Last Wednesday Meiling held her annual collection showing alongside knitwear designer Aisling. Unfortunately, I could not attend the event. I really wanted to view the collection in full to see if all positive reviews are really positive reviews.
However on my last trip to Trinidad, Meiling did show a few pieces from the new collection under Caribbean Resort Style Week. And before I left, I did get a private re-see of some of the pieces but it wasn’t the full collection and it did not have Micha Gomes’s jewellery additions and the collection styling by Kathryn Nurse.
But this was one of those rare occasions where I found a garment made in the Caribbean that I can wear over and over again. You know that moment when you find a lifelong piece? Instant love! I wore these culottes from Meiling’s new collection for two days straight. I never thought a day would come where I could say I found a versatile piece that I can plug into my wardrobe from a Caribbean-based designer.
To see Meiling working with denim was eye opening and refreshing as a Caribbean consumer. After all the years of timeless black and whites, she took a deep plunge into difference at least from some of the samples I saw.
It made me really realize that sometimes in the Caribbean fashion industry, designers tend to forget women actually want to wear the clothes. They don’t want to just hang it up into their wardrobes. They want functionality out of the garment and they need to be themselves when wearing it.
I pondered on Alexander Wang’s quote, “If you’re designing out of a purely creative place, not thinking of the girl, then the customer’s not going to take notice,” as I browsed through pictures of the photo shoot I did in Trinidad. I found myself on Prada Street in St Clair and on Maracas Beach in the same clothes. Two completely different settings obviously, but it just goes to show how realistic clothes need to be. As much as the glamour and the avant-garde pieces are lovely to have, it’s also nice to have pieces that you transform from elegant to casual.
Whenever there are Caribbean Fashion Markets and Shows I try my utmost to be honest to myself when it comes to buying. Here are a few questions I tend to ask myself
- Is it special? If so what makes it different from the rest of clothes?
- Is it really a well-made garment? Will the buttons and stitches loose as you put it on?
- Would you wear it more than two times?
If most of your answers are no then you are most likely buying based on the fact you saw it on a print ad. Chances are also that you are wasting your money and adding clutter to your wardrobe. Be honest with yourself about the things you buy. Invest in quality.
For today’s look I was wearing Total Meiling. The yellow blouse is from an old collection and the denim culottes and blue checkered blouse are from her 2015 collection. To get the full live review of Meiling’s new collection please check www.nomorefashionvictims.com/blog or Trinidad LookBook.
