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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Valentino Retrospective: Past / Present / Future

Sometime during the Chinese New Year period, Regina, Karen, Karen's sister Janice and I went to a curated fashion exhibition – Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future. Clara was supposed to go with us but she could not make it in the end and hence Janice took her place.

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Held at the Resorts World Convention Centre, this exhibition boasts one hundred haute couture pieces from Valentino. These include works from early days of Valentino Garavani to contemporary designs by present Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli.

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Valentino Garavani is a household name synonymous with dramatic, opulence and extravagance. He made his mark early with intricately detailed, luxurious gowns and tastefully body-conscious silhouettes. He also perfected his own shade of red when he came up with a line of brightly-hued red dresses. This was later coined by the fashion industry as “Valentino red”, and became his signature colour.

The pictures you see in this post were taken from Regina, Karen and Janice. Thank you so much for the pictures! I was still using my pink bimbotic camera at that time which was fast failing on me after a few years of loyalty. Hence, whenever I go out with Regina or Karen, I would simply keep my camera and let their canon S90 do the job.

I would love to have snapped more pictures but here are some of the pieces which caught my eye.

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I really love the black and white combination (this explains my white and black wedding gown!) and I especially love the white bow at the back of this gown.

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Also on exhibition were pieces worn by classic actresses like Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and celebrities of the present like Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Lucy Liu and more. Valentino's most famous client would be Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.

There were simply too many gowns which were such a visual feast. Here, I've included this youtube video of the exhibition where a lot more gowns have been featured.



Here are my two most favourite gowns. Do you see the similarities? These reminds me of dresses that Greek goddesses and beautiful nymphs would wear.

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I love the picture of the 3 lovely ladies at the bottom of this collage. They looked really amused by the pixels forming a clear picture when seen from afar.

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Learning more about Valentino from the milestone board.

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Being very bimbotic fashionable, we decided we should wear dresses to match the theme of the exhibition though it was rather spontaneous that we all wore varying shades of pastel colours. We only realised how colourful we looked when we took this photo. No wonder everywhere we walked outside of the exhibition, people turned to take a second look at us. Most of the people there were clad casually as they were there for Universal Studios and lounging about the island resort and we probably look like OTT aliens on the island.

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After the exhibition, we went to Victoria's Secrets where we each bought something.

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This is the first time Janice went out with Regina and me together and she was really so excited snapping so many photos.

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After that, we headed to Dustbunny Vintage where I spent a bomb on a few pieces of beautiful vintage dresses and one-off pieces. I guess we were truly inspired by the many beautiful and fashionable gowns we saw in the morning.

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I like how Janice edited this photo. It reminds me of a section of ViVi magazine where the photos have got a vintage washed out tone.

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After shopping, we finally settled for tea at Old Town White Coffee where Regina left us for a date with the hubby while Clara joined us.

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My final stop was a CNY home-cooked dinner with my family. I absolutely love my mum and dad's cooking. Yes, my dad can cook very well too. He learnt it from my grandmother and my mum. Now, I wonder if kh would be able to cook for the family next time too.

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There was steamboat where the soup stock was pig's stomach soup. I really love my parents' pig's stomach soup and my mum's ngor hiang as well. She makes the best ngor hiang ever. It would always be dish which my relatives would wait for every reunion dinner.

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A family portrait where we were all standing awkwardly. Maybe we should invest in a tripod... and an SLR probably. I'd wanted to snap a more proper one but my camera died after that.

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Here's what I wore:
♥ Banana Republic silk & azlon tube dress
♥ No label scarf thrown on to add details to the simple dress

Accessories:
♥ Topshop ice cream earrings
♥ Fifi Lapin necklace (xmas gift from Regina)

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Signing off in a bimbotic mode,
Jo

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18 comments:

  1. A bevy of fashionably dressed ladies I would say.
    I would love to own the Greek style white gown on the left but Im pretty sure it would lead to bankruptcy.

    Your dad can cook very well. The dishes look like what we get from restaurants. That is a very nice family portrait....random note: I like your mom's leopard print dress. She looks good in it.

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  2. Hi Jo! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, so glad you liked the red dress and the leopard heels! Yes...I am frequently told that I look like Lucy liu! What a fun and amazing museum! I would love to take my Mom to see this, she is a huge Valentino fan and no I don't think you are 'bimbotic,' fashionably fabulous!

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  3. You ladies look fab in those pretty dresses. Oh my, an exhibition seemed like a fun experience. Those dresses are so intricate and gorgeous. I don't own a thing from Valentino but I am interested in their shoes.

    You will have a blast shopping in Bangkok Jo. Platinum Mall is a must, just avoid going on weekends...too darn crowded. Siam Square is nice but sellers buy clothes from Platinum Mall and mark up the prices. Silom (soi lalaisup) is another shopping hot spot for office ladies too. It is only from morning to early afternoon.

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  4. All of you ladies look gorgeous. Those Valentino dresses are like works of art. The food looks really yummy. I love your outfit, the purple scarf is so cute.

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  5. My greatest fashion love & inspiration is Haute Couture! I am so glad to find your blog an this post, and I share same opinion for those 2 fav dresses! Stunning!

    You girls are lovely & fashionable!

    K.
    http://www.bloglovin.com/en/blog/3008424/poshkay

    p.s. Tks for lovely comment on my blog. Just started following you here & via BLOGLOVIN and would appreciate if you check out mine. Follow if you like :-)

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  6. Oh my! It must have been heaven to be surrounded by such gorgeous dresses!

