R Nadia Sabrina: November 2014

Travelling Companions

Happy Sunday peeps!

I've been using this weekend to rest and recover after a quite hectic schedule these past two weeks.

This year has been a very blessed year. Travelling-wise, this has been a good year for me. I've travelled to Krabi, Jakarta, Bandung, Singapore and China. I've yet to blog about those trips since a lot of things have happened in my life. But I hope I'll get there.

God-willing, I'll be travelling at the end of January 2015 for a much needed trip. I don't think I'll share where, just yet, but I'm already preparing myself to go there.

Anyway, since shopbop is having a Go Big sale of up to 25% of all their items, and after I finally bought my first bag, I went there looking for travelling companions to take advantage of the sale.

Here's some of the items I found:

A cute 4-in-1 adapter by Flight 001. Just read the reviews: everyone loves this cool innovation and cute colour blocks. Hehe.

Rebecca Minkoff's Paris Phone Bag, to keep bags, passports and other essentials. I just love the winter mint colour, and the lock should deter normal pickpockets.

This Kate Spade's Cute Cosmetics Pouch just screams must-have to me.

Flight 001 Fill and Fly Carry on Quart Bag is a cool item to prevent you from the hassle of being stopped at Immigration. hehe. Thankfully I haven't been stopped for this, although I was stopped at Jakarta's immigration which led to me missing my flight! Okay, okay I'll blog about it soon!

Finally, loving this Laptop bag by Rebecca Minkoff! Yes, I don't think I can travel without my laptop.

Guys, the sale ends tomorrow. So don't miss it. Go check it out!

PEACE & LOVE!

1Comments

, by RNadia

# aère, fashion

Essentially Edith

Happy Friday guys.

Yesterday I went for an entrepreneurial talk titled Journey to Harrods by Puan Sri Shariffa Nisa Bakri's at Best Western Premier Dua. It's a sharing experience on how a local businesswoman had succeeded to get her own brand into a world renowned establishment, Harrods. When Min Jee told me about the talk, just two days before, I couldn't refuse. I am glad I went because I must say it was quite insightful.

She shared about how she started her business and how she managed to now have 50 stores worldwide. They also provided hi-tea (so that we could feel like we were in Harrods, they say) and it was a nice session of meeting new people and making new friends. The event was held by Peniagawati and it is the first session for the Entrepreneur Extraordinaire series.

Anyways, I managed to capture a few ootd shots just before the talk. Remember I blogged about the EDITH Detachable Jumpsuit in Jumpin Jumpsuit? So, yesterday I decided to mix and match the blue and black EDITH. I took the blue top and the black pants of my EDITH and turned it into a 2-colour jumpsuit. Since the jumpsuit by aere is detachable and can be separated into top and bottom, you can really get creative and create your own multicoloured jumpsuits. Get creative, guys!

Just to top off the look, I also brought a cropped jacket along with me.

Have you gotten yours? If you have, have fun mixing and matching your EDITH! I don't know, new colours maaaaaaaaay or may not be available soon. You get what I mean? Hehe. What colour would you like? Just curious to know. Anyway, DO share with me your looks by hash tagging #wearaere on IG. Or you can also send me an email (click "contact" tab).

Thanks Aina for taking taking these photos!!

PEACE & LOVE!

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, by RNadia

# fashion, wishlist

The Big One : My search for a bag has ended

Good morning everyone!

it was a really hectic day for me yesterday. I wasn't really able to sleep the night before, just trying to get everything ready for the launch of the two new designs. I really felt like I was going to just pass out of exhaustion the whole day, but once I reached home.. I just couldn't sleep. Sigh. I still couldn't sleep til about 2 am, wondering why I was wide awake.

Actually, I know why I was awake! Hehe.

After going through my favourite fashion blogs because I couldn't sleep earlier, I decided to browse through shopbop for some online window shopping. Yup, biiiiiggg mistake. I just discovered that they are having a great sale with discounts up to 25% for ALL full price and sale items. Seriously.? Yes, seriously. Check out the link to the discount code here.

So I decided to take the plunge and finally buy the bag I've been putting off from buying for the past few months. Hehe. I don't have a lot of bags or spend too much on them, but I just had to get the bag I chose! In fact, it was sold out just before I put it in the cart and I actually had to wait for 30 minutes before I refreshed the browser. Just my luck managed to get one available piece so I straightaway put it on MY cart. It might sound funny but at that moment it was war!

I think I spent a few hours browsing through all of the designer bags without realising it. Everything is included in the sale so a lot of the items are snapping up fast. Even the stuffs I reserved on my cart were released after thirty minutes, and in the end, they were all snapped up by other people.

So I finally did it. I finally bought my bag.

This was the first time I bought anything from Shopbop and I liked their simple 3 page payment interface.

It's not the bag everyone is expecting. It's not the bags I shortlisted in my previous blogposts. It's neither blue or pink/nude but it was just something that screamed out to me that I must have. There was another bag that I really, really wanted and would've been just perfect for me. But the bag I really wanted does not ship outside the US. It was such a pity, I was so disappointed because I was all set to pay and then only read about the tiny notice that it doesn't ship here. Broke my heart :(

Anyway, these were my shortlist. Guess which bag I bought! Hehe!

Alexander Wang Diego Bucket Bag With Antiquated Gold Hardware

The Moschino Mini Bag

Anya Hindmarch Ebury Soft Mini Handbag

Phillip Lim 3.1 Pashli Small Stingray Satchel (Hint: This was the one they don't ship out of the US!)

Salvatore Ferragamo Miss Vara Mini Quilted Bag

Maison Martin Margiela Leather Mini ID Shoulder Bag

But guys, go check out the sale right now. I think a cool way would be to do a group purchase so that you can get better discounts. In fact, I might be back to scout for more bargain buys before the sale ends on the 1st of December 2014.

I'm going to be really tired from the lack of sleep these past few days, but I think the lack of sleep will be worth it. Just excited and can't wait to receive my bag!

Happy Wednesday peeps!

0Comments

, by RNadia

# aère, fashion

Jumpin Jumpsuits!

I just love wearing jumpsuits.

I used to wear them a lot in the days before there were OOTDs, so there's not many outfit shots of me wearing the jumpsuit here in my blog. But see my post Jumpin in Jakarta where I wrote about my love of jumpsuits and shared some ootd shots of me wearing a sleeveless jumpsuit earlier this year.

What's a jumpsuit?

A quick search on google defines jumpsuit as: "A garment incorporating trousers and a sleeved top in one piece worn as a fashion item, protective garment or uniform." It is also a one-piece suit worn by parachutists for jumping.

So that's a jumpsuit. I just love the idea behind it all.

There's just one issue with wearing a jumpsuit though. If I want to go to the washroom, sometimes it's a bit of a hassle to open up the whole suit from the top, especially if its at a dirty public toilet. Yeah. Ew.

I really wanted to design my own jumpsuit, but it had to be something practical and functional as well. So I decided to work on a jumpsuit that could be detachable, top and bottom. After brainstorming with my assistant designer Ina on how to make the jumpsuit more practical, she suggested to put a zipper around the waist. I was skeptical that it could work, it was really technical and it was a long and painstaking process to get it right. But we got there, and I am so proud of this piece :)

To be honest, I actually wanted to release the jumpsuit together with the first release on the 28th of October 2014. However, we had to work on the samples so many times with the supplier, to get the technical issues sorted out and until we were really, really, happy with the outcome. I also wanted to make sure that it is really easy to wear.

SO, this is the end result: aere's EDITH Detachable Jumpsuit which gives a minimalist and clean look. It is fully detachable at the waist-line so that the top and pants can be worn separately. So, it is like a 3-in-1 piece!

I had a blogging job to cover an event as a media earlier last month, so I wore the EDITH with the SATYR jacket for a workwear feel. Check out the full look at Unzipping the Surprise : aere. The EDITH jumpsuit is unassuming, but even on its own, I think its just perfect for those who like a clean aesthetic. I would probably wear the pants on its own with a sequinned top for a night out or wear the top with one of my skirts for a casual outing. I also made sure that it's not too body hugging, as some jumpsuits can be.

The jumpsuit was also showcased in aere's first fashion show as this design is a part of the first collection. You can see My First Fashion Show : Behind the Scenes to check out a glimpse of the jumpsuit backstage. I'll share more on the fashion show where the EDITH together with other aere pieces from the first collection was showcased on the runway by gorgeous models.

