Sail away

During the ’80s, right in the heat of the preppy heat wave, nothing satisfied our country club dreamin’ like the lifestyle store Regatta. Its inspiration lied with the leisure class that frolicked to our very own Hamptons (Tali beach) over the weekends, and perhaps wiled the day with uplifting yet refined conversation.

In that period of excess and success, I was an avid buyer of what Regatta averred as clothes for the good life, even if the reality stretched as far the few pieces of leisure wear in my wardrobe (I spent summers selling Avon products and ice candy in the neighborhood). Today the good life is quite different. Although the old rich may choose to sharpen their tennis game at some haute country club, they have come and gone as figures of desire as they totter back to Town and Country land and our attentions find themselves in the sacrilegious territory of tabloid land. Oh yes, the demimonae of today, those rich bitches we can’t get enough of. Trashy as they are, we like.Today Regatta has done some tweaking of its own. Not quite the way of Page Six, but nevertheless it shows you what Paris may have looked like if she kept Miss Porters to heart. Proper chic brat is the look, naughty enough to be interesting, proper enough to consider marrying. Tall words? Perhaps, but are you not what you wear?

Regatta’s old guards (Mia Borromeo and Lizzie Zobel) have handed down the reigns to the new guards (Mia Floirendo, Trisha Carriela, Michelle Castillo, Annette Gozon-Abrogar and Carissa Cruz) and the transition has resulted in a reassertion that classics never die. Although it has added some neo- urban prep elements such as velour tracksuits and sexy eveningwear to its mélange of goods, it has maintained its elegant approach to casual living.

The new Prep is not limited to confectioners’ pastels. Taking inspiration from the Palm Beach legend Lily Pullitzer, acid brights are also part of the elite palette, so is the bleached white (a whiff of high maintenance) reminiscent of Cancun getaways. These are clothes meant to make you feel good, whether you are starting the day, getting ready for preprandial cocktails or retiring to bed with Mayle in hand.

The store interiors in Glorietta, which will be launched this February, are redone by Maja and Hannah Olivares of SSOA. The look is reflective of the clean, fresh, basic but hardly boring character the line is known for.

Regatta looks forward to hip designers like Tippi Ocampo to give their own definitions of timeless yet edgy sophistication.

So this season it’s time to live the good life, even if you’ve been bad.

Regatta is located in Glorietta 3, Greenbelt 3, Megamall and Alabang Town Center.