Jacqueline Fernandez recently professed her love for shopping when she dropped into Dubai for the Global Gift Gala. Other prominent figures in attendance were Eva Langoria, Mona Kattan and Huda Kattan.
Jacqueline whizzed in and out of Dubai as she usually does on her visits to town but we grabbed her for a quick chat about the shopping scene in the city. With the 25th edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival launching today – another festival of unbeatable sales in the leading shopping hub that is Dubai – we wanted to get some shopping tips and fashion advice from the fashionista.
The actress was in the city just last month for the Dabangg The Tour Reloaded and was last seen in the Netflix film Drive alongside Sushant Singh Rajput. Although that movie bombed with critics and fans alike, the actress is not discouraged. She is all excited about reuniting with Salman Khan for Kick 2 following their pairing in the 2014 thriller Kick.
Sitting in a cozy meeting room at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, where the Gala was being held, Jacqueline flaunted a glamorous golden dress by Nicolas Jebran and was poised as she spoke about all things fashion and shopping.
Excerpts from our conversation.
What do you love about Dubai and the shopping scene here?
Dubai is a shopping destination. I’ve been coming here for years. It’s the one place I find that literally has every single option of anything that you could possibly imagine or dream. And it’s just at your fingertips. So that’s what I love most about shopping over here.
Do you have any favourite shopping spots in town?
The Dubai Mall. I’m always there! I actually don’t venture too far from there because you just find everything in that mall. I do a lot of restaurants. Last time I was here, we did skydiving as well; there’s a lot of adventure sports here that are really cool. Usually I’m in and out, so a few hours here and that’s it.
What are your wardrobe essentials?
A good pair of jeans, good shirts and good athleisure (wear) like tracks and pants.
Is online shopping taking over the experience of going to the mall and shopping in person?
If you’re going to the mall to try something out and to actually shop, then you might as well try it on. I do a lot of online shopping as well. Stuff comes and sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn’t fit, so that might be the only negative. It’s great that you buy something and you know it fits and you can wear it immediately. So, I think it’s great to have it both ways. At the same time if you don’t have time to actually physically go to the mall to shop or go to a shop to purchase something, it’s amazing, you can do your shopping on the way to work, you can do your shopping in your bathroom! So I think both worlds are amazing and I’m glad we have the option now as well.
How do you feel about working with Salman Khan again for Kick 2 now that the official word is out? What can we expect from the film?
It’s amazing! It’s always a treat to work with Salman. I’ve been blessed enough to have the opportunity to work with him twice before so this will be my third innings and I’m very excited!
Kick 2 will be a lot more than what Kick 1 was. Yes it has taken a lot of time to write the script because he (Salman) was very sure about one thing, that he had to make it double of what it was in Kick 1. So that I think was the pressure but yes, we’re all very excited to actually take it a notch higher.
Jacqueline’s shopping tips
*Carry a lot of water.
*Make sure you try on everything.
*Take an entire round before purchasing anything. If I’m not sure about anything I’ll take an entire round and I’ll come back to it. If I don’t come back for it that means I was not meant to buy it. If I really love it then I go for it.
*Don’t be too afraid of shopping. If there’s something that you really like and you feel like you’ve earned it and worked hard for it, you should definitely go ahead and splurge on yourself. I think it’s important.