Nadine Kam photos YogurStory was home to a Fashionista's Market pop-up Nov. 23. Deals continue on Black Friday.
Fashionista's Market hosted a Haute Holiday event Nov. 23 at YogurStory as a prelude to Black Friday events.
The pop-up shop offered a much calmer way to shop for clothing, notebooks, candles and scents for the home, and jewelry from Stella & Dot.
Before or after shopping, guests could relax upstairs with a chair massage by a therapist from Shiatsu Therapists of Hawaii, and enjoy a treatment at the Rodan+Fields Facial Bar.
Shopping deals continue at the downtown store until 6 p.m. today, with 25 percent off all merchandise in the store, save for local designer lines.
There will also be prize giveaways, a free mini dress with a purchase of $125 or more, and a gift certificate sale. Purchase $100 in gift certificates, and get a bonus $20 gift certificate.
A display of FM wares.
FM's Alyssa Fung, right, and stylist Crystal Pancipanci made sure guests were pampered.
Shoppers could learn more about Rodan+Fields dermatology line.
Nadine Kam photos Contestants in a zany reuse fashion show line up for photos during Fashionista's Market's 6th annual Closet Swap. I give them all a lot of credit for theatrically parading across the stage!
Fashionista's Market 6th annual Closet Swap took place Oct. 21 at the Japanese Cultural Center Manoa Grand Ballroom, starting with the perfect breakfast of scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, rice, fresh fruit and champagne from Barefoot Bubbly, fun and games, a reuse fashion show, and finally, the mad dash for clothing donated by participants.
It was all for a good cause as funds raised will benefit the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter, and Amanda Stevens, from Goodwill Industries of Hawai'i was waiting in the wings to whisk anything that wasn't picked up by guests away to Goodwill, to raise funds for its vocational and community programs.
Before or after sitting down to breakfast, women could also shop for handcrafted accessories from ccdoodle's Christy Chung, as well as check out make-and-take stations manned by Cassandra Rull and Holly Boulay, who were showing guests how to transform unwanted threads into more desirable clothing and accessories.
By now, Closet Swap frequenters know a little of what to expect in the recycled fashion show, which comprises one item from the swap plus a whole lot of newspaper and tape, so having mastered the art of poufs and pleats, costumes have a lot more details to them. The only thing the women don't know is the theme, and this year it was Disney.
Apparently, everybody loves a beautiful princess. We saw a lot more of those than wicked queens. There were also Little Mermaids and Tinkerbells, and on the seamier side, a drunken pirate of the Caribbean and not only drunk but pregnant Tinkerbell (Kelley Porter), who managed to win the competition, along with a cute 5-year-old Minnie Mouse (Ayla Prather).
For the team effort involved in getting them papered up, their tables won 5 minutes early entry to the swap, a fun way to trade your trash for others' treasures.
I was able to grab a few chunky sweaters no one in Hawaii could possibly want, but that would come in handy during my trip to the chilly East Coast. Unfortunately, my flight Sunday was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, but I will still try to get out later in the week. In the meantime, I have a half dozen blog posts to catch up on, so I will try to get them done so I don't have to catch up in airports.
And the winners were Ayla Prather, 5, as Minnie Mouse, and Kelley Porter as a drunk, pregnant Tinkerbell. For the team's effort in dressing them, their tables were granted 5 minutes early access to the swap racks and tables.
In quite the coincidence, was able to find this Minnie Mouse wallet during the swap.
Fashionista's Market's Alyssa Fung, right, staged the event with lots of help from Anita Clemente and Aly Case.
ccdoodle's Christy Chung showed her handmade creations.
Holly Boulay showed how to stitch up bow ties that could be worn any number of ways. I sewed a blue plaid tie with fabric from a scrap heap on the side with some help from Christy as well.
Putting wings on another Tinkerbell.
Putting the finishing touches on the Little Mermaid.
This Little Mermaid costume picked up dozens of scales before it was completed. You can check it out in the video at top of page.
After the swap, women returned to their tables to try on and trade some more. There were a lot of garments flying through the air as they tossed them to friends who might make better use of their finds.
Tiffany Tanaka, left, and Olena Heu were among the swappers.
Nadine Kam photos The Class of ...? Women in "Super Hero or Super Villain" guise, dressed in a mixture of clothing, newspapers and magazines in an attempt to beat fellow competitors to be first to enter Closet Swap Oct. 16.
Women came wearing heels and carrying big bags to the annual Fashionista’s Market Closet Swap at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii on Oct. 16. The event's 5th anniversary was the biggest yet, drawing double the usual number of attendees, at 260, which may be also be a sign of the tough economic times, pushing more to swap their old clothes for something new- or at least new to them.
The 260 women generally donated 9,298 pieces of clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry and accessories to the event, with women able to pick up as many pieces as they contributed. Sandra Fernandez won a prize for most contributions, at 169 pieces.
The event raised funds for the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter, and garments remaining after the event are also donated to the shelter.