    Thank you for the sweet comments! I really appreciate it! It's not specially cancer that I have, but I went through a lot of the same things they have. My prayers and all my positive energy go out to your god daughter!!! I'm sure she is a survivor and she will pull through with all the love and support she's surrounded with.

    Your blog is absolutely stunning and I look forward to reading more posts from you!<3

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  7. i can't believe you actully saw all those beautifull dresses in person *O* i would die to be in your shoes right now!
    I'm always impressed when i read blogs that talk about exhibitions. Usually people don't bother much about art or museums for some reason :c i find it very sad! there should be more bloggers who would care to visit exhibitions ^^ even if a blogger wants to write, lets say, about fashion, it doesn't mean that the blog must be full of pictures from designer found on google :/ you just proved that's possible! :D taking time to make our own photos and actually visit the places is a thing i really like on your blog :3

    anyways, I'm glad i made you listen to Oasis :p they're nice to listen to, their melodies are catchy and they make me company when I have to take the bus to college, aha :)


    Love * Sofia

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  8. Peh Sun,

    Aww... thank you. Look up at the moon, you would see me over it. =D

    Haha... if you would go bankrupt after getting that Greek goddess dress, I don't think I would even have enough moolah to rent any of the dresses.

    My mum looks good in the most bizarre clothes most of the time. Hahaha... She dresses very hip for her age.

    ~~~

    Bravoe Runway,

    Or should I say Lucy Liu? lol

    "Fashionably fabulous"? I like that. Thanx my dear. Oh, this Valentino exhibition wasn't a permanent one. I think it was making its rounds around the globe.

    ~~~

    Nelah,

    I don't own a thing from Valentino too. We only have one store in Singapore and I haven't stepped into it yet.

    Yes, I'm definitely gonna prowl Platinum Mall like nobody's business. I also wanna check out chatuchak weekend market too. My bestie and I actually contemplated squeezing Chiangmai into our itinerary but it is a little hard to plan since they're 10hours coach ride and the budget airline to fly there isn't cheap with very odd timings too.

    Do you have any recommendations for non touristy places or things to do in or around BKK?

    Maybe I would drop you a mail soon.

    ~~~

    Kalmo,

    Thank you for stopping by and leaving me such lovely words. =)

    ~~~

    Posh.Kay,

    I love it when I find like-minded people. High 5!

    Thank you for stopping by and for following me. I will definitely check out your blog more often. Look out for me!

    ~~~

    jenwoonani,

    Thank you for stopping by and for your lovely words. It means a lot coming from a warrior yourself who overcome all odds.

    I look forward to seeing you around more often too!

    ~~~

    Sofia,

    It's always great to hear from you. Your words always put a smile to my face.

    I guess it's rather time consuming to blog about museum and exhibitions coz there's simply too many to say. Most often pictures would suffice with minimal words. If my camera were to be working well, I would have snapped too many pictures of all the lovely gowns that I would find it extremely hard to craft a post about it.

    I listen to a radio station in Singapore that plays classic songs. Such music soothe my soul but I usually listen w/o knowing the titles or singers so I'm really glad to know the title of that Oasis song and know how lame it is coz you actually typed out part of the lyrics. I bet I've heard and liked many Oasis songs coz their style of music sounds like what I could hear on that station though Oasis isn't exactly old enough to be called "classic".

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  9. Thanks for stopping by my site! I wanted to let you know that I tested out an acorn candle and it burned for 14 minutes :)

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  10. Everyone looks fantastic in those photos. Those dresses are wonderful, but you guys definitely stole a little bit of the spotlight.

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  11. The Valentino gowns are sooo gorgeous! You girls all look so chic on your get-together. =D You have a lovely blog and I am following it!

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  12. All of you looked very stylish--I didn;t know you were so tall!

    The exhibit reminds me of a more sophisticated version of the First Ladies Gowns exhibit we have at the Smithsonian--it's a collection of the dresses worn to inaugural balls by our newly elected Presidents' wives.

    Your family REALLY knows how to have a family meal. My mom was a good cook, but since she passed away the food at our family gatherings has been kind of plain.

    Evil Jo??? I think I would like her as much as I like you. =)

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  13. Tonia,

    Thank you for stopping by my blog. 14 minutes is very long for the small little acorn. I'm impressed!

    ~~~

    aki,

    Aww... thank you hun.

    ~~~

    Shop N'Chomp,

    Thank you for your lovely words and for following my blog.

    ~~~

    Rick,

    What makes you deduce that I'm tall? I'm actually not tall. About 162cm so in American context when rounding up it's about 5 feet 4.

    I actually went to google the Smithsonian. Looks like a great museum which I would visit.

    I think you would love Evil Jo coz all my good frenz love her. lol

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  14. good thing i just finished eating dinner! :)

    you all look lovely! i love your outfit too! and, ohmigosh!! i love the gowns on display. everything looks so fabulous! =)

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  15. In the pictures, you're taller than everyone except KH. My KH is also 5' 4" and my mom used to tell her, "I wish I was tall like you." So to my mom, you are tall. =)

    Yes, I agree with your friends about E.J.

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  16. sugar sugar,

    Thank u dear. Glad to see that you're alright. Saw the floods in the news and I thought of your post yesterday about raining whales.

    ~~~

    Rick,

    Karen and her sister are quite petite so I guess I look like a giant next to them. LOL... So I'm the same height as your kh! But I'm sure my kh is not same height as you as he's considered short for a guy I think.

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  17. You look really elegant and pretty! Those Valentino dresses all look really amazing. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

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