168 Divi Dress Disaster - Camille's Boutique

I decided to write an article about this horrible experience for everyone who will want to have their dress made in Divisoria. I'm not criticizing Divi dressmakers in general, but I'm just talking about one boutique in particular--Camille's Boutique (the one near the textile stall and RCBC at the 4th flr. of 168 Shopping Mall - Soler Wing). Owned and operated by Rebecca Cruz, this made-to-order gown shop may be your horror train ride to your event.

Just recently, one of my friends got engaged and she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. Along with my other college friends, I volunteered to pay for the dress. I know I'm also at fault because I wasn't there to help my friend decide where she would have the dresses made, but I know that she chose Camille's Boutique in good faith.

Since I haven't had any dress made in Divi, I asked my friend if I could have the fabric and have the dress made by my seamstress. It would also be less stressful for me because I would not have to go to Divi for measurements, fitting, and such. My friend discouraged me to do so because according to the mananahi, "Mag-iiba yung treatment." Obviously, that mananahi just want to keep all the earnings to herself.


I also had doubts about the boutique she chose because sje said that we could send our measurements via text message and they can start creating the dress from there. What??? It does not happen that way, especially for women like me who have curves. Everybody who has ever had their dress made knows that the final output of a dress depends on the cut. Kaya nga may "Master Cutter" dahil importante and tabas ng damit sa kalalabasan nito.

Anyway, for the last few months, I did not budge and still encouraged my friend to buy the fabric for me. However, even up to the last minute, the mananahi refused to provide the fabric swatch. So I gave up and went to the boutique to have the dress done. I gave them about a month to complete the dress. I know most people will say that I should have booked them earlier. Mind you, I tried to have my dress made about 3 months before the deadline, but because they refused to give the fabric swatch, I wasn't able to do so.

A week before my deadline, I texted AJ, the boutique personel, reminding her that I would come the week after to pick up the dress. She did not reply. Three days before the deadline, I reminded her again. Since they were not replying, I assumed that there were no problems with the dress and that I could pick it up on the deadline. I even told AJ that I could get the dress the day after the deadline.

Typically, I do not bring a cellphone whenever I go to Divi to avoid becoming the prey of thieves. When I got to the shop at around 12PM, AJ and Vecca (Rebecca Cruz) already looked annoyed. Vecca said, "Ikaw yung tinext namen kanina?" I already knew something went wrong. She said she texted me that morning, telling me that the dress was not done yet. Grabe! I told her, "Sana kahapon mo sinabi. Sana nag-reply ka sa mga text ko. Alam niyo bang ito lang pinunta namen dito. Galing pa kami ng Antipolo." Ugh! Grabe lang talaga.

Here's another annoying fact: Vecca did not apologize. I remember her saying in a condescending tone, "Yung damit mo nga lang yung bongga. Kinulang pa yung telang binili ko," but she never apologized. She made me feel that it was my fault why they missed their deadline, and that I should have been thankful because they made my dress. Vecca told me that they had a sewing shop in Taytay, and that I can pick up the dress there after a week. I agreed and went home.

A week went by and I texted AJ and Vecca reminding them about the dress. My friend also told me to keep reminding them about the dress because apparently, she's had issues with her order too. There was a wrong piece in the groom's set of clothes, and they commonly inform the client that they'll push the deadline on the day itself. The groom worked at Singapore and whenever there was a need to go to Camille's Boutique, he had to make arrangements with his employer. Imagine the stress Rebecca Cruz gave the groom and bride.

So I kept on reminding them, even calling them. But they did not reply or answer my calls. I even sent one text message saying, "AJ, bakit di nagrereply si Vecca? Di ko na naman ba makukuha yung damit ko?" Eventually, they answered the call (my mother was the one making the call because I got tired of doing it repeatedly). My mother asked the person on the other line the exact address of the sewing shop so we can directly go there. To my mother's surprise, he did not know. Note: Vecca told me that it was one of their sewing shops. So we agreed to meet the guy at the closest restaurant.

