The night of  101 shift dresses

It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

I’ve been tasked to review one show of Philippine Fashion Week and it doesn’t get easier this year.

From what I saw at the Luxe Wear-A show, one can conclude that Philippine fashion is still weak.

This year, the shows were held at the spanking-new SMX complex at Mall of Asia.

After speaking to some fashionistas who braved the traffic to be there, one could say that the general consensus is not cool.

We go in there hoping to find some brilliance, but it rarely happens.

On the night I attended, there were mostly safe, retro numbers (think Audrey Hepburn), but none cutting edge or ground breaking. In a nutshell you could call it “The Night of 101 Shift Dresses” (the shift being a sleeveless dress that barely covers the knee).

I can’t tell you how many variations of shift dresses we saw that night, some of them not bad, albeit in different colors and textures.

Found guilty were Aldrich Aparicio, Chris Diaz, Reian Mata, Shanon Pamaong, Dimple Lim, Jay Sustiguer and John Paras.

Arnold Galang was obviously inspired by Prada spring/summer ’08, as Bryanboy, who sat next to me, pointed out in his blog. And what is the point, since spring ’09 is just around the corner?

Remember when Sienna Miller forgot her skirt at the movie premiere of Factory Girl? That’s exactly what I thought when Chris Diaz showed his first number, which not even supermodel Charo Ronquillo could salvage.

Dimple Lim is usually one of my favorite designers to watch, but this collection, of more shift dresses adorned with drapes and ruffles, failed to hit the spot.

Melvin Lachica was unique in that his clothes were not based on the shift dress — but on the pineapple. Imagine a rich dramatic tone of yellow mixed with sheer black accents, which unfortunately looked itchy and prickly—much like the pineapple.

It takes a special kind of model/look/personality to carry Mich Dulce’s clothes, which unfortunately none of these models could. Dulce as usual showed very nice pieces, which however seemed like a continuation or extension of her last collaboration with DMC Thread.

Mitzi Quilendrino is also another designer I watch out for because of her experimental pieces. But her most recent showing was not really working for me.

Pencil Diestra is a name you’re not likely to forget because it’s so unique. Design-wise, I’m afraid, this Pencil is not the sharpest one in the drawer, to put it lightly.

In the case of Reian Mata (she of the shift dress with leggings) and Shanon Pamaong, nothing worked for me.

Renee Salud showed a very ’80s collection.

And Rolando Lirio had some nice pieces in black and white, on the safe side and all in the same silhouette.