Be ready to be chosen as DSF’s most stylish person

Members of the DSF Fashion Squad are also Dubai’s trendiest fashion bloggers. — Supplied photos

Personal dresser and Dubai-based fashion designer/blogger Ushi Sato, and Lama Jamal, the fashion force behind DubaiStreetStyle, say that they cannot help themselves when they spot a ‘fashionista’. After spending a few hours in The Dubai Mall, the bloggers awarded the ‘#spotted’ tag to a girl in a polka dot black and white jumper, and black stockings. “Her style was minimal, yet sleek. We loved it,” said Sato and Jamal. Now if you think that you are someone with a unique sense of style and you love to shop, you might just get ‘spotted’ this Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF).

The DSF Fashion Squad is a team of four of Dubai’s trendiest fashion bloggers — Ushi Sato, creator of blog The Shades and Scarf; Nadya Hasan, the lady behind The Fierce Diaries fashion blog; El Jammi Gazalli, Turkish-Azeri style queen and presenter of the popular web series “Style Police”; and Lama Jamal the force behind DubaiStreetStyle. The bloggers have been scrounging shopping malls, popular streets and events all across the city to handpick Dubai’s most stylish people.

Using #spottedDSF, the Fashion Squad will pay homage to Dubai’s street style through images posted across several popular social media channels.

Apart from being acknowledged of the fact that you have a unique sense of style, the lucky individuals “spotted” by the Fashion Squad will win instant discount vouchers to some of the city’s retail outlets. Khaleej Times caught up with the bloggers and speaking to them about the task of spotting fashion divas, they said that it is not as easy as it looks.

Ushi Sato and Lama Jamal at The Dubai Mall. — KT photo by Grace Guino

“The people here have such a cosmopolitan sense of style. They experiment with all sorts of looks, ranging from minimal and classic, to the bohemian up do. The men and women in Dubai are up to the mark with latest trends,” said Lebanese national Jamal. The owner of DubaiStreetStyle, an Instagram account that was launched six months back has over 40, 000 followers. Jamal gave up her IT analyst job to pursue fashion and it is a decision that she will never regret, said Jamal. “I love street style and there was a big gap in the fashion blogging industry when I started out. It is really exciting to see the way people dress up in Dubai. They have a very high-end taste which amounts to a very classy look. The best part is because we have so many retail outlets here that are not expensive, people can afford to look glamorous at a less price,” said Jamal.

Her weaknesses include baggy jumpers, boyfriend-ripped jeans, and pointed shoes. “I love chunky accessories as well, and Dubai street style is as such that people are not scared to experiment with their looks,” added Jamal.

Sato, a Filipino, and the only male blogger in Dubai, has a similar story. “Fashion comes easily to me because both my parents are tailors. But before deciding that I want a career in fashion, I’d dabbled with several other career choices-like nursing for example. But then when I started making clothes, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”

The owner of The Shades and Scarf, Sato, unlike Jamal has a very minimal, classic taste in clothes. “I swear by the minimal style. I believe that if you invest in clothes, it must last you for a very long time. People here experiment with the Western, Asian, European, and sometimes even the African prints for looks. Because you have such a cosmopolitan crowd in Dubai, the look that people adopt amounts to a very varied sense of style,” said Sato.

Emirati Nadya Hasan (23), one of the Emirates’ most well known fashion bloggers thinks, breathes and lives fashion. Her idea is to fuse a fashionable statement and unique style into the Arab world of fashion has always been a dream of hers. Nadya is well known for her eye to pick new and upcoming designers, which has proven to be a great success in the UAE fashion world. One of her favorite things about blogging is: “I like to show people in the UAE that it is okay to always dress up.” She said: “From spotting people I realised how they love to play around with what they got. It’s not a specific kind of style, it’s very versatile. I always look for someone who’s unique, classy, and who is not afraid of carrying off with what they are wearing.” Nadya advises people not to limit themselves when it comes to fashion. “Every day is like playing dress up,” she said.

At the end of the month, the Fashion Squad will choose DSF’s most stylish person, who will go on to win a fashion shoot with a leading fashion magazine.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com