Celebrity fashionista Pops Fernandez is adding another feather to her cap. After making a name for herself as a TV host, pop singer and Concert Queen, she’s ready to reinvent herself as a wedding gown designer offering affordable frocks to women planning their special day.

The bedimpled Pops will team up with her business partners (and good friends) Emily Sy and Michelle Lim in establishing stand-alone boutiques throughout the country. The boutiques will sell not just custom-made wedding gowns but also gowns for the whole wedding entourage, including of course the bridesmaids and flower girls. They will also offer cocktail dresses and formal get-ups that one can wear in all kinds of parties.

Plans are afoot to franchise the Pops Fernandez wedding boutiques this early. The launch of her wedding collection was made in the Franchise Asia 2011 expo but it wasn’t revealed yet where the first boutique will be.

What is good is that the wedding gowns will be very affordable, only P15,000 up. Cocktail outfits can go as low as P3,000, depending on the design.

In an interview with the December 2011 issue of YES! Magazine, Pops described how the whole process will go: ” So what’s gonna happen, we’re gonna have gowns that they can see. They can choose the design that they want. The gowns are meant to be fitted, cause that’s your day di ba? A wedding is supposed to be the bride’s moment, so kailangan well-fitted, and every detail has to be fixed.”

Good luck with this new venture Pops! Hope excited brides-to-be will find what they want with your shop

Photo credit: RC Bridal Philippines

For the blushing bride having an upscale wedding, look no further than Spanish label Rosa Clara which has dressed some well-known socialites and celebrities in Europe and beyond. I’ve passed by the Greenbelt Residences in Makati City and can see signs that the first and only Rosa Clara bridal boutique will be opening soon in the Philippines. This is certainly good news for women out there who want to expand their options on classy and elegant wedding gown styles without going too far.

Peek at the Rosa Clara website to see how beautiful the styles are. For 2012, the label sticks to classic, minimal lines. They feature simple bodices, bare backs, asymmetric necklines and swishy skirts. The gowns either have high or low tight waists, or full skirts. They’re also fond of using such exquisite fabrics as Chantilly lace, silk organza and tulle.

Apart from wedding gowns, the Rosa Clara bridal boutique offers a complete line of accessories to dress up the bride from head to toe. This includes jewelry, veil, headdress and shoes. Also available are gowns and cocktail dresses for bridesmaids, other members of the wedding entourage and guests.

Needless to say, we are excited for the opening of Rosa Clara in the Philippines.This can only mean that we are expanding our landscape of top-caliber wedding gown designers. Similarly, the international fashion fashion house must also consider the Philippines a good, potential market for them to set up shop here.

Here’s to weddings!

So your fairy tale wedding is coming true….congratulations! Now begins your frantic preparations and of course the semingly-elusive search for the perfect wedding gown. A gown that will perfectly match that of your Prince Charming. How to do this? Wear a princess-inspired wedding gown, of course!

I was quite surprised to find out that the US-based Walt Disney company has a Disney Bridal collection where you can play the role of a Disney princess to the hilt with their wedding gown collection. For example, the Sleeping Beauty gown has a crystal beaded bodice with rose detail and “multiple layers of dreamy gossamer tulle, reminiscent of cascading briar rose petals.” View it here.

The Cinderella gown features a draped criss-cross bodice and a romantic sweetheart neckline accented with sparkling crystal beading and rhinestones. This is your classic ballgown of tulle and glitter net over taffeta, and reminisces what the storybook Cinderella wore with her glass slipper.

If you want to play the role of Ariel, opt for this form fitting gown with a mermaid silhouette. Touches of the ocean is evident in the pearl beading, subtle metallic accents, crystal beading and sequins.

On the other hand, the Snow White wedding gown is a nature-inspired ballgown with a lace bodice of organza apple blossoms accents a skirt with scattered blossom detail. It is finished off with a lovely satin sash and a back bow.

Opt for something different with the Princess Jasmine theme. This is a flowing gown of soft shimmer satin and a micro-ruched bodice, an eyecatching bejeweled neckline and halter strap with encrusted pearls, rhinestones and crystal beading.

Other themes of the Disney Princess wedding gowns are Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Rapunzel and Tiana.

If you’re in the US, the gowns are sold in over 68 Alfred Angelo Signature Stores nationwide, and hundreds of Alfred Angelo independent partner Bridal Boutiques across the U.S., Canada and Europe. The collection is affordably priced, with styles from $599 to $1199 ($USD), and is available in sizes 0 to 30W.

I treasure my recent meeting with Oliver Tolentino, one of the Philippines’ fast-rising fashion designers. He shuttles between continents, as he has shops in both Los Angeles (California) and Manila (Makati City). He has dressed up a number of celebrities including Imelda Marcos, Lea Salonga, singer Patti Austin, former Spice Girl Mel B and Kimora Lee Simmons.

A check with his website shows that he specializes in wedding gowns as well. In the interview that follows, get to know more about his style and how he’s bent on promoting the best of Filipino fabrics. We think he will provide the perfect, contemporary touch to your Filipiniana or eco-chic theme wedding

What’s your signature design and design philosophy?

My designs always have some Filipino touch, usually the detailing.  I love to use colors and prints and mix them in ways that you initially wouldn’t think would work.  

What are your insights on eco-ethical design (in the Philippines and abroad)?

