Come on Barbie, let's go party!
She could have gone with the wave of recession-related everything, but Preview magazine editor-in-chief Pauline Juan decided to put a child-like spin to her annual party and told everyone to dress up like Barbie!
“I didn’t want the party to be depressing,” said Pauline, “and our themes have become tradition already.” True enough, the Preview Best Dressed Ball is one of the most-awaited dress up events of the year. Oops they did it again (oops, that’s Britney, not Barbie), just like what they did when they imposed on modern indigenous (modi), retro-futuristic and ”green.” Somehow these dress codes are not just random fashion whims, rather they serve as direction, a fashion muscle, if you want to put it that way, flexed by a team that can influence trends in the Filipino fashion front.
There’s an entire process that goes with events like these. The excitement builds up when word gets spread on what the theme is. Invites are sent out, and excitement unfolds. Slowly, you’ll hear whispers of who-will-wear-what or “I have no dress yet!” panic attacks from the invited list. And then on the day itself, girls will pretend to be busy (but really it’s just a salon apponitment stamped on their schedule) and just show up at the party, feigning effortlessness. While some are actually effortless, most make an effort to look effortless, which is fine either way. That night though, was a different story. “It’s all about effort!” I overheard a guest comment about somebody’s outfit. And why not? If effort is what it will take to uplift the scene and put the fun back in fashion then I see no reason why on Barbie’s plastic world not. Oh, and it’s also plastic fantastic’s 50th birthday, as if you didn’t know.
That Preview night of 500 Barbies was a gathering of the most fashionably forward folks that this glossy town can conjure. There were the brand queens and the “no brand” ambassadors, the princesses and the peasants, the understated and the overstated. White Space on Pasong Tamo extension was transformed into a Malibu mansion by in demand events planner Czarina Ledesma, complete with pink lit bars and a vast white stage. Later on, host Joey Mead came out as Malibu Barbie (“I’ve always dreamt of playing Barbie!” she told me earlier that day), who in turn introduced all the other fashion muses, dressed in different interpretations of the night’s theme. 
The best dressed Barbies
Divine Lee, fresh from London, wore a Rajo Laurel pink dress which she topped with a black Balmain jacket. Model Bea Soriano, complete with big hair and all, wore a Randy O with Gareth Pugh platforms while entrepreneur Alex Suarez wore a silver Charina Sarte dress. Super sexy stylist Pam Quiñones chose to wear an Ivarluski Aseron dress paired with Acne boots.
Amazing Race Asia’s Paula Taylor flew in from Bangkok and wore Plains and Prints while dusky designer Melissa Dizon bravely and sexily carried her baby bump, the best fashion statement for the night. July cover girl Maricel Soriano, in a black Lanvin dress and Viktor and Rolf shoes, was her usual self — classic, timeless and sophisticated. Respect!
Was there a fashion show? What for when the guests provided the fashion parade for the whole evening? Belle Daza was a standout as nude Barbie, which also got the Preview editors’ nod for Best in Barbie, and Anne Curtis was awe-inducing as a ballerina Barbie. Carla Humphries came as debutante Barbie in pink, Mariel Rodriguez was in Bob Mackie blue while Bubbles Paraiso came in black as kontrabida Barbie. Me, I came with a lot of Barbies.
Other headturners and notables include sibling style revelers Daryl and Andre Chang, the Fluxxe tribe of Juijin, Xtina and company, Bianca Gonzales’ Pinoy Barbie (wearing neon pink butterfly sleeves!) and many more style seductors that you’ll see on Supreme’s party pages.
The Preview team then came out and proposed a toast of thanks to its loyal supporters and they also welcomed new society editor and art director Raymond Gutierrez-yay! The tightly knit Preview team then did a surprise birthday song for Pauline, who turned a year wiser that midnight. After that, DJ Jesse Suaco spun his music, the crowd looked around the photos on exhibit, guests mingled and yet another day in the Barbie world unfolded. Yes, according to that Barbie song, amidst everything, life can be fantastic!
