An Afternoon with Karen at KARIMADON

While my friend Karen Wu was in town, she invited me and the SoMoms to her mom's store KARIMADON. 

When I told my mommy friends about it, they all started reminiscing about their high school years, when they shopped at Karimadon for party dresses. 

Michelle aka My Mom Friday remembers buying her party clothes at their store in Virra Mall, when Karimadon had square pants and cropped tops that were so right on trend (actually, cropped tops are back!), and Carmina Villaroel was the It Girl at the time, when the term "It Girl" was still unheard of, heehee!

Carmina with Ruffa & Aiko, via FashionPulis.com

Karen's parents started Karimadon in 1980, which is actually an acronym of their children's first names. So yes, Karen is the Kar in Karimadon!

Today it has grown into 16 boutiques in malls, with 4 department store locations. Admittedly, most of us moms haven't been inside Karimadon in years, associating it with special occasion clothes for younger girls with great figures, but we were in for a pleasant surprise.

I spotted chic cocktail dresses at unbelievably affordable price points. Nothing above Php3,000. Most of their cocktail dresses are in the Php1,500 to Php2,000 range.

 

This particular one had pretty crystal embellishments.

I especially loved this structured dress. Very Roland Mouret/Victoria Beckham. If I only knew that they would take photos of me in this dress, I would have put on makeup haha! Thanks for lending your YSL wooden heel pumps for dress-up, Karen!

There's a red version too, and it's unbelievable how this dress retails for Php2,500. I'll wear it with really great accessories, get my hair and makeup done, and it can easily look like a million bucks. Or Php20,000 heehee.

They also had jersey jumpsuits that are very Studio54, just like what Kris aka OC Mom in Manila is wearing (it's very party in the back aka backless!), and Grecian style gowns that are flattering for all body types. Apart from special occasion clothing, they have sheath dresses for work, tops & bottoms for everyday wear, and accessories.

Karen shares that 34 years later, her mom continues to work with the in-house design team and is very much involved in design up to now.  It was also great to know that apart from being locally designed, Karimadon clothes are made right here in the Philippines, which allows them to also take care of alterations, so customers are ensured of a great fit!

Thanks so much for having us over, Karen! We had such a great time re-discovering Karimadon!

For more on Karimadon check out www.karimadonfashion.com, Like them on Facebook, and follow @KarimadonPH on Twitter & Instagram.

Visit KARIMADON at Glorietta 5, Ayala Trinoma Mall, Ayala Center Cebu, Ayala Marquee Mall, Ayala Terraces Mall, Fairview, SM Megamall/North Edsa/Centerpoint/Fairview/Bacoor/Marilao/Pampanga/Cebu, Robinsons Galleria/Metro-East/Ermita and Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall and inside LANDMARK Makati, LANDMARK Trinoma, La Casa Grand in Laoag and Houseware Plaza Department Store in Daet.