We waited for three hours (Yes, THREE HOURS) for the delivery guy to arrive. Since we were tired of waiting, and it was already night time, I decided not to go to their sewing shop and just take the dress home with me. Diba we waited for three hours for the delivery guy? He still had the nerve to be annoyed at us. His name was Leonardo Diaz. He said he was Vecca's husband. I asked him why Vecca's last name was Cruz. He wasn't able to answer that with, "That's her maiden name." He just said, "Ewan ko dun." Kaloka. Obviously, he wasn't giving us his real name.

I went home and tried the dress. It was horrible. There was no hook to hold the dress together, my boobs were falling off, the end cuts of the fabrics were showing. Basta, there were many things wrong with the dress. So I had it repaired for 250php. My mother told me that it was more difficult to repair clothes than to make them. In the first place, I should have had my dress done kay Aling Lita--it would cost less and I would not have to go through all the stress. Aling Lita said that when you're making a chiffon dress there should be at least three layers of fabric--mine had two. The boning should be cut right by the waist--mine reached my legs. The cocktail dress with lace bolero costs 1800php.

Meanwhile, my other friend who also had her bridesmaid dress done by Camille's Boutique was also having problems with AJ and Vecca--they were not replying to her texts. She was supposed to pick up her dress two days after I got mine but they were not answering her calls. On the day itself, they texted her and told her that they lost her dress--that was two weeks before the wedding. Grabe lang no? They had her dress made on a rush and when my friend tried the dress on, it did not fit her and the design was different from what she submitted. Of course, it would not fit her--the measurements were based on the bride's. So professional and organized.

When I had my doubts about Camille's Boutique, I tried searching for it on the Internet. The shop did not have a Facebook account and there wasn't any blog entry published regarding it. Now I'm doing the worldwideweb a favor by uploading this entry. Hey Rebecca Cruz, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I am disappointed at you. You are an unprofessional seamstress with a crude attitude. I am an SEO writer (I make a living by writing content for search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing), so I made sure that this entry is stuffed with every keyword that your prospect clients will use in searching for you or any Divisoria seamstress, Divisoria boutique, 168 dressmakers, 168 bridal gown shop. So I hope you start cleaning your act.

Noemi's Makeup Portfolio 2013

Ate Noemi recently resigned from being a public school teacher to pursue a career in makeup application. Imagine the horror my mother went through when she revealed that she'd go full time on makeup! Anyway, I hope everything turns out well. I can also see Ate really working hard to find gigs. She even updated her portfolio, and of course, I was there to help, taking pictures and stuff. Photos were also posted at http://www.facebook.com.makeupbynoemi We asked our cousin's wife to model for us. She already has 2 makukulit na babies, and she doesn't even have time to fix her hair. Kaya she was really excited to help ate.


Here's Lanie's Before shot. This was taken at eye level kaya medyo harsh yung angle.

Here's the After shot. Ate calls this one, "Fairy Tale Bride" Pasweet lang and super fresh look.

Here's another look Ate prepared. This one's called, "Pixie Dream Girl". May konting spunk dahil sa subtle smokey eyes, but still charming and sweet.

This one's called, "Smouldering Grecian Bride". Heavy smokey eyes with nude lips.

Diba, she's really talented! She just needs to put her heart to what she's doing. Here's Lanie nga pala with her bunso, Uno:

  

 

Ate's makeup lesson with Punggay

We live 3 houses away from each other, and yet we haven't seen each other for ages! The first question she asked me was, "Diba nag-Baguio ka?" Wah! I graduated 4 years ago! Anyway, we easily caught up on stuff that happened for the past years, including her career shift. She wanted to be a nurse before, but realized that makeup artistry was her true passion. So, she asked ate Noemi to give her some basic lessons on makeup application. BTW, someone hired her for prom makeup services (o, that's true talent). Since it's an evening event, Ate taught her two ways to do the smokey eyes effect. Here's her photo:

Oh, diba, so pretty, even without makeup! ^_^

Ate Noemi's makeup for Mrs. Remy Serapion

I am having so much fun using my new lens! I also discovered new curves settings on Photoshop which make my photos look better. As I previously said, Ate Noemi has a makeup gig today. She did her godmother's makeup this morning. Here are the before and after shots:

Here are the products she used:
Graftobian - Makeup base, foundation, blush, corrector, finish powder, finish spray
Revlon lipstick
Etude lip liner
Maybelline cream eye liner 

She did an excellent job on covering Tita Remy's age spots and reducing the dark under eye circles. And nope, she didn't use airbrush! That's all traditional makeup! Who says you can't achieve that high definition, flawless look with traditional makeup?  

