Out and about

Time to play catch-up on a busy week. Usually I’m in the office working, but last week my calendar was stuffed with three events, two of which I was speaking at.

First Fashion Friday finally arrived—a day I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I was giving a presentation on home style as part of Aloha Tower Marketplace’s final FFF of the year. Friends came out, but there were many more new faces. Truthfully, it was one of the toughest speaking gigs I’ve ever done. Don’t get me wrong, in no way was it bad, it was just a different challenge to hold focus and attention (including my own) in the open-air environment of ATM’s beautiful atrium, where shoppers and diners are walking by and talking. At one point during my segment, a store’s siren went off. I tried to shake it off, but as I’m talking I’m thinking, when are they going to shut that d--- thing off?!

Fortunately the audience was great and responsive and people came up afterward and told me they got a lot out of it. I wanted to make it visual and interesting, so I brought up some props to illustrate how by learning a few simple tricks and techniques and adding a few pieces, you can blend styles to create a space that’s more eclectic and personal, and it’s not hard and doesn’t take long. If I can do that onstage in the middle of Aloha Tower Marketplace, you can certainly do it in your home!

Melissa from our office helped me onstage with my props, my cute little Vanna White, while Lissa and Kara manned our table. The man of the hour, James, videotaped the whole thing for us. The video will be up on www.rsvpstyle.com tomorrow—watch it and tell me what you think!

After my segment, FFF ended with a fashion show, and by the time that was over I was starving. Together with a nice-size group of old and new friends, we capped off the evening at Gordon Biersch with garlic fries, pizzas and one or two mojitos. Thanks Jason for the pics.

But we couldn’t stay out too late—we had to be up early for an 8 a.m. gig on Saturday. Tell you more about that later!

See you at First Fashion Friday!

I’m kind of bummed. I had to burst my daughter Nicki’s bubble yesterday. She was prancing around the living room, doing her best supermodel walk, going, “Mommy, I can’t wait! Can I be in the fashion show with you?”

I said, “WHAT are you talking about?”

She said, “You said you’re going to be in First Fashion Friday!”

“Mommy’s not in the fashion show,” I told her, “Mommy’s going to be talking at First Fashion Friday.”

She shot me a look: oh, talking. Again.

That got me thinking—why am I talking at First Fashion Friday? Well, Melissa Chang, marketing diva at Aloha Tower Marketplace, asked me to, because their theme for tomorrow night’s event is finding your style. After all, fashion and home design and décor really are intrinsically related.

Although style in fashion changes much more rapidly than it does in home design, the latter does evolve. You’re still layering colors, textures, fabrics. There are a lot of similarities. But it’s really interesting that there are a lot of women who have confidence in their sense of fashion, but are morbidly afraid to make any updates to their home.

I can relate, because I was one of those women. What I want to do tomorrow is show people, in my allotted 15 minutes, that there are ways to not only find your style, but mix your styles to create a more evocative, interesting and personal space. I’m excited—I’ve got all my props ready, quick lessons planned out, it’s going to be a real info-packed show-and-tell!

So come watch the whole shebang tomorrow night, including some real models doing their work in the finale fashion show. There’s going to be lots of fun and giveaways. We’ll be at Aloha Tower Marketplace in the center atrium from 6 p.m. I promise you’ll learn some tips about finding your style!

Back to Nicki. She looked so disappointed that to make her feel better, I let her sashay around the living room in my high heels, hardwood floor and all, and told her, “You know what? There’s only room for one supermodel in this family, and that’s you, Nicki!”

Fab time at First Fashion Friday

After a long and stressful workweek, my business partner Lissa and I were really looking forward to Aloha Tower Marketplace’s First Fashion Friday. There were four main reasons we were going:

1. To check out amazing fashions, of course,

2. To support our gal pal and fellow Honolulu Advertiser blogger Melissa Chang, who spearheaded the event as Aloha Tower’s marketing manager,

3. To scope out the joint, as I’m going to be one of the speakers at next month’s First Fashion Friday,

4. And I hadn’t had Gordon Biersch’s garlic fries in a long time.

After we’d had our fill of garlicky fries and mojitos (it was happy hour!) we took our seats in the center atrium. Right behind us was Jason Soeda of arthousemonster.com, a dedicated shutterbug who was great enough to provide these photos (the good ones, anyway—the ones that are a little dark are from Lissa’s camera). (Note: SORRY! I will post these tomorrow, I promise!)

The show was a real treat and I got a lot out of it. The theme was Transitions, easy tips to go from a day look to an evening look, and the panelists were Wendy Robin of Studio W of Honolulu, Hugette Montesinos of DISfunksion magazine, and Nadine Kam from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Each panelist did her own segment, with models showing transitions ranging from makeup to clothing and accessories. What I thought was really cool was how they explained the concept of layering colors, accessories and makeup to take you from office and work wear to a glam evening out on the town.

As I was watching, I thought of how this pertains to home decorating. Really, the same rules apply. If you have a space that needs a makeover, it’s very easy to layer colors and textures for drama and effect. So instead of black eyeliner and high heels, how about some black picture frames, statement cushions, an accent wall, metallic mirrors? Touches like these can help take your room from drab to fab, just like in fashion.

Hugette really showed some thinking outside the box: she brought out models showing how a peasant skirt could be turned into a tube dress or a belted top with jeans and jacket. What about in the home? You could turn a really cool plate into a fun piece of artwork on the wall. Fashion items like scarves can become table runners. I’ve seen people create amazing looks by draping muslin around plastic planters and tying them with raffia.

It’s about being creative, thinking outside the box, and layering. Being fearless doesn’t hurt, either!

After the show was over, I couldn’t resist the urge. I got up onstage with models Aureana and Rachel and had to strike a pose—after all, I can be a diva too, you know!

Phew, that was work! After my trip down the catwalk, it was time to go home. It was a fun night, Melissa and her crew did an awesome job, and I’m looking forward to Aloha Tower’s next First Fashion Friday on October 3rd!