Friday March 29th, 2024
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The Dressing Room

Opening their latest branch on Riviera Beach at Hacienda Bay, The Dressing Room brings fashion right to the water's edge. We speak to founder Nirvana Bebars to find out more...

Staff Writer

Last weekend when we headed out to Sahel, we forgot to bring flip-flops. It was a sad situation which resulted in a lot of Mowgli-esque wandering around Hacienda and burnt feet. Also problematic was our notable lack of anything resembling stylish attire (packing in a hurry is never a good idea) – we spent the majority of the weekend in pyjama shorts and tank tops. It was only after the weekend that we realised that just a few doors down (like, in highway-speak) we could have passed by The Dressing Room, which just opened an adorable beach hut overloaded with colourful fashion in Hacienda Bay. We could have spared ourselves the embarrassment of looking like we thought pyjamas were a legitimate replacement for actual clothes and channeling The Jungle Book. No worries, now we know where to go.

The style haven, which also has branches in Cairo and Diplo 3, just launched a new branch by Riviera Beach. Meaning (to us) that yeah, you don’t even need to pack for Sahel, just waltz in to their little beach shack (which deceivingly looks like it might serve shakes) after a long day of swimming and possibly boozing (only after Ramadan, of course) pick up your favourite I'm-so-bohemian-and-I-live-on-the-beach kaftan and look relaxed and stylish. And this is what the majority of the pieces in the store look like. The Dressing Room was started about a year ago by Nirvana Bebars and three other partners, who essentially, wanted a place to channel their Oriental-bohemian-beach-babe tendencies. With lines of both their own beach cover-ups and kaftans, designed and produced by the four girls, they also feature a wide variety of local designers running the gamut, from Coco's Line to Rola Kharbagy to Wafaa Lateef, who's style aesthetic plays into The Dressing Room's.

The overall vibe of the pieces at The Dressing Room is casual, beachy, but chic not schlumpy. Colour abounds and pattern takes precedence. There's a lot of kaftans, loose flowy pants, and funky jewellery. We're madly in love with an Aztec print jumpsuit, a simple but statement-hued orange chiffon blouse, and an awesome Jimmy Choo inspired tank top (below).

Their most recent venue in Riviera Beach, is largely, and rather aptly, dedicated to beach-based attire. "It features lots of light, beachy stuff – hats, cover-ups, shorts…and we wanted a place that was right on the beach, not just in a Sahel compound –  we thought it would be so much nicer to be right by the water, so we went with a beach hut!" Bebars explains. The brand's style aesthetic focus this summer is "more ethnic, more bohemian – that kind of look," Bebars says. "We wanted to go in that direction style-wise, and a lot of local designers are also focusing on this sort of ethnic trend as well."

Though some of the pieces are a little too I-Am-Chanelling-an-Oriental-Vibe with a capital O, for us personally (we don’t want to look like slutty Bedouins), others are a study in flowy fabulousness like the gorgeous summer dresses above. We also feel a particular attachment to their black overall shorts which hit the current overall trend nail on the head. And of course, the Shibshibi flip-flops they feature are incredibly useful for when you forget to bring beach footwear to Sahel, and are also awesome and gorgeous. Go check it out. You're welcome. 

You can check out The Dressing Room's Facebook page here or Riviera Beach's Facebook page here