Hi,
Glad you enjoyed the show Lucy, it was my pleasure meeting you!
The show was decadent! It actually started off very conservatively. The crowd was very conservatively filipino. A lot of filipinos buy ssp's. If there are 2 things filipinos are nationalistic about, it's their ssp's and filipino visual arts. Some local clients will just buy 10 strands at a time for their baubble collection! I can't imagine it for myself but i guess the rich over here are extremely rich although the disparity between rich and poor will sometimes leave a bad taste in the mouth..one of the 3rd world idiosyncrasies i have yet to get used to.
The jewelmer people were extremely gracious! The pieces were an array of ssp's in various shades of deep golds to champagne and the other half were whites in silvery and cream tones. All naturals. The designs were exciting-from my perspective as an artist. A lot of fine bling! Lots of white pearl ropes accentuated by deep goldens solo's set in buds of MOP and tastefully sprinkled with diamonds. The pearls really stood out in the settings. There were too many stunning pieces, and up till now, i recall the show with a smile on my face. Pearls really light me up! I like designs that move and are anatomically correct and there were a lot in the show. 2 pieces struck me-a necklace and bracelet ensemble in black leather or was it silk rope?(no descriptions on hand nor a voice-over description) The string was ended by 2 bunches of golden pearls (like grapes except they didn't follow a reverse pyramid outline and instead were delicately graded..very very anatomically correct-especially with the way it moved when the model glided and peacock-posed on the runway. This string was worn knotted at the chest like a short, flirty necktie. the bracelet was also similar but in a smaller scale proportionate to the size of the hand and wrist, also tied-no clasp in sight, very smart and sexy! I wish it was mine! The other piece i couldn't believe was a rope necklace made up of gigantic, (as in the biggest i've seen in my life) bluish baroques. Bad eyesight and all, my eyes nearly popped out in amazement. Thought they were mabe from afar. They were connected by white gold links. Very stunning! Those babies were like 1 1/2 to 2 inches long-each- and about an inch across.
The clothes were very sexy, clingy and had a few swingy tuft accents anywhere from hem line(all short with lots of legs) to the cleavage. The materials were mostly sheer with colors ranging from all white to all red and then powdery baby blues. The dresses and the models all sent the message of a slick coquette and yet the hairstyle they chose to top it off was certainly conservative. The models all wore their hair swept up, tucked in a chignon behind the head and smoothed clean on top but exxageratedly bouffant ala Imelda Marcos, honestly! But it worked. Kinda reminded me of the gliding, gum -chewing alien vixen in the movie "mars attacks"..Each collection was "introduced" by interpretative dance numbers with a lot of cable work, flying up in the air. Very ethereal and executed with consistent excitement and artistic flair. I tried to catch the dancers lower their guard but it was as if they were on hyper performance level at all times. Fili dancers are quite graceful and lithe. A lot of fili dancers have become famous stars of the kirov,especially during the decades when government supported the arts. i guess that's all i can share. Oh and yes, they do possess the ultimate orient. The pearls were very consistent in quality, shape etc. None of the qualities i have ever seen in the Greenhills market. They really have their act together and that was only equalled by the graciousness of our hosts! Oh and yes, if anyone wants to visit the farm, flower island resort nearby(its a small island near the farm) offers tours. (Unfortunately the secrets of the Jewelmer farm will remain a mystery to us. Tourists will only get a standard tourist look-about)
Sorry for rambling on...good day to you all!