Eco fashion / sustainable fashion is the hottest thing right now and wherever I go I promote our native fabrics.  I personally have introduced them to the fashion dean of Parsons in New York, the owners of Paul Mitchell, an eco fabric charity in Hong Kong, the crowd at the Ronald Reagan 100th birthday gala, and my fashion shows in the Bahamas and Palm Springs.  I get a lot of pride out of exposing what we Filipinos can create to people who have never seen our indigenous fabrics.

So far, what do you think is your greatest achievement as a designer?

I’m proud to be the first Philippines-based fashion designer to expand into the United States when I opened a shop in Los Angeles.  But I don’t think it (greatest achievement) has happened yet. 

What were your greatest challenges and how did you overcome these?

I had challenges growing up in the province and not in the city with lots of social connections.  I overcame these by remembering where I came from and concentrating on doing my work as well as I could.  Later in my career, like all designers, I had financial and organizational problems.  I was very lucky to have met my business advisor and now I can just focus on the creative side more.

What principles would you like to share to aspiring designers who also want to be recognized globally?

Study and learn everything about our business.  Learn to draw, make patterns, cut, sew, and embellish because you’ll be able to know what creative limits you can ask others to push.

What do you think will be the trends to watch out for this 2011?

I think we will see a blending of ideas from the 1950s and 1960s.  There will be lots of colors but in classic designs.

Who has greatly influenced you as a designer? Why?

My mother.  She was a very creative woman in the province.  She opened my mind to colors because she loved flowers.  We once had a garden full of thousands of different species and colors of roses.

What do you think is the international market’s take on your designs? Why?

They have been very well received.  I combine the colors and intricate finishings of the East with the simple luxurious fabric and elegant cut of the West.   It’s so hard to find special dresses and gowns with intricate little touches with the quality that goes into hand-made clothes.  Los Angeles has welcomed me with open arms in less than 2 years of business there, and I couldn’t be more proud and thankful.

We certainly give the thumbs up to his wedding gowns, which were simple yet stunning. When asked what the wedding trends for 2010 will be, he mentioned that the color tone for the entourage will now veer on pastels, as opposed to the dark colors last year. This means the return of pink, lavender, lime green and other light colors. Instead of straight silhouettes, wedding gowns will have more frills at the bottom edges, like what you see in these gowns:

Not to mention, we love Francis Libiran straight, no-frills designs as well. These are good enough for those slim enough to wear it.

Francis Libiran contact details:

126 Scout Fernandez St.
Tomas Morato, Quezon City Philippines

Tel. Nos. 925-5495, 416-9098
email : francislibiran@mac.com
or visit his website

During the last Flores de Mayo held at the Mall of Asia during the last week of May, I was able to bump into Renee Salud, one of the Philippines’ most enduring designers who created the bridal gown of TV personality Tintin Bersola and other top fashion models in the country (like one of her ‘alagas,’ Marilen Espino).

I was teasing Mama Renee about how expensive her wedding gowns must be, after which she replied with an exclamation mark: “Not at all!” Apparently, you can have a Renee Salud wedding gown for about P30K only. It really depends on how you negotiate with her, and the specifics of your dream gown.

My impression after talking with her is that the country’s top fashion designers have adopted to the changing times. They have larned to adjust, knowing that today’s brides are more budget- and cost-conscious than ever.

The wedding gowns or traje de bodas of old were more elaborate, requiring painstaking beadwork, embroidery and other embellishments, according to Ms. Salud. It was also the designer who called the shots, unlike today’s brides who go to their couturier with a magazine clipping of the wedding dress they would like to be copied.

She notes that modern-day brides demand what they want now. But the great Renee Salud hastens to add: “While oftentimes I let my client be, she can expect me to put my foot down on one and only one instance: when the design she has chosen or she wants made doesn’t fit her at all.”

Which is really how it should be.

Boutique address:
289 E. Rodriguez St., Quezon City, Metro Manila
Telephone No: (632) 712-0441
Cellphone No: 09178987710

Every bride probably can’t deny the fact that they want a notable designer to do their wedding gown. Not all of us can have a Vera Wang or our very own Monique Lhuillier who has made it internationally. But local fashion is brimming with talent itself. You just have to look around.

And that’s how I became a happy Edgar Allan bride. I was certainly proud to wear his creation during our wedding. I liked its simple cut and classic accents. It’s something I’ll treasure and content enough to pass on to my daughters, when the time comes.

Guess what, I thought Edgar Allan is hibernating…but it turns out he’s preparing for his own bridal exhibit from June 4 to 14 near his new boutique in Glorietta 5, Makati.

For the exhibit, he will be coming up with wedding gowns inspired by some of the most memorable women in history, literature, films, opera and Broadway.

Mr. Allan will present his own interpretations of bridal gowns for iconic women of history like Marie Antoinette and Mata Hari, Bizet’s Carmen, Broadway’s Eliza Doolittle from ‘My Fair Lady’, romantic literature’s favorites, Juliet and Guinevere, and the film world’s memorable characters, Princess Leah and Gigi.

With minimal surface decorations, Edgar relied on fabric, cut and proportion to achieve the glamor that surrounded these women of history and fiction, and capture the drama that memorable and bigger than life.

Their special exhibit will be the 15th bridal display Edgar Allan and business partner Rene Tiongco have mounted in 25 years at their boutique in Ayala Center.

The Edgar Allan boutique is also located at the ground floor of Glorietta 5. Telephone number 893-7426