Fashionista's Market's Anita Clemente, left, and Alyssa Fung presided over the festivities, with tears at times as they spoke about the specter of domestic violence and all the good carried out by organizations such as the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter that was the beneficiary of the day's events.
Some of the oversize T-shirt donations were picked up by local designer Cassandra Rull, who was standing by with her sewing machine to transform them into prettier wearables. Those first to her table were able to pick out the best designs. She transformed a Hope for Japan T-shirt into a cute halter dress for me. It's amazing how fast she worked, and that she was able to accommodate all who were interested.
At the opposite end of the table, jewelry designer Kihwa Kwon Gosline of Studio Bijoux Hawaii was helping women to transform their old jewelry into new pieces. For those who hadn't brought anything, she was designing new jewelry on the spot, with findings and pieces from costume jewelry.
After a fortifying breakfast of fruit, scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage and rice, the women were ready for action. But first, there was a contest to see just who would be able to enter the swap first for, presumably, the best stuff.
This year's contest was to dress one person at each table as a Superhero or Super Villain. Of course most, if not all, the women opted to be Superheroes, whether a super mom or super fashionista aiming to rid the world of bad fashion. I was one of four judges, and it's always such a tough call because there's so much energy and enthusiasm that goes into creating the costumes with a few pieces of clothing, newspapers and magazine pages. This year, judges opted for the cleaner, tailored look of winners I know only as "Bang Bang" and "Immaculate Designer Girl."
The women at both their tables were allowed 5 minutes early entry to the sale, before maximum craziness ensued.
Friends could pose for photos in the Kreative Photo Booth. At one point, I saw more than 10 women emerge at once.
Kihwa Kwon Gosline created a jewelry piece for Cassie Saylor.
Women lined up to have a piece of clothing refashioned for them by Cassandra Rull, whose creations can be found at Fashionista's Market.
Cassandra examines a shirt before starting on a piece for Kathleen Min, left, and another Closet Swapper.
In creating their Superheroes, many of the women started with the head sash.
Nadine Kam photos Fashionista's Market owner Alyssa Fung, right, and Anita Clemente, celebrated Closet Swap with some Barefoot Bubbly.
Time sure flies. Fashionista's Market celebrated its fifth anniversary and the first-year anniversary of its downtown boutique on Friday night. But festivities started even sooner with FM's Closet Swap, that took place at the beautiful Luana Hills Country Club Oct. 9. As painful as it is to wake up early on the weekend, it's such a beautiful drive up to the clubhouse, where much craziness ensued.
To get participants' strength and enthusiasm up, breakfast of scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, rice, fresh fruit and pastries awaited, accompanied by plenty of Barefoot Wine & Bubbly champagne.
Some girls laid claim to a gold bangle that was a centerpiece at each table, with promise of a prize in store for the wearers' of said bracelet. Having attended this event before, and being a shy, retiring type, I knew better than to put it on! Besides, I was going to be one of the judges the costume contest, theme to be announced.
Fashionista's Market and Closet Swap founder Alyssa Fung hinted at the contest that would involve stacks of newspaper and glossy magazines, and at that, women at the tables got busy constructing ... I don't know what they thought they were going to create without knowing the theme, but they were already making pleats, cutting strips and fashioning florettes out of newsprint.
There was a cheer when they were told Lady Gaga would be their inspiration, and the winning two tables would be given the first opportunity to enter the swap, with more than 5,000 articles of clothing and accessories up for grabs, and pick up the equivalent to what they'd donated for a few minutes, free from the stampede of women. Let's just say that was plenty of motivation. And the women with the gold bangles—Gaga models! Luckily, the same chutzpah that had them grabbing the bracelet made for one saucy catwalk.
Articles of clothing for the swap that followed came from donations made by participants, and each is able to pick up one piece for every item dropped off at FM in advance of the event. The beauty of having an event like this associated with a boutique is that pretty much everyone there has the same style and is about the same size, so swapping with like minds makes sense.
Also allowed to enter first and shop for 5 uninterrupted minutes were those who had donated the most articles: Robin Wright, who brought in 253 items, and Anna DeQuintanaRoo, who contributed 183 pieces.
Last time I came to this event I picked up a leather-and-lace skirt that I still wear. This time I picked up a couple of retro hippie leather bags, that, being the last to enter, I really don't think anyone else wanted!
In light of Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, pieces remaining after the event ended were donated to the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter, which the event has supported for four years.
Great job Alyssa! Sorry I missed the dancing!
Tasia Rivera with her son Peiton, his lips purple from a breakfast snack, coincidentally matching her hair color.
Modeling their newsprint and glossy paper Lady Gaga getups were Joanie Lavosh, left, and Denise Sullivan. Their respective tablemates, who were responsible for creating their looks, won the opportunity to enter the Closet Swap first.
All the tables, including Joanie's, started fashioning paper pieces before the contest theme was announced.
I liked how clean this ensemble was, without a lot of paper flying all over.
Groups were told to make use of everything available to them, and for many tables, that included the Portuguese sausage from breakfast!
