JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

The renowned Italian shoe brand Santoni has opened its first boutique in the Philippines on the second floor of Shangri-La Plaza East Wing in Mandaluyong. It is distributed by Lucerne, local purveyor of Patek Philippe, Breitling, Breguet, Panerai, IWC and other luxury timepieces. If you’re so fastidious about what goes on your wrist, you can’t wear just any shoes, no?

Santoni shoes are valued for their handmade workmanship and rigorous construction. The store carries Santoni’s Man, Woman, Junior, and Accessories collections, including sneakers. The styles for women are vertiginous so we do not covet.

What we do covet are their bespoke shoes. For the discriminating client who is prepared to pay for perfection, Santoni has a fatto a mano su misura service (shoes made by hand and made to measure, it sounds more dramatic in Italian). The process of making shoes to your specifications takes at least two months. First your feet are measured and lasts—wooden models of your feet—are made. Then the shape of the shoes is decided upon and the hides and materials selected. Finally the color is chosen. You are involved in each step of the process. The long wait for your unique custom-made shoes is part of the pleasure.

The media kit included this beautiful leather keychain,

which we turned into a pair of mismatched leather earrings.

During his regular trip to the Sunday market at Legazpi Village in Makati where he buys suman and plants, Noel discovered these spectacular eyeglass frames embellished by artist Sunny Garcia.

These are statement glasses, and their statement is: “Get out of our way, you’re boring.”

Sunny also makes jewelry and other fabulous objects.

And if you connect all the leaves by their edges, you get Optimus Prime.

THIS is a rolltop desk.

It would take you hours to find a specific document, and that would be the point.

You know any furniture-makers?

Thanks to Noel for the alert.

Saffy loves abel and will spend hours rubbing her face on it. She is swathed in a mosquitero scarf. For a moment we thought the cover design was the eagle of the Nazi Reichsadler, but Rene says it is the two-headed eagle symbol of the Augustinian Order, woven into an abel blanket from the 1920s.

Five years ago, during a trip to Ilocos Norte, Rene Guatlo brought us to a shop that sold local textiles handwoven in the traditional manner. That was our introduction to abel, the hardy homespun Iloko fabric with the austere designs. Since then Rene has schooled us (ininggit niya kami) in the varieties of abel: binakul with the op-art patterns, binandera, burbur, bitbituka, mosquitero, etc.

Through our interest in abel, we’ve gotten to know other indigenous textiles such as the hablon of Iloilo and the sinamay of the Bicol region. We’ve lurked in bazaars organized by HABI: The Philippine Textile Council, whose mission is to promote the understanding, appreciation and use of indigenous Philippine textiles.

Inside back cover: Kandit, a Tausug waist cloth

Now the textile council has published Habi: A Journey Through Philippine Handwoven Textiles, an introduction to our rich weaving traditions. Essays by Adelaida Lim, Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, Robert Lane, Lourdes Veloso Mastura, Floy Quintos, Rene and other experts take us through the histories, symbols and processes of these living, wearable artifacts.

“Weaving is not only traditional but spiritual, symbolic, sacred,” HABI chair Maribel Ongpin writes. “What it produces expresses identity, culture, history, including dreams, the belief system, the environment.”

Today indigenous weaving traditions struggle to survive in the face of cheap, factory-produced textiles. As Rene pointed out, the weavers are getting older, younger generations are not as interested in picking up the old ways and learning the intricate patterns, and raw materials are getting scarce.

Bontoc tapis

By popularizing handmade indigenous textiles, HABI hopes to promote the market for the fabrics and keep weaving alive in the 21st century. This attractive book edited by Rene Guatlo, designed by Katherine Bercasio, and packed with vivid photos by Patrick Uy, should get more than a few readers hooked on handwoven. We especially like its portable, un-fussy design and strong visuals. Coffee table books may be impressive, but we can’t carry them around with us.

HABI: A Journey Through Philippine Handwoven Textiles retails at about Php400. Copies are available at the HABI office, Unit 4D Carmen Court, 6080 Palma Street (Backwell), Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City. Telephone (02)4782765. Open Monday to Friday, 7am to 2pm. For inquiries, visit their Facebook page.

Set of bookplates by Gallison, Php320 at National Bookstores.

We may be in bibliophilia rehab, but we can still pop into the bookstore to look at stationery. We love stationery. This probably stems from the penmanship training at our old school—we learned to enjoy scribbling on blank sheets of paper. This may also account for our choice of occupations.

The set contains 80 bookplates in 10 designs.

“Why do you have bookplates? Why don’t you just write your name on the flyleaf?”

“No reason. We just like bookplates.”

Pocket spiral notebook, cat design by Romero Britto, Php200+ (pricetag fell off).

We used to haunt the little stationery shop at St. Theresa’s, the one on the second floor near the cafeteria, for paper and rubber erasers. Did you sniff those scented rubber erasers, too? We know people who used to chew on them. They also gnawed on their Mongol pencils.

Box of Liberty art fabrics notecards by Chronicle Books, Php957. 16 cards, with envelopes, 4 designs: Clementina (1896), Pelagia (2007), Nesfield (1900s) inspired by William Morris, and Amarylis (1880s).

We would’ve gotten these notecards for the fabric-covered box.

Saffy invaded the frame, which meant she wanted a close-up.

The Smatterist notes the intricate embroidered details in the costumes on Game of Thrones.

Sansa’s wedding dress tells the story of her family. Her mother was from House Tully, whose sigil is a fish; her father’s House Stark is symbolized by the direwolf.

And she marries into House Lannister of the red and gold lion.

Read about it at The Smatterist. Thanks to Ricky for the alert.