Fashionably Yours

Guest blogger, Rachana Nakra from Mumbai is on a mission to rescue you from all the Fuffa (what Anna Dello Russo calls ‘rubbish’) that’s weighing your closet down and restyling, rehashing and revamping your pre-loved clothes in her own stylish way.  Her project is now traveling all over the world from Mumbai to Dubai and beyond, turning fuffa to fabulous, one closet at a time. Here’s the story:

Rachana Nakra, blogger and founder of the Fuffa Fabulous project

My interest in vintage, recycling and second hand clothes was mainly piqued while at university in London last year. I attended a fantastic lecture by Elizabeth Laskar of the Ethical Fashion Forum, a UK based industry body for sustainable fashion that inspired me to learn more about the environmental impact of fast fashion.

In fact, many today are getting increasingly aware how buying a T-shirt the price of a latte or shopping a dress for a Saturday night out has other consequences, overflowing landfills only being one of them. I discovered designers who were using ‘upcycling’ to reuse discarded clothes and make completely new designs.

The Fuffa Fabulous project: Get in on it!

Stores such as Rokit and Bang Bang are putting used clothes back into the fashion cycle, selling them to vintage lovers at low prices. Then there is the posh William Vintage on Marylebone Street. On appointment, you can browse through a collection of vintage Dior, Balenciaga, Ossie Clark and more, curated by William Banks-Blaney, dubbed the vintage king by Vogue. Of course, there is a massive difference in the approach and clientèle of these stores but the concept of reusing remains the same.

A friend from Uni also took me along on his vintage shopping spree. The gorgeous Serbian had a wardrobe that sported the best labels – Gucci man bags and Hermes scarves amongst them. While a lot of it was bought full-price, much of it wasn’t. He usually had a bagful of designer clothes that he would exchange at his favourite vintage store in Soho for new designer clothes. His drug was finding that good-as-new Marc Jacobs T-shirt for 60 quid and having a completely new wardrobe every few months.

The Fuffa Fabulous Project

Which brings me to my project!

I am asking friends and countrywomen to lend.. or well, give me their old clothes, shoes, accessories. Clothes that are not hanging in their wardrobes but clothes they are hanging on to, for sentimental reasons, or any other justification we give ourselves to still keep that 5 year-old dress that we have worn only twice. I am asking them to let go and promising them to love their stuff like my own, style it and take fuffa to fabulous.

And then?

I am giving you a chance to make it your own – The Fuffabed clothes you see on the blog in perfect condition, carefully curated and thoughtfully re-priced, for you to give a new lease of life.

Visit fuffabulous.wordpress.com

But what do the original owners of the clothes get after the emotional parting, you ask?

Besides a neater wardrobe and a lighter spirit? They have one of two very noble choices:

1. Ring out the old, ring in the new. The fuffa is now money, go on a shopping spree!

2. Divert the money to a charity closest to your heart or ours.

So much joy all around, isn’t it?

Learn what exactly fuffa means and more about the project at fuffabulous.wordpress.com

My new-found style crush on all things vintage led me to one of the most exquisite little corner of Dubai – Bambah Boutique, a place where vintage lovers come to appease their sartorial desires. I’ve been meaning to look it up after I saw pictures of the store from a few local fashion blogs but my visit to Bambah Boutique last night surpassed my expectations!

It’s almost unfair to call it just a store. Drenched in opulence and old world charm, the picturesque boutique offers  some of the finest vintage pieces from the 1930’s to the 1980’s, handpicked from around the world. Their collection is a mixture of everyday classics and designer pieces such as Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin, Dior, and Nina Ricci. Yup, I had to make a conscious effort to stop gaping.

The über-stylish lady behind it all, Maha Abdul Rasheed, who sources these fabulous vintage finds from London, Tokyo, NY and LA, has now launched her very own restored and reconstructed vintage clothing line with a focus on denim and plaid. “It’s all about experimenting with colors, fabrics, and letting your imagination speak for you”, says Maha. “I always encourage my customers to suit a vintage piece according to their personality and style by slightly or entirely transforming it; and Vintage Reconstructed is a small example of how this can be done.”

The most popular items of this collection will be the base for a more permanent collection that will be updated for each season. Bambah’s Vintage Reconstructed Collection will be available in-store starting December 14, 2011.

See the rest of the fabulous vintage boutique in pictures on Fashionably Yours Facebook Page.

If you’re ever in Dubai, be sure to hit up Bambah Boutique. Highly recommended for fashion addicts!

Address: 142 Jumeirah Beach Road, Opposite Dubai Zoo
Phone: +971 4 349 5585
Website: http://www.bambah.com

Buying vintage items has just never been my thing…I’d rather enjoy the tingle in my spine while I unwrap my brand new shoes, take in the colors, feel the textures and listen to the crackling of the wrap.. . But last night changed all that! It was at the Flavours launch party that I realized vintage clothing and accessories can get me just as excited, considering they come with price tags as drool-worthy as the gorgeous Pradas and Chanels they’re on.

Enter Flavours, a one-of-a-kind webstore in the Middle East that buys and sells genuine, lightly used luxury and designer clothing, accessories and jewelry at throwaway prices- Depending on the usage, brand and type of the item, prices start at just AED 150! That’s 1600 Rupees or 40 dollars! No wonder I changed my mind huh?

Glimpses of the Fashion Show at the Flavours Fashion Show, Dubai

Nadine Mezher, co- founder of the webstore speaks exclusively to Fashionably Yours, “Flavours is the first specialist in authentic, rare, limited-edition and discounted luxury items in this region. Our mission is to provide our clients with GENUINE designer bags, accessories, clothing and even shoes, at reasonable prices. The reason these items are so well priced, is that they have been previously owned: we collect them, authenticate them, restore them and sell them back to a highly growing market. I have to say: they are in excellent condition.

The idea for Flavours came to us when we noticed that a lot of the people around us love to shop for all these high end items regularly, ending up with a huge selection and they don’t know what to do with these items once they want to buy new ones. Most of them would just give their bags or accessories away. We figured that there is a tremendous opportunity here and a market to be filled.

 The concept of these boutiques is big in Europe and the United States, but we pride ourselves to be the first online boutique to have such an amazing selection in the region.”

Flavoursonline.com

How does this work?
The process is very simple: people contact them to sell their used bags. They collect and check the condition of the items, have their experts look at them to authenticate them and price them for sale, according to the usage and rarity of the items.

Nadine says, “Everyone loves a good bargain! From Louis Vuitton, to Chanel, Gucci and Prada, you are bound to find something that matches your taste. Brands like Louis Vuitton never go on sale but Flavours makes it possible for you to buy these items at 60% off and more!”

Chic, but Cheap?
‘Affordable Luxury’ appeals to fashion addicts of all ages and pockets. However, the snob value of luxury items is not diluted by this concept.

Nadine says, “You have to keep in mind, that even at discounted prices, the luxury items are still not for everyone. Somehow, it is still a selective club and the purchaser of these items believes in the high quality, beautiful craftsmanship he/she is investing in. This is why they do not want to purchase fakes and replicas but these are the people who recognize a rare vintage item, limited edition pieces and know their real value.”

Well, cheers to that… You know where MY next Chanel is coming from!