MANILA, Philippines—We jetted off on Qatar Airways to Doha, capital of Qatar, then on to Geneva for a stopover, and onwards to New York, where we were supposed to recharge our batteries for 14 days.

Before I could bat an eyelash, we landed right smack into New York's Fashion Week, which got the town that never sleeps on a glam roll. Everywhere we went, it was a mad dash to the hottest fashion ticket in town with the hottest names in fashion presenting their Spring-Summer 2009 collection, dahlings.

I was lucky to be where the fashion action was, thanks to my guide, New York-based Reggie Aguinaldo Young of Rustan's.

Many hot names had the fashion watchers screaming "Bravo!" Let's start with Marc Jacobs. For his label Marc, he went for the youth culture in a collection characterized by off-shoulders, mini-dresses with wide belts and tops and skirts with mix-and-match colors.

It was a big thrill when we spotted Victoria Beckham and her pal, Jennifer Lopez , breezing in and sitting on the front-row, ignoring the papparazi and waiting for the show to start.

Even with Alex Van Hagen's zoom lens, it was next to impossible to take a shot of the gals with all the people hovering in front of them before the start of the show, palanggas. What a bummer!

The following day we dashed off to watch Mathew Williamson, who got loads of applause for his skinny suits in fuchsia or screaming orange.

We also checked out our very own Monique Lhuillier, the darling of the Hollywood and New York sets. She had the fashionable crowd dreaming of the sunny Caribbean as her models breezed in cool tulle gowns, and sleek sheaths, with coral necklaces in chunky material beads, worn with denims! Yes, palanggas, denim cocktail dresses. Awesome.

Derek Lam's show was held amid heavy traffic as streets had to be rerouted for security purposes since the world's leaders were in town for the general assembly of the United Nations.

Lam's cool sports wear-inspired clothes were dazzling: sequined cocktail outfits with slips from the shoulder like liquid metal drew long applause at the finale, wow!

But my favorites were the jam-packed Ralph Lauren and the tres elegant Oscar de la Renta shows.

Lauren's collection was inspired by Morocco, with relaxed sandy palettes dominating his desert attire and gowns highlighted with bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Yes, dahlings, Lauren got a long standing ovation from New York's chi-chi cool new guards and movie celebrities.

De la Renta floored New York society with his gorgeous, head-turning huge floral prints in silk faille gowns and cocktail sheaths, plus everything in between.

On our way home aboard Qatar Airways, we learned about the Milan fashion week from the papers. "Milan Goes Bananas for Pajamas," screamed one newspaper, which had an awesome blown-up photo of a model wearing a tres-tres chic pajama.

"If your husband favors classic pajamas of the type once worn by Noel Coward and Hollywood movie idols like dashing Cory Grant handsome Rock Hudson, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, among them, it's time to rush out and grab a pair, and get dressed for a night out in the town," said the Daily Telegraph.

Next week, more on what's hot at the Big Apple, including eye-catching accessories from the Swatch James Bond collection.

Rich and Famous

The tres trendy Plains & Prints and Rajo Laurel have brought chic, cool fashion to a new level with their eye-catching collection, RAF (as in Rich and Famous).

The line was unveiled in a fun cocktail bash in Plains & Prints' new store at the Shangri-La Plaza Mall, with tons of our town's fashionable set coming in full force, palanggas.

"Plains & Prints and Rajo Laurel offer Filipina fashionistas clothes that meet their individual fashion tastes," said Roxanne Farillas, owner of Plains & Prints.

The new store was transformed into a fashion runway where mannequins sashayed in designed tops, jeans, shorts, and dresses in the season's hottest shades, while cocktails and finger food were served by Cibo, dahlings.

Apres the eyecathing fashion show, Plains & Prints' introduced its newest endorser, statuesque Paula Taylor, who took the catwalk in a white halter baby-doll dress. Paula became popular in Asia after her stint in the hot reality show, "The Amazing Race Asia" Season 2. She was chosen to be the face of Plains & Prints for her fresh beauty and her cosmopolitan style.

The fun happening was successfully organized by Marilen Nuñez and her rah! rah! team from LEN Plus Inc.

Indeed, fashionistas can wear classic pieces with an edgy twist via Plains & Prints' Rajo Laurel Collection, now available in over 40 Plains & Prints shops nationwide, dahlings.

Charity bazaars

The hard-working and civic-oriented ladies of the Catholic Women's Club will have two fantastic bazaars at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Intercontinental on Oct. 12 and 19, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., dahlings.

What sets Casa Y Jardin apart from other bazaars is that it has a unique feature: the sale of the limited-edition Mother & Child porcelain plate. Now on its 23rd series, the featured artist for 2008 is National Artist Ang Kiukok.

This year's thrust for CWC, in partnership with Gawad Kalinga, is to build at least 30 houses for the poor in Taguig, with the assistance of Taguig's dynamic Mayor Freddie Tinga. The shelter program is among the 100 charities of CWC, dahlings.

Major sponsor of the bazaar is Lili Jewelry.