Top gone

It's quite alarming that a lot of the Robinson's Specialty brands are closing at Shangrila Plaza.

First there was Topman, then Miss Selfridge, and now, this:

Hopefully, they're not shuttering stores anywhere else. We need our British influence in fashion.

Moss valuable

Another pleasant surprise that greeted me when I went to Robinsons Magnolia this weekend was the Topshop branch there. 

The reason? The carried the 2014 Kate Moss for Topshop collection!

There are a lot of nice pieces from the collection, such as the fringed dress and the fringed leather jacket. But methinks that the biggest seller will be this canary yellow dress.

Since everything is new, it's still sold at regular prices. As usual, I suggest that folks hold back buying it for a few months or so, and wait until it goes on sale. It's bigger bang for the buck, and you get more value for money.

Three sheers!

It's sheer genius how trends from the runway are translated to fast fashion in sheer numbers.

The past month or so, I've been seeing dresses with see-through paneling in sheer volumes. It takes sheer tenacity to wade through all the items and pick out the ones that are sheer joy.

SHEER 1: The red dress from Topshop.

Leave it to Topshop to take some of fashion's trickiest aspects and put them together in a tasteful frock. Red is tricky. Sheer is tricky. Plunging necklines are tricky. But when you have them in a nice fabric and cut with precision, you've got a chic dress with a lot of attitude.

(You can't see it here, but the neckline plunges down to the waist.)

SHEER 2: The black sequined dress from Mango.

Here's the little black dress taken to another level. The entire bodice is fully sequined, and it creates this interesting pattern when the light hits it. The neckline is modest, the sleeves are long, making it very prim and proper up front.

Then, you see the back.

SHEER 3: The purple dress from Tyler

This is another case of "classic with a twist." The color, cut and fabric of this dress makes it perfect for everyday wear. If you see it coming, it'll look like an commonplace shift dress.

But when you see it going, you'll see a completely sheer back that goes all the way down to the waist. It's that element of surprise that makes people give the dress a second, or third look. And according to Ate Bullet, that's exactly what she got when she wore this dress.

I'm sheer - I mean, I'm sure - that there are more dresses like this that will pop up in stores soon. And I wouldn't be surprised if they re-appear in my sisters' closets as well.

The one that got away

It was around this time last year when I got wind that Mary Katrantzou would be coming up with a capsule collection for Topshop. I'm a huge, huge fan of her work - from her silhouettes to her prints.

After seeing the clothes she designed for Topshop, this particular dress was the most covetable of the lot:

Everything about it screams couture! From the mismatch of prints, the china-pattern bottom half, and the bell shaped skirt. It's perfection! And I'm sure my sister would rock this dress!

Unfortunately, this collection was never carried in Manila. And when I checked on ebay, the prices were ridiculous! Someone was selling this dress for P35,000!

Oh well. I guess this beautiful piece will just be filed under "the one that got away."