Got the urge to splurge? Have a free mani pedi

MANILA, Philippines - Getting folks to shop can be a trial these days — what with the economy being a general buzzkill and fears of swine flu outbreak. Which probably explains the success of Shop and Spa, the partnership between Rustan’s and Style Bible, the online fashion site. Over the weekend, I forced my lazy ass out of bed to head to the shopping event, where I encountered pretty young things doing their damnedest to max out Daddy’s gold card on frothy Culte Femme dresses, rain-proof Melissa plastic shoes and unbearably cute and exotic Antik Batik beachwear. Nail Tropics provided mani pedi and nail art while Island Spa offered foot spa to shoppers for free. Bemused spouses and Significant Others maneuvered their way to the couches wondering how they got there in the first place, while they slurped Haagen Dazs caramel apple ice cream with a glazed look in their eyes.

While slugging through the trenches — or the racks of clothes — I ran into my friend, accessories designer Happy David, who was attired in an oversized Bleach Catastrophe T-shirt emblazoned with a hand-drawn print and leggings. She dressed for comfort, eschewing the brights favored for summer and stuck to her uniform of monochromatics. Style Bible’s Isha Andaya was clad in a summery strapless dress she paired with a sheer blouse layered underneath and cute platform chambray sandals by Pierre Hardy for Gap. “They’re really comfortable,” she told me, despite the stacked heel’s three or four inches.

Regardless of the rain, most dressed for the season. Stylist Charmaine Palermo showed off her long legs in frayed denim shorts and suede fringe sandals, finishing the look with a boho bag in a folksy pattern. Shod in a pair of kooky pink heels, Hindy Tantoco accessorized her Shop and Spa shirt with purple jeans. Raya Mananquil wore a Topshop floral dress with a grunge twist — instead of sandals, she opted to pair it with thrifted Doc Martens. Nautical ensembles were plentiful: Hench Tobias, the man behind Rustan’s in-house labels Rred and Luna, came decked out in blue and white stripes with a jaunty red belt, while Sonja Ocampo came turned out in an easy breezy navy halter maxi dress that set off her green Balenciaga bag.

Serial shoppers are tough cookies to crack but if you offer them enough incentive — a good manicure is the key to every girl’s heart — they’ll come in droves.

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E-mail me at jackieoflash@yahoo.com.