shop hasn't seen the light of day in the past months. Hehee, except for a couple of items I couldn't resist on keeping for myself :P

But the rest are sitting there, waiting for me to get tired of "growing up" and "becoming independent"...collecting dust in the mean time.

skirt=stolen from the forbidden closet.

red clutch=couldn't help it.
and that one purple skirt. I'm predicting this thing will wear out with all the washing.

I'm learning to organize my time, and I'm hoping it's okay that my style has become a bit more I'm going to say sophisticated rather than boring than the usual, even if it's somewhat obligated.

homemade skirt. (thankyou diane for the prettiest bag in the world!)

Ohhhhhhhhh and Carolina (the other presenter), is a class away from graduating and becoming an ARCHITECT. She doesn't think my fashion day dreams are nonsense, she likes my slutty shoes and bags that smell like the 80s and never pressures me to get a french manicure instead of my usual odd or dark colors. We're mucho close.

She's had a tough life but her smile is intact.
looky...there's that dress I made...again.

I know I promised a video, but I'm too embarassed to do so! I will do it though. Later...waaaay later :)

Ahhhh and news! We had our first ever Honduran Fashion Week! I thought it would be a reeeally good thing, but like most artistic events in our country, the hype ended the same day it begun. So all there's left are a few pictures on people's facebooks. Boooo! I wasn't even able to go. Darn thing called a JOB. Anyway, here's a BLOG with the rest. YOU be the judge.

As for Sewing school.
I took a break from it, but one of the girls called me yesterday that they want me to come over on Thursday to teach them to model for their final presentation. Um, I can't walk a block without tripping so I'm taking Carolina. =) It'll be fun. So far I've only revamped a few of my clothing items and made cushions to decorate the tv set...I can't wait to come back to school next year, though!

It feels good to blog again...and it feels so good to read such nice comments. Even better than finding the perfect pair of trousers. Thankyou everyone.

xoxo,

Fabi

p.s. excuse the blurry pictures. my photographer is only nine.

Coming right up...

2008-05-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

♥ ♥
I have not completely abandoned my blog (mm maybe a teensy bit)...see, the tv show finally aired live yesterday!! I freaked out and was sooooo nervous, but it turned out ok!!! It is definitely something new for La Ceiba, and the producer is AMAZING!! We air after the heartbreaking audience massacre morning news show so it's quite the change heeheehee
I'll make sure to put up some videos and images soon and tell you all about it =) right now I have to go shopping for makeup because after watching my uneven skin tone yesterday, I realize it's a necessity hehe....some blush will do ;)

Thanks for everyone's support!!! I always keep you readers and bloggers in mind when I'm up there ;)

xoxo

Really gone...and reeeally back =)

2008-04-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready to go to San Pedro, a city 2 hours away from mine, to attend a Honduran designer's fashion show. I was excited, and wanted to post on my blog before leaving and then I realized I couldn't access any of my accounts!!
I was sad because I knew I wouldn't have a blog to come back to with the lowdown on the fashion show...but... I can't help it, I need to vent out all my (fashionizable heehee) emotions and opened this new blog.So anyway...the fashion show... Miguel Chong was the Honduran designer, and the event was held in favor of the Ruth Paz foundation and all the cream supreme of the "society" attended. I was reeeally looking forward to seeing people's CLOTHES, outrageous funky outfits, spunky risktakers, ugly pretty accesories and strange color combos.....
Eh...I saw a cute dress or two, nice shoes. High maintenance people...alot of chandelier earrings...fancy hair... I do admire the man just to think he could even put up a show here in Honduras. It seems like a ton of work!! I found my outfit last minute. I'm not going to say how much both dresses cost me (layered them)...I'll let you think it was incredibly expensive. *Hint hint* I hadn't been to an event like that before, so I did have alot of fun I admit!aaaand recent DIYs?
A skirt and a summer dress. At sewing school they have me working on pockets, hems, etc. etc. so I haven't had the time to work on anything big. The summer dress was an ugly grey t-shirt+spring print fabric. =) Pretty easy!
And I have some prettyyyy cool news ;) I was offered a job as a reporter+presenter for the fashion section of a new local tv show that hasn't aired yet. The funny thing is the channel is mostly about crude news! Images of dead people, splattered blood and accidents, protests, etc. And then fashion, health and interior design?! That'll be interesting!
Cons: Heavy heavy makeup. Tips anyone??? I just learned last week how to apply blush!!
More public exposure to humiliation (heh, and I complained about that in the old blog.) Ohhh, and get this! I was asked to "tone it down"!!!! TONE IT DOWN?!?! Nah-uh.
In other words, no Emilio de la Morena, Peter Pilotto or designers of the like I can mention....booooo! (thumbs down)I think they'll settle for the Carolina Herrera/Oscar de la Renta/Michael Kors range...which is okay compared to how the "Abercrombie&Fitch/Hollister" crowd are considered fashion royalty down here...heeheehe
Also, I intended to post this on one I left half way done on my old blog, and it was loong time ago but here it is:the sweet sweet girls from chicintuition.com

interviewed me for their site! Apparently they were having technical issues with the site and I'm not sure the link is working anymore, so this picture is all I have. Their site is filled with good stuff =P

Anyway, thankyou everyone for the support, and please keep helping me spread the word about the new blog! (Stevie thankyou for the wonderful post!!!)...All the pictures from the old blog are gone, but I'll try to put them up somewhere.

I'm off to have dinner, mom's waiting....

a 7 pounds heavier but lightened up,
Fabi

xoxo

Ohhhh, dear.

2008-04-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Go to Diary of a Third World Fashionista for previous entries.

This is Fabi again. I had to delete my gmail account because it was hacked into and have now lost access to my old blog! I'm verrrry disappointed!! However, I will not stop blogging. ;) Please help me spread the word, this is my new blog address!
http://fashionfabi2.blogspot.com

xoxo
Fabi