This website is one of the few fashion blogs featuring the Beauty of Philippines’ many faces.
Wonderfully beautiful folks featured on it. My lovely brown peoples…let’s show our beauty & grace to the world. I highly encourage you submit some of your stuff!
Manila on Flickr.
“The Philippines? Tell the Philippines to f off and DIE.” - said by woman walking around in Pickering alone. I thought she was talking on a Bluetooth. She wasn’t. She was talking to the universe. She must be. Otherwise she’d just be a crazy person.
FASHIONALISMO!
It’s better than nothing. It’s better than stupid, oversized logos and pointlessly abstract prints. And it’s one of the most fascinating things to happen to Philippine RTW in years. The question is: why didn’t they think of this earlier? I’m referring to the recent proliferation of nationalistic and literary references in—I say the word with trepidation— fashion. I mean those T-shirts with colors of the Philippine flag, ironic images of Rizal with shades and oversized headphones, blouses and dresses emblazoned with quotes from the works of our National Artists for Literature. They span the vast iconography of Philippine culture—everything from the Propagandistas of the 1800s to manggang hilaw with bagoong, from Rico J. Puno to tokwa’t baboy and logos of beloved consumer products like Choc Nut, from snippets of classic OPM lyrics to Marcos-Tolentino campaign posters. All these on a shirt, on a bag, on a dress, or a trucker’s cap. All these striking a charming note of familiarity that evokes smiles among people of a certain generation. Like when you say ‘Tom Babauta” or “Pagoda Cold Wave Lotion.” Symbols and signifiers—from the sublime to the pedestrian—you can wear. Never mind if most of the materials were most likely imported from China (Tell me: what in this ecosphere isn’t from China, anyway? That and the call for boycott of products is another story). So how did Fashionalism start? Beats me, though it is curious to note that this recent development may have unmistakably foreign roots. I refer, of course, to the commodification of the images of Mao and Che Guevarra (who, according to some very well-read jologs, is the lead vocalist of Rage Against the Machine). The Che shirts became very popular because of the aforementioned rap-metal band. The Mao arrived via Hong Kong, where a certain Mao craze swept the tourist souvenir market i.e. Micky Mao watches, messenger bags, pendants, bracelets. Before that, the only pieces of clothing that had the faces of Rizal and Bonifacio were usually worn by aktibistas or die-hard cultists. Or sold as souvenirs by museum shops. Maybe some wiseass thought, “Hey, if we can print Mao, why not… you know…. Rizal?” Or maybe why not Joma Sison?
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20 years on from Mount Pinatubo.
oh my! missing you much…
Silent Hill :O
