A Belle de Jour Experience

On April 16, 2011, Belle de Jour Power Planner in collaboration with Bayo held a Passion Series: Love for Fashion and Writing workshop at Bayo's Trinoma Mall branch in Quezon City. The objective was to unite 2 passions, namely fashion and writing. The afternoon event was promising. There was styling courtesy of Bayo, a talk about fashion blogging, and a writing workshop.

What is Belle de Jour?

Belle de Jour is actually a french lingo for the "it" girl. It was adapted to create the Belle de Jour Power Planner, designed and created by Darlyn Ty. It all started in 2006 when Darlyn couldn't find the perfect planner and decided to create one that would actually fit her (a girl's) lifestyle. After conceptualizing, she printed her planner and used it. She eventually received compliments and soon after, with the help of a few friends, decided to make this amazing planner available to every girl.

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The Belle de Jour Power Planner 2011.


There are several things that separates the Belle de Jour Power Planner to other planners. I would like to mention a few that I personally find very useful.

Special Features:

1. Menstrual Tracker
Yes, ladies. There are 2 pages solely dedicated to effectively monitoring your menstrual cycle. You are even encouraged to take down notes about your period, such us evaluating your flow. This would definitely come in handy during your visit to a doctor.

2. Articles and Words of Wisdom
There's an interesting article found on the start of every month and a weekly one-sentence words of wisdom found on top of every week's page. This feature provides inspiration and encouragement for girls to keep up with a fast-paced society and life in general.

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Featured articles are found at the beginning of every month.


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Words of wisdom on top of every week's page.


3. Discount Coupons
The Belle de Jour Power Planner offers approximately Php10,000 ($220) worth of discounts from various partners. Shop, dine, and be pampered at selected brands on a special discount just by presenting coupons attached to your BDJ Power Planner.

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This year, BDJ introduced the Lifestyle Card that offers further discounts from selected partners. This card can be claimed by online registered users of the BDJ Power Planner.

What is BAYO?

Bayo is an Ilonggo (a Filipino dialect) term that means "dress" in English. The owners are from Bacolod, Philippines and saw it fit to use the name for their ready-to-wear apparels. Bayo caters to girls who prefer a classic yet stylish fashion style in affordable prices. They have branches on almost all major shopping malls.

The Event

It was a privilege to attend Belle de Jour Passion Series: Love for Fashion and Writing by Bayo last weekend. A styling contest is the first activity on our agenda. Each BDJ girl was instructed to select 2 outfits from the Bayo store and have it photographed. There were 3 lucky winners that received Bayo gift packs.

Before I proceed, I have to say that I am a girl that is completely the laid back type. I find my sense of fashion not so interesting as I prefer comfort over style. I don't even know how to properly take a good photo of myself inside the fitting room without having to cover myself with my camera. After reviewing my shots, I finally realized that I could actually hold the camera in one hand so I could take a decent shot of myself. Anyway, without further ado, I would like to show you my outfits:



There were 2 talks scheduled that afternoon and the first one was given by Tricia Gosingtian, who also chose the winners for the styling contest. Tricia is a professional photographer and a popular Philippine fashion blogger. She told us her story of how she got into fashion blogging and shared tips on writing about her passion.

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Tricia Gosingtian talked about the art of fashion blogging.


Finally, Ana Santos facilitated a writing workshop/talk to help us learn how to write well. Ana is author of Sex and Sensibilities and co-founder of Writer's Block among other things. She uses her writing skills to promote her advocacy -- sexual health.

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Ana Santos delivered a writing workshop.


Personal Insights:

Both speakers talked about their respective passion. Tricia on fashion and Ana on writing. The focal point of both discussions is self-realization. Everything else will fall into place once you embrace who you are.

I started this blog on 2009 with nothing particular in mind. I previously started a cartoon blog as I am an artist by heart. But I eventually ran out of ideas as I am not a very comedic person and I believed that my cartoons should be humorous. Months into the new blog, I started writing about my love for nail art. This eventually presented an opportunity for me to continue my passion for being an artist/cartoonist through a new medium -- nails.

Finding who you are is perhaps the basic ingredient but it doesn't end there. We need to be confident and truthful with who we are to build credibility. We do not need to pretend to be someone we are not thru our fashion style, our writing, or anything else that shows who we are. Individuality counts. As a nail artist and a blogger, I'd like my nail designs and the way I present them through my writing clearly manifests my personal style.

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With Tricia Gosingtian (left) and Ana Santos (right).


Belle de Jour Passion Series: Love for Fashion and Writing by Bayo was a learning experience. It challenged me to continuously discover myself and strive to be better in communicating what I have to say without losing my identity.





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2 comments:

  1. Great post, You have written it well and your own stuff is really nice! Keep it up :-)
    -Dealies Philippines

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rina! I hope to see you in the next BDJ event. :) Good day!

    http://thepinkmargarita.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete