Nadine Kam photos
Island Slipper owner John Carpenter is surrounded by some of his employees, next to Dorothy Kohashi in mu'umu'u. She is the daughter of Island Slipper founders Takizo and Misao Motonaga .

May 10 was a holiday for employees of Island Slipper, whose only obligation to the company that day was to show up in time for a bus ride to the grand opening of the company's new store at the Royal Hawaiian Center, before heading to lunch courtesy of boss John Carpenter, at Tsukiji Fish Market and Restaurant at Ala Moana Center.

The new store was designed in the nostalgic spirit of the beach homes that existed before the concrete and hotels that now line Waikiki. Located on the center's second floor, the shop's exterior stands out in its seafoam color, with warm wood interior.

Where most slipper shops are crammed into a small footprint, with wares simply lined wall to wall, Island Slipper has the luxury of 2,000 square feet, with lots of open space and retro displays paying homage to the company's 67-year history.

"We had to bring our game up because Waikiki is a different market," Carpenter said, adding, "Our desire was to create a fun place to shop where our customers feel at home."

Showcased are Island Slipper's signature floral-designed footwear, as well as women's designs incorporating beads, raffia and pyramid studs, and men's designs in leather and suede.

I was a little late to the opening, and walked in to find a surprise waiting for me. In 2011, I'd attended the grand reopening of Island Slipper's Ward Warehouse store and was impressed enough to write a feature story about the company. I happen to have Cinderella size feet, so the slippers didn't fit me. So I suggested to John that he add children's styles so I might be able to fit. He explained it wasn't that simple, so I figured the time wasn't right.

Children's slippers have yet to materialize, but in the meantime, he searched the globe for a smaller women's last and created a prototype size 4 for li'l ole me me, and, it fit! Oh happy day, it is so hard to find size 4s, much less my actual size, a 3! So I will be wearing my new white floral slippers around, and definitely will be kicking around New York streets in my Island Slippers in a few weeks!

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Island Slipper stores are at Ward Warehouse (593-8229) and Royal Hawaiian Center Buiding A, Level 2 (923-2222).
Online: www.islandslipper.com

The exterior of Island Slipper recreates the ambience of a beach house.

A pune'e adds to the beach house feel.

Vintage Island Slippers on display.

Featured from left are recent collaboration designs created for J. Crew,  Japan fashion designer Tsumori Chisato, and Barney's New York.

Additional accessories capture Island Slippers island style.

One of many posters inviting shoppers to consider their sense of island lifestyle.

The Male'ana collection of honeymooner slippers, with examples above and below, allow couples to match without being matchy-matchy.

As company owner, John Carpenter can do what he wants and created the only existing pair of studded white "Elvis" slippers just for himself. (more...)

Nadine Kam photos
Guests at the Kahala Hotel Veranda's Girls Day Tea showed up in their Sunday best.

By Nadine Kam

It was all about the young and fashionable set when the Kahala Hotel's Veranda hosted a Girls Day Tea and informal fashion show featuring designs from its keiki boutique L'ill Nell's, styled by Cora Spearman, creator of Coradorables. True to her diva style, she delivered a picture-perfect finale, with all the girl models dressed in hot pink wigs and frothy tutus that had some of them twirling like prima ballerina.

Little girls in the crowd came dressed to impress, causing one adult to remark, "I feel so shame, kids today dress better than I do."

Guests were greeted by a buffet of tea sandwiches and sweets, lots of sweets, so much so that the children in the audience were bouncing off the walls, and it took a while to corral some of them for a group photo. In between shots they were running around, dancing, and yes, fighting when one of the girls popped in front of the others for a diva-like turn front and center, was called out and duly outcast, before the swirling began again seconds later.

Ah, Girl World. So glad I was never part of it, choosing instead to observe from a safe distance while doing my own thing.

Boys were given equal opportunity in the show, showing up in crisp aloha shirts by Coradorables and grownup-quality knits from Masala Baby.

The event also marked the launch of HI Tea Shop's Keiki Haute Tea for Coradorables, a fruity caffeine-free blend of lilikoi, mango, orange and marigold in green Rooibos.

For those of us merely enjoying the show and setting, it was a pleasant and relaxing way to spend an afternoon. I do enjoy being a girl!

Event coordinator and Coradorables creator Cora Spearman with her family, hubby Chris Chang and daughter Izzabelle.

Raspberry truffle pops were among the sweet treats awaiting kids of all ages.

There was also pink mochi to mark Girls Day.

A very pink finale with wigs and candy colored crinoline pettiskirts.

Kiyomi liked her Coradorables dress so much, she danced her way around the Veranda.

Dozens of Coradorables dresses and separates are available at the Kahala's L'ill Nell's boutique, which opened last fall to make it convenient for vacationing parents to shop for resort apparel for their kids.

Two more Hawaii-style looks from Coradorables.

More styles reflecting Cora's vision.

Kiyomi in a Juicy Couture swimsuit, with mom Tracie Asayama.

This Juicy Couture swimsuit was so adorable, but the model was actually having a meltdown. Which I don't really understand. When you're a kid, life is all fun, new and carefree. I never had meltdowns or threw tantrums until I became an adult.

Courtesy photo
Brandon Maxwell in a Masala Baby ensemble.

Watching the show was Chloe with mom Thea Schwartz Johnson. Chloe is in her own Twills and Twigs jumpsuit with leopard flats. Mom is in Trina Turk. (more...)

Nadine Kam photos
Among the vintage Shaheen garments offered up during the silent auction at "An Evening of HI Fashion" Nov. 17 at Bishop Museum, were, from left, a metallic dress, a ruffled dress, a pake mu'u, an empire waist mu'u, and Asian motif pant suit.

The Bishop Museum hosted an evening of fashion and entertainment during "An Evening of HI Fashion," Nov. 17, celebrating the exhibition "HI Fashion: The Legacy of Alfred Shaheen," which opened Nov. 10 and continues through Feb. 4, 2013.

In giving the introduction to the event, the museum's CEO Blair Collis said that although the museum is not known for fashion exhibitions or fashion shows, fashion is another way people manifest their cultural identity.

Guests were invited to "dress vintage," and that they did, with many a Shaheen garment in the audience or prints paying tribute to the master.

In connecting past and present, the show opened with the Alfred Shaheen Collection by Reyn Spooner, contemporary designs by menswear company Reyn Spooner, whose use of Shaheen prints began in the 1960s.

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Shaheen's granddaughter Brianna Rose walked the runway in one of his bombshell dresses.

Beverly Noa, hired to model exclusively for Shaheen in the 1950s, attended the event, performing a hula to "Kawohikukapulani," before the start of the fashion shows.

A collection of vintage aloha shirts and dresses loaned by Shaheen's daughter, Camille Shaheen-Tunberg, was displayed next, along with a handful of vintage Shaheen garments that were up for silent auction that evening, starting as low as $75. It's too bad I was yammering away with friends, so missed out on some steals!

Closing the show was a collection of beautiful, fluid Shaheen-inspired print garments by Andy South.

I wasn't in town for the exhibition opening, but made up for lost time by checking out the gallery, where an interactive screen allows you to "like" some of your favorite designs. There are so many to choose from, depending on whether you're a fan of the 1950s bombshell or '60s mods or '70s disco groove.

The quantity and diversity of designs would easily fill The Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute. Maybe someday its Hawaii-born curator-in-charge Harold Koda would see fit to honor this local legend whose designs once circled the globe.

Accompanying each auctioned outfit were matching accessories created by a museum staffer from period materials, such as the carved orange coral hair ornament and earrings paired with the pant suit.

Keali i McClellan with Ilana Davis, wearing a vintage Alfred Shaheen bombshell dress that she bought 12 years ago.

Joy of Sake's Jan Nagano in her vintage Shaheen.

Andy South also presented a fashion show and wears one of her designs. She's with Margaret Murchie, a former Shaheen model.

Kris Tanahara in a vintage mu'u, with Floyd Takeuchi in an Alfred Shaheen Collection by Reyn Spooner shirt, which blends vintage Shaheen prints and contemporary styling.

The collaboration between Shaheen and Reyn Spooner began in the 1960s. Inside the exhibition gift shop, museum-goers can shop the collection.

Also in the gift shop are household wares such as pot holders and table runners utilizing reproductions of Shaheen textiles, as well as yardages, above and below, allowing those who sew the opportunity to create their own vintage-inspired looks.

Nadine Kam photos
This "Dark Shadow" dress was created by one of the national undergraduates participating in the International Textile and Apparel Association's 2012 Creative Design Competition, part of the ITAA's 12th annual conference, that took place at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Spa & Resort last week. The dress comprises 70 yards of tulle.

The International Textile and Apparel Association brought its 2012 conference, "No One is an Island" to the Marriott Waikiki Beach Spa & Resort Nov. 13 through 17, bringing 500 fashion academics to share industry knowledge and innovations, plus designs by undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.

Living so far from major land masses, I think we do suffer from isolation, so it's great to have this kind of national connection and reality check to see how our own college students and faculty measure up to other work being done across the country. It's one thing to read or see what designers are doing elsewhere. It's quite another to feel the garments, see them up close and see their construction, and talk about what's next.

