Blanc Beauty

Once upon a time, the fashion Nazis said nay to white pants as the fall season came in. Fortunately, the ivory holocaust came to an end, and white became an all-season neutral. So as the monsoon threatened to dampen the spirits of the well-heeled crowd that trampled onto the Venetian-like streets of Malate last Wednesday – the mood of the evening was "Die Another Day." Despite a power shortage which we chidingly called the Blairbitch Project, since the ones who would leave were branded as the interesse (those fair- weather friends or users), and the ones who stayed were either diehard champagne-o-holics or just DJ (as in Montano) groupies. Nevertheless as soon as the azure lights illuminated the ivory enclave of Acquario, just like in every Pinoy scandale, all was forgotten and revelry was turned up two notches high. Champagne flowed and coco-lychee martinis were snapped up left and right as if to relive the summer that was or at the very least have a drink to match the outfits of the white-clad chuggers.

It is said that white is the reflection of all colors. Indeed, Acquario’s grand opening gala proved to be a gathering of all sorts of colorful characters all garbed in white with glints of silver. From Angelo Villanueva’s harlequin-inspired outfit to Gippy Tantoco’s can’t-be-bothered white cool street style – it certainly was an evening of eclectic glam. The city’s hotties were at their sterling best as belle epoque’s Tricia Cu-Unjieng, Wendy Puyat, Geni Psinakis and Hindy Tantoco shimmied the night away in scandalicious silver and white outfits.

In the land where nobody knows how to follow the dress code, a country where men show up in black tie events in ghastly blue suits, it was wonderful to see the color blind testosterone crew follow the white and silver rule in full octane style. DJ Montano, one of the minds behind Acquario as well as the popular Indian restaurant Raj, was of course fight in his silver suit from Dior. Miguel Rosales, the man responsible for the night’s romantic and elegant surroundings, was a vision in white and silver accessorized with Dior’s way hip blood drop necklace, revealing the feral fashion rebel in him. The for-eternity-dressed-to -the-teeth Patrick Reyno was casually glam in a white and silver-studded shirt and matching white trousers, proving that chic comes in all forms. I’d hate to sound like the gushing girlfriend, but I couldn’t help but be proud of Victor Consunji as he paraded around in an understated matte silver outfit, which he chose himself. Maurice Arcache was quietly entertaining at the upper lobby of the lounge, showing that the classic and dapper look amongst the relatively cheeky crowd never fails to stand out-ever. Markus Schmidt of Fidel, Firma and People’s Palace, did not disappoint with his sleek but stunning top that was sure to put him in the "top- five-must-spill-wine-on-him" list among all those insecure fashion fiends. Ah the price of being fabulous. Speaking of fabulous, Chut Cuerva and Marco Antonio braved the tropical winds in their detailed linen shirts, establishing the new fashion statement of not taking notice of the fashion/weather forecast – chic x 3. Of course, Tim Yap was in prime form as he did the opposite of Marco and Chut by doing that chic and sexy Swedish look that I’m sure many of the other fight fashion participants were secretly thinking "Why didn’t I think of that?" I mean who doesn’t like the Swedes?

They gave us good vodka, Ikea, lots of hot chicks and now, atypical fashion inspiration. Even Tyler Brule’ of Wallpaper went Swede-gaga, of course lots of this fascination of Sweden were inspired by his beau from Sweden.

The night ended with lots of lychee martinis downed, champagne drizzling like water and graceful ballet dancers from Ballet Philippines prancing around making all wish we were anorexic. And by the way, with the power outage...nobody left. Looks like DJ has a lot of friends by his side and I guess the opportunistes were cleverly vetoed from the guest list. To, Manila, cheers! White is hot, silver rocks and Acquario is sizzling.