About
The Reluctant Stylista is a fashion and lifestyle blog written by Alex Lapa--a once tomboyish girl who suddenly discovered the joys and perks of dressing up. Original illustrations by Paolo Lazatin.
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If you're looking for my styling work, you can browse blog entries tagged "work" and other related keywords. Drop me a line and let's see if our schedules will allow us to collaborate! It may take me some time to reply, though, as usually there's a lot of other things I juggle and I need to be doubly sure about my availability and resources before I commit.
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We won!
The Reluctant Stylista is proud to be a finalist and winner for two categories at The Philippine Blog Awards 2010: Best Beauty and Fashion Blog and Best Blog Design. Thank you to all who rooted for us!
Twitter Updates
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Running on 2 hours of sleep over 48 hours x_X
posted 14 hours ago. -
Red bull and Toblerone. Sleep is for the weak!
posted 2 days ago. -
Room with a view part 2 http://t.co/6iwLQgPL
posted 2 days ago. -
Fishtail braid by @brent_sales http://t.co/ylVrdvzi
posted 2 days ago. -
Walang magawa sa dressing rm so instagram nalang. #xfactorph I look like a totoy. Carmi looks girlier than I http://t.co/3ABRDJM6
posted 2 days ago.
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Networks and Affiliates
The past two months have been a flurry of activities for me, hence the significant lack of updates. Who thought dressing a single celebrity would take up so much time? But as I settle into a routine of some sort (since every now and then I still encounter surprises), it’s getting less stressful. I think. I’m getting the hang of it. Hopefully, designers I harangue on a regular basis have not blacklisted me yet from their phones. I am grateful for the likes of Jerome Salaya Ang, Chris Diaz, Joel Escober, Enrico Carado and many more I am about to meet.
I don’t have much in the way of stories this time, so this is more of a photo post of random things backstage and the dressing room.
Don’t you wish you had these shoes, too?
I’ve developed a system in window shopping for a client. I pick out ones that seem promising, take them inside the fitting room and then take photos. If the fitting room is small, I wear the clothes and take a photo of myself in the mirror. At the end of the day, after going through all the photos, I come back for the best ones to buy or have them reserved.
Shoppers tips:
Best high street brand for design, quality and price: Zara
(I’ve been in and out of Zara, Topshop, Mango, Promod and Warehouse often enough that I can tell which has the most bang for buck. Well, Foever21 is still cheaper of course, but you still have to dig through the glitter and tweeny stuff,)
Best mall for marathon sourcing so far: Megamall
(Megamall has the best stock, surprisingly. There are less people here browsing the high-street labels compared to those in Greenbelt. Plus, all the good stuff are close to each other.)
Best work outfit: black trench coat and sturdy high heels
(The trench coat does a good job of making anything look chic and polished. So does the high heels. But I need them a bit chunky so I can survive a day of shopping and mall-hopping. This is the best work outfit because I get good treatment from boutiques when I need to reserve or pull-out, or bring a lot inside the fitting room)
After laughing her ass off at Darla’s haircut, THE Celeste Tuviera insisted on fixing her bangs inside KC’s dressing room…except we only had paper/cloth scissors at the time, which we use for cutting thread and fabric.
I have to give it to her…the lady really loves kids, and they love her. When there are children around, she literally lights up. I’m amazed, because I’m not very patient with children myself. Especially those that come in packs.
Survival kit. And don’t forget the gravy. Lots of it.
At the end of the day, learn to relax. Actually, I don’t have much occasion to have nights out, sometimes I just want to get a really good sleep. But here I was able to attend a college class reunion–these guys are different from my first college barkada back in DLSU. I transferred colleges in third year, but in second year I was in a different class because my specialization was also different from my other COMSCI buddies. Those peeps above are those classmates in second year. They are some of the friendliest and most outgoing bunch–I was worried about not having much to say to them because honestly, I often kept to myself back then. I never went to our class activities and chose to spend time with my original college barkada more than my specialization class so we didn’t really get much bonding time. But boy, do these guys know how to have fun. There’s no shyness apparent as far as I can detect and it was like I’ve always been with them after all these years.