In an earlier post, I talked about judging the competition's Creative Design Competition, and a fashion show that took place Nov. 16 offered the opportunity for participants to see the garments move down the runway. Photos shown here are from the attention-getting undergraduate category of the competition. Other designs that did not make the runway were featured in a mounted exhibition.

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"Film Noir" Hollywood glamour-inspsired gown made of VHS tapes that have outlived their original use.

"Medusozoa" jellyfish-inspired dress of plastic woven netting with polyester lining.

"Coral Reef" featuring vinyl cutwork, machine-made lace, beadwork, jersey knit and batik cotton.

"Corporeal Extensions" cocktail dress aiming to expand on traditional pattern-making and draping techniques.

This dress is entitled "Racism Embued," communicating the experience of living in a thorny world.

"Imeldific Dress" inspired by a 1775 Jean-Baptiste Gautier Dagoty painting of Marie Antoinette's coronation dress, designed for a woman who knows how to make an entrance.

"Uncaged" comprises recycled felted sweaters to create a cage overlay strung on metallic thread.

Nadine Kam photos
Alyson Kintscher, center, is in a dress by Tiare Hawaii, with models in Gillia dresses, during a celebration of Aloha 'Aina's second anniversary Oct. 19 at Royal Hawaiian Center.

Aloha 'Aina Boutique's celebrated its second anniversary at Royal Hawaiian Center on Oct. 19, with a showcase of designs by local designers Noelani, Tiare Hawaii, Gillia, MauiMari Ocean Jewelry and Luce & Me.

The boutique will also be among those participating in the holiday edition of “R Style Social” taking place Nov. 16, and you can look forward to Aloha 'Aina offering a 10 percent discount storewide.

The center's R magazine-inspired open house event, running from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., will showcase outfits and accessories from participating stores.

Guests are invited to pick up the magazine and an R Socialite Pass at the check-in desk between bebe and the Apple Store on level 1 of Building C. The first 200 customers will receive a complimentary Royal Hawaiian Center water bottle or vanity bag.

Visit each of the participating shops and boutiques to receive R Socialite Pass stamps. Completed passes may be turned in at the end of the night to enter a drawing to win the grand prize of a $500 Royal Hawaiian Center gift card or a $250 gift card. No purchase is necessary to receive stamps.

Other participating stores and specials:

Allure: Complimentary Georgette solid color pareo with purchases over $75

Anteprima: Complimentary limited edition Anteprima tote with any purchase over $450.

bebe: Receive a 20 percent discount on regular priced items. (Must present discount
card that will be handed out in-store during the event. Discount card valid
through Dec.31, 2012.)

Da Kine: Complimentary Da Kine T-shirt with purchases over $75.

Honolulu Cookie Co.: Enjoy a complimentary cookie .

Juicy Couture: Receive $50 off purchases of $200 or more.

Love Renaissance: Receive a complimentary Love Renaissance shoulder bag with any purchase and try the Swaness series cosmetics to receive a trial gift set.

Mocchin: Receive a 50 percent discount on select items.

Princesse Tam Tam: Get a free “tweeker” bra accessory with purchases over $50.

Ranger Sports: Receive 10 percent off the entire store .

Royal Hawaiian Golf Shop: Receive a 5 percent discount on purchases of more than $100.

RHC’s validated parking promotion offers one hour free parking with validation and $1 per hour for the next three hours for a maximum of four hours. After four hours, standard parking rates apply of $6 per hour. Special event parking validation rates are available at $5.

For more information, visit www.RoyalHawaiianCenter.com or call Lei ‘Ohu Guest Services at (808) 922-2299.

Aloha 'Aina boutique owners Gina Fukeda and Seyon Chan, right, said they never had to alter their local product mix since opening. Customers just "got it." Oddly enough, they're one of the few businesses in Waikiki that show a diverse local product line. Other stores are devoted to single brands or imports from East and West.

Gillia designer Saori Santo was taking pre-orders for her fall/spring clothing collection. I fell in love with it right away and especially the dress she's wearing, though in the dusty rose color up front.

Mari Diller, of MauiMari Ocean Jewelry, flew over from Haiku to be at the event.

Noelani, of Haleiwa-based Noelani Designs shows some of her sunrise shell jewelry. Below, she pairs them with colored stones that match the vibrant colors of the shell's interiors. She said the shells definitely don't look like this when she gets them from diving friends. They're dull and covered with ocean crud and need cleaning and polishing to bring out their vivid color.

Jane Hoskins, right, launched her fall collection for Tiare Hawaii, with model Alyson Kintscher.

Jane was thrilled to see this little one in Tiare Hawaii for keiki.

Some of the edibles that still looked good. Beef skewers, spring rolls and other heavy pupu were decimated.

Desserts from Panya.