So listen up guys, EDITH is going to be released online tomorrow in three colours! Less than 12 hours time I tell you! Click aere to browse the other colours (it will also come in blue and black) and stay updated. The response to the previous release of the first collection was really overwhelming and more than half of the pieces are already sold out. At the moment there are no plans to restock the items because I plan to come up with new designs so hopefully you'll be able to get these before it finishes. I'm really hoping for a similar response this time around insyaAllah, I really think this is one of the best pieces for aere so far.

At the moment, I just had a two sauce beef lasagna at an awesome new cafe I just found while waiting for him to finish his meeting here. Super delicious !

Good night!

Outfit details:

EDITH Detachable Jumpsuit from aere

SATYR Textured Metal Jacket from aere

dUCkscarves

Location : Genting Highlands

Photographer : kneok

PEACE & LOVE!

5Comments

, by RNadia

# aère, fashion

My First Fashion Show : Behind the Scenes

I’ve shared with you in my post One Small Step that aere had our fashion show on the 12^th of November 2014. When Fashion Valet invited aere to join the fashion show for their slot at the KL Fashion Weekend 2014 I was so nervous but excited!

They informed me less than a week before the show. I've been to my share of fashion shows (see some which I blogged about : When Our Eyes Met, Mimpikita : Fashion Lovers Unite, Fashion Showcase of Alia Bastamam & Pu3, Pu3 & Yadotsa The Show and the Beautiful People) but I've never really been involved behind the scenes. So many thoughts were immediately flooding in my head: am I ready? What looks or outfits am I going to showcase? How do I style it? I know that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and aere was just launched less than 2 weeks at that time so despite my doubts and fears, I grabbed the opportunity and agreed to be in.

Never would I ever imagine to actually have a fashion show so soon! My first ever! I can’t be more grateful for the opportunity. They also informed me that aere will be collaborating with the remarkable dUCkscarves. Which makes it a double yay for me!

Thankfully they assured me that their stylist, Mazni was going to choose the items and style it their own way. But, of course I could get to comment on them. Phew. That was a relief because I'm still learning the ropes and also it was good to see how others would style aere. But the preparation for everything behind the scenes, it was just crazy… Choosing moods, songs, outfits, models, choreography, etc... I really learnt a lot and didn't imagine it to be so much work.

I was there at the fitting of the models the night before the show which was absolute chaos! There were 16 models in a room trying out clothes to be showcased the next day. I couldn’t imagine the chaos before but yes I went through it with the FV team. They were awesome! Had “fun” with Nadhira, Mazni and Veen Dee at the fitting. Athirah and Atika of dUCk were there too styling the scarves on the models wearing aere. Everything happened so fast! The models came in pap pap pap, I managed to snap some pictures to see how they look like in the aere outfits and then they were gone! In a split second! Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating there a little bit but really it was just a few minutes.

When they were gone, I was just there sitting down quietly and thinking “Wow, it happened just like that and it was just so fast!”. I realize that everything in the fashion industry moves really really fast at light speed.

To be honest, I was a bit nervous after the fitting because one of the models was really tall that it made the white ZERENE that she wore looked really short. When she wore aere’s jumpsuit pants together with the ZERENE sequined top, a big part of her belly was showing because the pants were too loose on her! It was a problem for me and we were thinking: what do we do? do we get them to wear an inner or how??? In the end, I decided to pair it with another design from the first collection which was yet to be released. Paired it with another set of pants and tadaa! She looked awesome in it!

Despite the chaotic preparation, I really loved being part of it. It was just a buzz and I really got to appreciate more of the faceless and nameless people behind the scenes who made everything work. These guys were awesome! The show would not have happened without them. Anyway, here I leave you with photos I managed to capture behind the scenes. I will blog about the show itself and also the people who were there. The pictures of the models all dolled up and with spotlights on them! Hehe.

Below are some pictures I managed to capture before the runway was ready! Look at that blue thing, wait for my next post on the fashion show to see what it will be transformed into! Haha. Don't worry, we did not let the models walk on the blue 'carpet'.

Some candid shots of the models backstage before they walk down the runway.

Official photo

Sorry, but I can't share photos of the models about to get ready wearing aere though. Here's Atika and Athirah of dUCkscarves styling the scarves on the models.

Here are some photos I managed to quickly capture of the beautiful models wearing aere. They are all ready and set for the fashion show!

A list of the other labels showcased under the Fashion Valet slot. Labels I respect and admire. Happy to be showcasing aere with them, it's an honour.