And at least with this bunch I don’t have to struggle explaining what I’m currently doing. They know about my blog and most of what I do for work. The funny part is how they kept teasing me about being a big shot when I’m anything but. Remember: styling isn’t always so glamorous!
Related posts:
The crazy yet exciting (feeling ko lang ba?
) life of an emerging (mega) stylista. So proud of what you are able to do right now, given the circumstances, given your current setup. Di ko na alam kung sino mas stressed satin these days.
KFC. Puro ka na naman junk food, mamaya maka-receive ka na naman kay Mama na kumain ng maayos para tumaba ka. LOL.
Those Louboutin pupms are gorgeous! Super classic!
Hey, that’s only for now anyway. I just eat what I’m given, haha…also, I love KFC. But I don’t eat a lot of fast food if I can.
And yeah, the Louboutins are GORGEOUS. My favorite is the nude pair, I try not to pick it all the time, but it just goes so well with a lot of clothes and it makes the legs look miles long. I need my own pair of nude heels like this one. Topshop has something in tan but it’s 6k (ugh). I wonder if they’re comfy.
My Tita bought her gold, sparkly Louboutin pumps online pero mali ang size, boo. She’s selling it though, let me know if you want them. Hee-hee. It’s a 6 I think
I don’t have budget for Louboutins, not yet at least! Haha! And 6 is too small for me.
Congratulations, Lexx!! But wow…I wish I know what it feels like to step into Louboutins…. It’s now in the bucket list!
Me too…so close yet so far…those are 7 1/2, too, almost my size haha!
OMG lex you style for KC?!!! bigtime! so happy for you:) kepp up the good work and hope I could collab with you soon.
see you! QI wellness na? heehee.
Let’s go! I think we might be the only ones who haven’t done it yet, though I’m not sure if everyone’s written about the product yet, either.
-Best work outfit: black trench coat and sturdy high heels… hahaha “Kala ko Best Workout fit”. I even thought “Must be a fashion thing, a black trench coat COULD be better than a sweat suit and the high heels must be for balance.” LOL
- Only in the Philippines could the “VIP” list have the word “OTHERS” in it. hehehe di ko binabasag trip mo. I’m actually proud kasi iniba mo meaning ng others kasi ngayon pag sinabihan kang “Para ka naman others eh” we can be secretly proud… Yes, we are others!…
Sorry, kakagising ko lang.
wow!! all those shoes and backstage action was overwhelming already in the photos! what more in person??:)
I’ve gotten used to seeing all these beautiful clothes, shoes and accessories and shopping for all of them but not keeping them for myself. Hahaha!
May I know how you do your pull outs and reservations? I’ve only had one experience in styling, and we had to inform the owner/ brand manager beforehand. Is it the same process all the time, or sometimes you go inside a store, see what you like, and then inform them you’ll borrow?
Yep, that’s really how you do it, maintain a relationship with the store. You work with the brand or marketing manager. It’s easier for magazines because you give them credit.
If I buy a pair of Louboutins, di ko gagamit forever. Sayang! LOL.
Bea
Masarap naman ang KFC kaya wag mo na pagalitan si Leki hehe
xoxo
MrsM
Wow! I would love to own a pair of Louboutins! The nude ones look gorgeous!
Just a chikadora question.. Were Piolo and KC already together that time? They look so cute! Any behind the scene stories about the two? Haha!
I have lots of behind the scenes of the two! Haha, will post them next time, kasi it’s for a different ad and commercial naman. But yeah, they were already together when I took these photos. Just not publicly admitting it.
Wow! I hope you can share them soon! I really admire both of them. They look so cute! Different ad and commercial? Is it a new endorsement? Or is it the Century Tuna one?
Ohhh. But you guys were aware that they were together? Aaahhh, so ccuuuuttteeee! The picture you posted got me so kilig. Parang teenager lang ulit. Lol.
I hope you can post more photos and stories about them! Thanks!
wow..ganda ganda pa naman ni KC>..ur so lucky ikaw pala ang stylist niya…good job ms. alex