In a busy life with many priorities vying for our attention — deadlines, getting meals on the table, staying fit — what we wear may not be at the top of the list. But if there is anything that will automatically lift our mood, it’s feeling good about the way we look. Whenever we think that’s the least of our concerns, that’s actually when it matters the most!
When we look good, it boosts our confidence and helps us navigate our multi-faceted lives better. Shuffling between home and work, chores and socials, family and friends — with traffic, weather and other variables added to the mix — there’s nothing like having wardrobe pieces you can throw together without having to think too much about it.
Yet, how often have we started our day, staring into our closets and thinking we have nothing to wear? Celebrities don’t have this problem because they have stylists to map out their wardrobe needs.
It’s a good thing for the rest of us that Liz Uy, probably the best-known stylist in the country, has just launched BYLZ x Lazada. This is her curated line of basic fashion separates that are anything but basic, and available at online shopping platform Lazada. There’s no need to change the contents of your closet, just update your wardrobe with stylish pieces that will give your look an instant lift.
“Elevated, chic, and accessible” is how Liz describes her line, mainly in neutrals like black, off-white, oatmeal, beige, gray, and green. There are the prerequisite blazers, tops and skirts, pants, and dresses.
The wardrobe essentials for Liz include the confidence-boosting blazer, especially in black, and the LBD or little black dress. What looked like a fringed black strapless dress on a model was actually a skirt. The classic blazer may come matched with a short skirt that has an unfinished cotton layer to give it an edgy look. Tops and bottoms, suggested as a set, could be bought and worn separately.
The pieces from BYLZ will instantly upgrade your existing wardrobe and are easy to integrate because classic, but with a spin, is what Liz Uy offers. BYLZ, an acronym coined by her husband Raymond Racaza, means “styled by Liz.”
“Trends are fun,” she says. “But classics live long in your closet.”
I ask Liz why styling, and not fashion designing, as a career.
“When I was young, I would play dress up with my brother (Vince Uy),” she explains. “I felt it was natural for us both to do styling. Eventually, he went the other direction, which is the creative direction, but I stayed in that styling department. I really enjoy it. It started as a hobby and now, it’s my job. I’m fortunate that I’m able to do my dream job, it was a natural progression.”
I ask Liz about the challenges of styling and she says that challenges are a given in this line of work.
“Sometimes, the challenge is between what the brand wants and what the client wants, plus inputs from the celebrity and the agency,” she explains. She then has to come up with a look that ties together all these different expectations, stylishly. “Or we’ve agreed on a look, and on that same day, they change their minds!”
She advises that budding stylists start from the bottom so they’ll know how hard it is to reach the top.
“Because now everyone wants instant gratification, instant money, instant everything,” she observes. “If they really go through the work, then they’ll understand how hard it is and appreciate it more when they’re at the top.”
“They have to be passionate about it,” she adds. “If you’re passionate, as clichéd as it may sound, it’s not going to feel like you’re working. That and, of course, work hard, dream big and most importantly, execute it! Because if you dream big and don’t do anything about it, then you’ll just be sitting at home dreaming.”
Aside from sharing her brand’s design aesthetic, she showed how to further elevate one’s look with products from LazBeauty and LazLook brands such as Aldo, Sunnies Face, Sunnies Studios, Belo, Jo Malone, La Mer, and Melissa.
In her earlier days, Liz experimented a lot with fashion. But she notes that as we get older, we develop a more confident sense of style.
“We get to know ourselves a little bit better. Now, I know my style, what fits me, and I know what I like,” she says. “You have to know your strengths and enhance them.”
Of her partnership with Lazada, Liz says that this online platform “makes life easier.”
“I’m a one-stop-shop kind of girl,” she confesses. “Lazada can ship anywhere in the Philippines. Shopping is seamless and easy.”
I spot her husband Raymond, who is just as stylishly dressed. But when asked, he says he styles his own clothes.
“But I ask Liz’s opinion, and I’ve learned a lot from her,” he tells me. They share a love of fashion, and they run the business Mood Food together. He’s on the shy side, she’s high-profile, and he says they match each other very well.
Lazada’s 11:11 sale, which actually runs until Nov. 13, offers big discounts that are perfect to take advantage of now that the holidays are already at our doorstep. While you browse for your loved ones, why not pick up a mood-altering piece or two from BYLZ? As the days get busier, they’ll help you get through it all — in style.
Lazada Philippines chief executive officer Carlos Barrera adds, “This 11.11, we’re committed on delivering the best prices and the best shopping experience for our customers. We’re proud to support homegrown brands like BYLZ and offer a curated selection of fashion and beauty products that cater to every style and budget.”
In an age where it seems, when we look at the way people dress, that just about anything goes, Liz has this to say.
“I feel in this generation, 2024, as long as you’re comfortable, as long as you embrace your own style, and you’re confident about it, it will show. There are no do’s and don’ts anymore.”