Styling Workshop by Lifestyle by Feliz

On Feb-02, I had my first fun day I’ve had this year (how sad is my life?) ‘coz I got to attend Lifestyle by Feliz’s Advance Styling Workshop. Lifestyle by Feliz is a team of engagement/prenup shoot stylists founded by Feliz Lucas. They specially cater to engaged couples to style them on their engagement shoots and help make that dream engagement shoot come true. The workshop wasn’t about styling couples, though. It was about personal styling and editorial styling.

I’ve mentioned Lifestyle by Feliz a few times before ‘coz they styled us on our postnup shoots at Casa Ibiza, Hong Kong and Macau. I just loooooove their works. I also attended their basic Photography and Styling Workshop back in 2011, which I enjoyed a lot so when I found out that they were having another styling workshop, I was definitely in. To top it off, one of the speakers for the workshop is none other than Camille Co, one of my favorite fashion bloggers.

The workshop was held at Cafe 1771, El Pueblo, Ortigas. I’ve always wanted to try the place out but never had the chance so I was excited about the move of venue. There was fashion AND food. How much better can this get?

I love the interiors of Cafe 1771…

Signs for the male and female toilets at cafe 1771. Isn’t it cute?

Macarons. One of the snacks provided during the workshop.

The event was hosted by Feliz Diestro-Lucas, herself. After a brief introduction of what they do, she gave the floor to Rachelle Que of Maven Magazine, an icon in the fashion industry.

She talked about how inspiration can go a long way in improving your personal style. Fashion blogs and magazines are readily available. Inspiration is everywhere. You just need to find what suits your personal style the most.

Another tip she gave is to be a ‘fashion icon’. Being an icon is not just for celebrities anymore. You can start to be one within your group of friends, family or co-workers. I really liked this tip. Sometimes, I get shy whenever I dress up and feel like I’m a bit over-dressed as compared to everyone else but who cares, right? People will get used to it. Don’t mind what strangers think, you’d only encounter most of them for 5 or 10 seconds of your life.

She also advised to not be afraid to try on different styles of clothes when shopping. If you’re going to make a fashion mistake, it’s better to do it in the comforts of a fitting room than outside.

Last but definitely not the least, take care of your inner self. What’s inside would reflect in how you look outside with the way you dress and carry yourself. For me, inner beauty is always more important than the outside. It may sound cliche but it’s true.

Up next was Camille Co. It was the part of the workshop that I was really looking forward to. Camille talked about personal style. She gave us tips on finding our own style, what to wear for certain body types, color combination, accessorizing, mixing prints, shopping and decluttering. These are just some of the tips that she gave us…

On styling:
– Never say never. This is a phrase that was used a couple of times during the workshop. You’ll never know if something fits your style unless you try it.
– Fashion is about balance and proportionality.
– Know your body-type and know what will look good with it.
– Stick with the color wheel, you’ll never go wrong with it. As a general rule: colors of the same family looks good together (different shades), colors beside each other look good together and complimentary colors look good together. This really helped me a lot. Now, I’m more confident when mixing colors.
– When accessorizing, cool colors usually look good with silver while warm colors look good with gold.
– Tone down loud colors (like neons) with neutral colors like black, white or nude.
– When mixing prints, look for a certain pattern or color that would hold the whole outfit together. I still need to work on this. I’ve never been into prints so I don’t have a lot of items in my closet to experiment with.

On shopping:
– Here are some of the basic items that you should have in your closet:
* Blazers – gives an instant “ooomph” to your outfit. Even if you’re just wearing shorts, blazers can make your outfit look very well put together. Have them in basic colors like khaki, black or white.
* Good-fitting jeans.
* Black pumps.
* LBD or LWD (little black dress or little white dress). Perfect for any occasions.
* Crisp, white button-down shirt.
– When shopping for accessories that is more than 1,000php it should atleast be heavy to be worth it.
– For leather bags, check the quality. Real leather is soft to touch and smells good.
– For clothes, check the price, fabric and stitches. Not just because it’s from a top-brand, doesn’t mean that it’s always good quality and would be worth the money.

On storage/decluttering:
– Transparent boxes for shoes would be nice so you don’t have to open each box to try to find one pair, or…
– Label the shoe boxes so you’ll know what’s inside (photos would be nice too).
– Air the shoe boxes out regularly so the shoes don’t get ruined.
– Take photos of your stuffs to document them.
– It’s recommended to arrange clothes by color and then by sleeves.
– Necklaces should be put in pouches to avoid ruining them.
– Rings are better arranged the way they do in bazaars.

After her talk, we were given the chance to coordinate two sets of outfits. There were clothes available for us to use (from sponsors and Camille) but we also brought our own clothes so we could have more items to choose from. While we were (having fun) rummaging through clothes (and shoes), snacks were served.

Cheese fondue

Each of us showed everyone the outfit we chose and Camille gave tips on how to style them with accessories.

This is one of the outfits I came up with: leather + florals.

Next topic was about editorial styling and who better to conduct this talk than Eldzs Mejia, a fashion stylist who has worked for Mega magazine and GMA-7.

We started this part of the workshop with a scarf. We were asked to use the scarf as a: scarf (plain and simple), headdress and as a piece of clothing. This showed us how a lot of things can be done with just a single piece of fabric.

Eldzs gave us his background and showed us some of his works. I gotta tell you, I was beyond impressed with him. This guy has done so many things (such as set production, styling, designing clothes and shirts and directing) and continue to evolve and improve himself. I so envy him for being able to do what he loves to do. You can see the passion in his work.

Here are some samples of his work. Check out his website to see more… (I could spend hours just looking at photos in his site).

These are some of the tips he gave us:
– Build your portfolio. This will show what you are capable of. If you’re really good, people would eventually see your potential which could open the doors to the fashion industry.
– Study new trends and look for inspiration but find ways to make it your own.
– Build a good team. An editorial shoot is not a one-man show. Find skilled people who can help make your vision come true. And of course, good rapport between team members is also important.
– Stylists need connections, especially when pulling out clothes for shoots.
– A stylist must have a ‘styling kit’. Some of the essentials that need to be included in the kit are: scissors, masking tape, bull clamps (I finally know what those clips are called), lint roller, sewing kit and a steamer.

Desserts were served during the discussion

Eldzs signing our certificates

After Eldzs’ talk, we had an actual editorial shoot (which was really exciting). Eldzs brought his team with him and he demonstrated how editorial shoots usually work.

Eldzs’ team preparing Jessica for the shoot (photo from LSF FB page)

Photographer: Louie Parinas
Model: Jessica Yang
Stylist: Eldzs Mejia

Don’t you just love the output?

And this is how the workshop ended. I enjoyed every minute of it and I wish I could attend more of these. Before we left, we were given goody bags with some accessories and clothes from the workshop sponsors. Oh! and I also won a 1,000php gift certificate for Primadonna shoes. At the start of the workshop, we were told that the top 3 noisiest people in instagram and facebook will win GC’s. I guess that proved that I can be noisy when needed. XD Check out our posts in instagram: #lifestylebyfeliz and #lifestyleworkshop for more photos. 😉