I also love what she did with Tita Remy's hair:

She created 4 hair roses with star pins in the middle. Those pins normally cost around 50 pesos here in Antipolo. Good thing we found this shop in Hidalgo, Quiapo where we can buy each for 22 pesos. 

Ate's getting better at hairstyling!

Nikkor 35mm f1.8

Last Saturday, I bought new lens for my camera. I decided to buy Nikkor 35mm f1.8 since I do not plan on upgrading to full frame any time soon. I took it for a stroll along Manila and it did not disappoint me. I was very happy with how much details it can capture. Here's a photo of Mami and Dadi...and Ate Noemi goofing around.lol

 I took more photos during the trip, but I'm having problems uploading them here in my blog. So here's the link to the FB album for this trip: FACEBOOK

It also got a decent depth of field. Here's a photo of my uber, super dooper, cutie patootie, nephew:

The cake we ate at Teacher Rose's birthday last night:

Ate Noemi has a makeup gig on Saturday and I 'm so excited to use my new lens! I'll upload those photos soon after the gig's done!

Makeup by Noemi Samson - Kim Aquino

I've said before that I've been helping my sister develop her portfolio but I haven't posted any of her makeup photos in this blog yet. There are a lot, mind you. Hence, I will post my favorites.
Ate has always admired Kim's (our churchmate) facial features. Lately, Ate practiced her skills with Kim.
These were taken for Jam's school project. She posed as the lover in the movie poster of the Legend of Bulkan Mayon.

Here's a closer look:

Here's the movie poster that Ate Abba edited: (Boyong's hilarious!)

Before 2011 ended, we also asked Kim to model for us. Ate Noemi's concept was New Year's Eve makeup. By the way, Ate studied hairstyling by the time we took these photos. So Kim's hair looked better compared to the Mayon shoot.haha

Kim is soooo pretty! Ate has improved a lot. I really hope she gets booked in the future. I hope she can fulfill her dream of becoming a runway makeup artist in New York.:)

SLC's Blacklight Presentation

Because lately, I've been broke, I've searched for rakets on photography. I've been taking photos of Shiloh Learning Center's activities. (Well technically, I did not apply for the job - I am an alumnus and a member of SLC's church.haha)
Every year, SLC prepares a blacklight presentation for their commencement exercises. Instead of presenting the traditional "song with white gloves" performance, Teacher Abba uses her creativity by incorporating fairy tales. During my stay in SLC, I was part of the Creation and The Three Little Pigs blacklight presentation. All I can remember was the fun we had creating the props and the tension we felt while carrying packaging tapes, praying that the props won't fall apart.haha Back then DSLRs were not popular. These kids are lucky that they can keep photographs of their blacklight presentation. but I could never be more happier because I was the one who took their photos.
Here are the photos I took:

The cast
L-R - Prince, Messenger, Fairy Godmother, Cinderella, Stepmother, Stepsisters

The cast and crew

Cinderella

The Stepsisters and Cinderella

The evil stepmother and Cinderella

The evil stepmother

The evil stepmother and stepsisters

Fairy Godmother and Cinderella

The cast on house lights

The cast with their creative director, Kim Aquino
L-R - Justin, Ransom, Tiffany, Habakkuk, Kim, Eom Shin, Kendrick, Genzen

The cast with the voice over talents
L-R - Justin, Isaac, Tiffany, Andrea, Shannon, Habakkuk, Kim, Justin, Joey, Kendrick, Genzen, Nathalie

I also took productions stills but I'll just upload them on a separate entry. These kids are fun to work with! :)