All dolled up-- for 200 pesos or less

Wednesday, 03 September 2008 05:06 Tinette Panogot

Cream babydoll dress; Peach lace babydoll top with khaki shorts.

Ever since you saw the dresses that Angel Locsin wore on Asian Treasure and Lobo, you've always been looking longingly at the babydoll dresses and blouses displayed in the mall boutiques. Yet each time you go to look at the prices, it really doesn't seem worth spending such a huge amount of money on clothes. Especially when you have more important expenses, like rent and the electric bill. One day, that girl who has always been making wisecracks about you walks by and disses you again. To add insult to injury, she's wearing the doll dress you've been drooling over at Kamiseta a while back-- and you know you'd look better in it than she does.

To console your wounded ego... what do you do?

No! Do not go running to buy that self-same dress after obtaining a loan big enough to bankrupt you for the rest of the year! Not only does it brand you a copycat – after all, she did buy that dress first-- but it is also an expense that you can't afford.

There are other shops in the malls which offer great bargains on clothes, if you know where to look and what to choose. Also, there's always Divisoria and Baclaran, if you don't mind squeezing into the multitudes to grab bargains. Hey, according to blogger Filipina Soul, even Imelda was spotted shopping at Divisoria! According to blogger Dyimz, the best time to go to 'Soria is on a Monday before lunch (that's one way to make use of “Holiday Economics” Mondays!) because you can get really good bargains for being the “buena mano”. Blogger Bryanboy cites three things to keep in mind when in Divisoria: “(1) Hang on to your bag as if it was the only thing to save your life. (2) Do not, under any circumstances, use your cellphone unless you're indoors and in a safe area. (3) Haggle, haggle and always haggle!”

Peach lace babydoll top, Alixandre, Php100. Khaki shorts, Divisoria, Php60.

As a last resort, if you don't mind carefully sterilizing and laundering the clothes you bought, there's always the ukay-ukay. DLSU's Dr. Jaime S. Ong called it “the best bargain phenomenon to hit the Philippines, bar none.”

Anyway, we found these khaki shorts in Divisoria for Php60, believe it or not. They usually retail in mall tiangges for upwards of Php120, and can be paired with anything from tank tops to baby tees to doll dresses. The peach lace top we discovered at Alixandre for Php100.

Then, in an ukay-ukay shop along M.H. Del Pilar in Malate, we found this cream babydoll dress with embroidered flowers-- looking yummy enough to be from a high-end boutique. The price: Php25. A similar look from The Vibe cost $135 (or upwards of Php6200).

That's two new outfits for your new baby-doll look-- and you didn't blow all the rent money on it.

Photos by Tinette Panogot.
Models: Eva and Joan Concepcion.