|
Friday, May 19, 2006
En blanc
By J.A. Bacalso
Thankfully, my favorite tank top was in from the cleaners, so I was in white tip top shape when the invitation to come in blanc to Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort and Spa came in.
I wasn’t the only one baring skin that first night of the two-night shindig the Lifestyle Network cooked up in Cebu, opening their White Hot Party with a scorching resortwear/swimwear fashion show featuring my favorite homegrown M.A.C. models. The ladies and the gulp-inducing gentlemen came out in Mario Colmenares’ airy white numbers, Jun Escario’s deliciously gold-embellished caftans (one of which I snapped to borrow for the next night’s White Party on the beach) and fluid men’s suits over the briefest of briefs. Sal Malto (who has long held court in the realm of custom-made swimwear) released sexy maillots and ingeniously cut women’s suits to an audience whose jaws were already dropping to the nether regions. How the suits would stand water was probably the last thing on anyone’s mind, I bet.
The models were draped onstage on homegrown furniture from Ambiente ( a table was raffled off to a lucky winner that night).
At dinner, I shared a table with some Manila editors and scribes and Carmen Echevarria, who was flown to Cebu for some pampering at the resort as the winner of the Lifestyle Network’s White Hot Summer promo. Carmen turned out to be an electrical engineer turned professional musician who was the royal pianist for the Prince of Brunei for five years and has appeared on the MYX Live sessions on Studio 23. But her biggest claim to fame? “ I accompanied Andrea Bocelli on the piano when he was here,” she shares with a residual glint.
The next night, despite the hour it took to get from the Lapulapu Shrine to the resort entrance (this was the height of the celebrations for the Kadaugan sa Maktan), everyone was resplendent in brilliant white and still smiling. Event organizer Jaja Chiongbian made sure everyone was decked out in Swarovski finery at the entrance and went home with the L’Occitane goodie bags on their way out. Carissa Garcia Codilla, the governor’s daughter, lithe and lively, was celebrating her birthday at midnight, so she joked to everyone: welcome to my party!
And what a white hot one we had. Now this, indeed, is the Lifestyle.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 19, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
