My hectic weekend fussing over Minibean’s 3rd birthday tea party was made a very pleasant affair, because apparently, Minibean was not the only one who got plenty of surprises!
It started 4 days ago when I received an email in my inbox, with an unusual request from the very lovely Evan & Jo (okay, it was primarily Jo who fronted the exchange), owners of http://www.livejournal.com/foggiare (okay, it seems like I can never once type livejournal without typing it as liverjournal. Grr!)
They had asked if I would be able to do reviews of their blogshop collections should they send some bribery love in the form of a couple of pretty dresses of my choice.
It wasn’t the first time I was asked to do a review of a product, nor was it the first time I have had a request to do a blogshop advertorial or the likes, so I have had my reservation despite feeling absolutely flattered that the stingy, cheapskate auntie can somehow get free clothes just because… just because… she has a blog?
The initial reservation is from the fact that I do not want to rave about something that doesn’t quite match my personal experience nor reflect my personal beliefs, and that the word-0f-mouth from me might eventually disappoint. You know what I mean?!
That was one of the core reasons why I didn’t end up helping a friend to review a product that absolutely didn’t work for me after trying out (cannot say what! Wait I kena silenced, Minibean how???) and made me feel pretty bad for a while but but but… just didn’t really want to write about it.
And it was the very same reason why I sincerely wanna blog about some of the more pleasant online shopping experiences I have had, hoping that the joy and experience could be shared by others, cos by now, most people should know that I am BIG on services.
You can be the best brand, but then if your service sucks, I will rather be buying from elsewhere, even if it costs me more. And if your service is brilliant, and I might just be charmed to buying things I will regret buying…. but still, it is a closed deal for you!
Bah. Did I digress that far?!
As I was saying!
After receiving the email, I was expecting to be disappointed as I open the site, because well, being relatively new to the blogshopsphere, I already got myself very acquainted with the more known names, and had little confident in the designs the lesser known blogshops got to offer.
I thought it was going to be a ho-hum affair (sorry Jo! I shouldn’t be so presumptious!). But when I was sitting through their latest collection, many of the pretty dresses sobered me up instantly and it very quickly roused the dress monster in me!
I mean, seriously, are they really gonna bribe me with pretty dresses?!
I quickly opened my mail broswer, and I would have said YES! YES! YES! without any hesitation just so I can get the deal sealed before they found out that my readership is not as high as they think regret.
But then, how can like that so no poise?!
So, I coolly, calmly, and replied with aplenty of composure, and said I would gladly do so though I was giggling and excitedly cooing like an utterly cheapskate auntie from the market within.
So. Not. Cool.
So. Not. Doing. Their. Chic. And. Feminine. Style. Justice.
After contemplating, I chose two of the dresses I fancied, though it was a very hard choice for me to make cos I seem to like this:
But I also like this because I have been looking for a long-sleeved dress for the chilly weather these days:
And then this one is sooooooo preetttyyyy with such great cutting! Minibean actually liked this (but I can understand why! So girly and with a ribbon!) but I am not sure Mummy can pull off such a sweet look or not:
And it is no secret that I love floral, so this one caught my eyes too:
But I cannot be tam-simly greedy! Especially when I have been teaching Minibean how never be greedy and must be contended with what people offer.
So….. and you wonder what my choices were.
As fickle as women goes, I am!
Answer: None of the above.
Seriously, that was one hard decision to make.
Eventually, I succumbed to the Chiffon Ubi Belt in Purple, which brilliantly fits size 6 to size 10 (woohoo! No more bad sized clothes that are too small for me!) and the Twiggy Mod Dress in dark blue.
Since I was fretting over what to wear for Minibean’s birthday, I got back to Jo on Friday just before she sent the pieces out, and asked if I could collect them instead.
She brilliantly told me I could and arranged for me to collect since I was on my way down to buy Minibean’s pressie.
I reached the store and the ever so affable Sharon was very patient with my request, and as she helped me with my questions.
I was all ready to nit-pick (reviews have to be honest, don’t they?!), since I am well aware how pictures and actual quality of dresses sometimes don’t match, but when I rip them out of their plastics, I fell in love with both the dresses’ material!
Then, I thought, the cutting must be bad!
So I asked to try on the dresses.
But they turn out to fit me perfectly to a T, and I love the way they hang on me!
The chiffon dress was light, and so cooling to wear! It comes with inner lining to shield the lightness of it all.
Besides that, the best part was the belt really seemed to work wonders to give the illusion to a perfect, hour-glass figured body.
The bodycon dress was of thicker material, and it wraps snugly round the figure to give an illusion of……. a figure. Ahem.
This couldn’t be true right? I was gifted 2 pretty dresses, and they happen to be pretty and managed to exceed my expectations and charm me silly… then now how?! Which one should I wear for Minibean’s birthday?
It was a tough choice.
And I was thinking of that so much that I almost became rude and forgot to thank Sharon and Jo.
Finally, I decided that comfort and girly-ness triumphs for Minibean’s birthday!
And, here’s a glimpse of the party I have yet to blog about:
Sorry, that was just Mummy being absolutely a vain camwhore in the dress I adore so much that I decided to wear for Minibean’s birthday.
And I received compliments for wearing it. Happyness ish me lah!
I also must say the belt also kept the strapless bra in place, without allowing it to slide down, which it almost always does when I wear it, hahaha!
And here, is one of my favourite picture.
Happy 3rd birthday my precious sweetheart! Though your birthday isn’t here until Wednesday.
And here’s another of me and Minibean when she said “Mama meimei” (such an honest daughter I have, giggles) after I changed into the bodycon dress.
I wore it to work today and a colleague asked me where to get it and she expressed disbelief that the dress is priced so reasonably.
So because I am such a little happy camper who is so satisfied with her loots, that this review has only all the good things to say, and nothing bad!
And most importantly, with me being so particular about services and follow-ups, Jo had shown to be a total darling, and I am sure it isn’t just because she needed help or what, because there were others who had asked but just not with the same attitude and pleasantness.
Nothing more worth being happy about to meet such wonderfully nice people who make your day a shade brighter 
Thank you Evan and Jo, for sending some much needed lurrrrvveee my way
***
That aside, talk about great timing!
Foggiare will be launching their new collection on 2nd December, 9pm, and that’s on Minibean’s birthday itself!
Tsk, so fated -beams-
If you have not succumbed to the temptation of blogshopping and wonder what the fuss is all about, it is really time for you to figure out how addictive and easy it is to just sit in front of your monitor and then log into your internet banking… do the transfer, TADANG! You get your loots mailed to you few days later and it feels like Christmas every day when you receive your packages!
***
For most of us ain’t that Italian savvy, Foggiare means to mould, to form, to fashion. How apt! And what sets this blogshop apart is that they also do have a shopfront at Square 2, Novena Square, where pictures cannot cheat you, and you cannot cheat yourselves (if you are a size 20 trying to squeeze into a size 6 and blame others for wrong sizings) since you can possibly try on some of the pieces to see how they really fit.
The great news is, they do have different sizes, instead of doing the cookie-cutter thing of having one size that might not fit all.
foggiare
Square 2, #02-73
10 Sinaran Drive S306507
Click here to join their mailing list and get 15% off new collection
Send your enquiries to foggiare@gmail.com
You can also locate them on facebook!
And don’t forget to bookmark them into your favourites when you are blogshop hopping!
