Face of Dubai

Let me ask you this - who is the first person that comes to your mind when you think of Dubai?
Is it, by any chance some obscure female London-based TV announcer named Myleene Klass?

No?

Well she should, because last year, by some weird, incomprehensible twist of PR fate, Myleene Klass became The Face of Dubai.

Needless to say, Ms. Klass firmly falls into "Who Dat???" category. Not only me, but I imagine healthy percentage of Dubai dwellers never heard of her and, probably don't really care if they ever will.

Few who did, however were rather bewildered at the choice to have her represent Dubai at large. Here's why:

A. She doesn't come from Dubai and she doesn't live here

B. She has a child out of wedlock, which in Dubai will earn you "Do Not Collect Money. Go Straight to Jail" card. For 3 years, I believe, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

C. Prior to her contract, she's only been in Dubai once on a holiday - she is not familiar with culture, heritage or traditions of the Emirates.

D. The last, but for many of us shallow people, not least - she's nothing much to look at! Yes, she's cute in a clean, wholesome girl-next-door way, but Dubai is not your typical bland bowl of porridge. Dubai is more of fiery hot, high-end fusion cuisine and this girl doesn't represent at all.

But, hey, there is a lesson to learn here for any aspiring model/wannabe/D list celebrity - and the lesson is - get Myleene Klass' agent's phone number. Because, apparently, this agent is a miracle worker!

P.S. Is it me or is she allergic to wearing dresses, shirts and pants?

Hanna Bernhard Jewelry & Essa

A while back i was messing around  researching some stuff on the interwebz and came upon one very interesting french costume jewelry design firm, Hanna Bernhard. 

Last October, local designer Essa - who i wrote about earlier - invited lovely Nathalie and her team to come to Dubai and bring her eye catching jewelery for his catwalk show.

 I have to admit that it was a perfect match - Essa's over the top, jewel-toned, fluid gowns complemented with Nathalie's over the top, highly ornate and unusual jewelry. 

Basically, heavenly.

Hanna Bernhard Jewelry is hand crafted with all the stones hand-set.  They use vintage Swarovsky crystals, semi-precious stones and bakelite (plastic composite). 

Unfortunately, Hanna Bernhard is not sold in Dubai, but if you really want to own these striking costume jewelry, you can order at http://www.french-bakelite.com/.  They will even special order, based on your specifications.

Enjoy:

And here's Essa's Oh Sauvage Collection accessorised with Hanna Bernhard jewelry:

Pix via http://www.french-bakelite.com/ and http://hanna-bernhard.blogspot.com/ with generous permission from Nathalie.

Paris Hilton in Dubai III

Ugh, I can't believe I'm writing about her for the 3rd time.

Paris Hilton was paid to come all the way to Dubai to pose in front of the sushi restaurant, have a dinner with her boyfriend and some hanger-ons and then retire to the penthouse upstairs for some heavy partying.

I happened to have a dinner at the same place the night after and the waitress told me that the night Wonky was in, tables had a minimum spending limit, she ate her meal on the second floor and that her entourage were drinking heavily all night. Paris' boyfriend left somewhere at some point, then came back.

I wonder where did he go in a strange city...

Anyway, here are some pix of her. She really needs to do something about that lazy right eye.

Oh, and by the way, drinking without special permit and cohabitating while not married are both jailable offences around here.

That eye!

Dude in the blue shirt is the restaruant owner, one Marcus Thesleff

Red Bull! That's Hot...

In front of Dubai Mall Aquarium

Personal pod in Emirates Airways First Class Cabin

Fatma Rubaya

Another day, another abaya designer.
Frankly, I'm afraid I'm not a very good fashion journalist (FYI: I'm not a journalist at all) - I can't find any info on Fatma Rubaya brand.

Is it an eponymous brand, named after female designer Fatma Rubaya?  Is it just a brand name that bears no significance to any actual person?  Is it a marketing ploy?

Who is Fatma Rubaya?

If you know, please enlighten me.

Anyway, looks like Fatma Rubaya abayas are borrowing heavily from the west.  Wait, it's not a bad thing.

But look, they do bear striking resemblance to Halston-type floor length dresses from the 1970-ies.  Additionally, marketing genius behind "Fatma Rubaya" brand chose to model it on decidedly european looking models and without prerequisite head scarves.

But in Ray Ban Aviators.

That way folks at Fatma Rubaya don't restrict themselves to an arabic clientele only, but have a broader appeal to an expat community as well.  Get it? 

Would you wear it as a dress?  I would love to have the very first one, with white front, embroidered (or is it printed?) with whimsical black design

Take a look:

 

Images via www.fatmarubaya.com

Mehriban Aliyeva, The First Lady of Azerbaijan

Last night Azerbaijani singers won Eurovision 2011 contest.

To those of you who after reading this sentence said to themselves: "Who?" and "What?" - i'm here to educate you.

Eurovision is cheesy, but fun singing competiotion where the winner is determined by how many people vote for him/her via text messages, kinda like American Idol.  Each european and not-so-european country has 1 entry.

Eurovision's audience is estimated around 125 million viewers annually.

Yesterday duo from Azerbaijan won it for the first time in EVER! According to the rules of the competition, it means that next year's Eurovision Song Competition will be held in Baku, capital city of Azerbaijan.

I'm from Baku.

So is Mehriban Aliyeva, First Lady of Azerbaijan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, Queen Rania's rumored friend and subject of last year's WikiLeaks cable. 

And also uber-stylish and fashion forward grandmother to a pair of twins.   HuffPo likes her wardrobe so much, they did 2 big articles on it.

Check her out: