After looking through the pictures from this show (Peter Som, Spring 2010), I can't help liking the blue shoes! They're like a pleasant surprise at the end of a really good novel, or finding an old photograph in the most unlikely place. (I once found a photo of my sisters and myself in a library book in Poveda. The book apparently hasn't been borrowed/taken out since my Ate returned it some years back.)
Anyhoo, short of gushing over these blue shoes and wasting everyone's time with shallow kikay girl observations (obsessions?), I would like to share some ideas on fashion's ability to turn heads. There are two ways for a woman to turn heads by the way she presents herself. She can either look polished and elegant or trashy and wild. Both are effective but only the former commands respect.
I suppose one can't be polished and elegant all the time--how out of place that would be in the MRT, for example. For women, gaining the respect of peers and strangers is a matter of high importance, but to be dressed in what is normally presumed elegant and polished all the time would be ridiculous.
I'm still looking for words that would stretch "elegance" to suit casual days--and I mean a word that doesn't bring up the "manang" or "old maid" connotation to which the word "modesty" has been unfairly attached. How do you make dressing tastefully (that is, with none of the "too short," "too low," "too exposed" pieces to effortlessly get the head-turning action going) appealing to the regular Jane?
Blue shoes are a good idea--actually, anything that adds that pleasant element of surprise in an ensemble instantly creates a head-turning buzz! It can be a colorful bag, a long necklace, a quirky bracelet, bright-colored glasses, or even a thin striped scarf.
And of course, there is the person behind the ensemble, which should be the most interesting bit of all. She is respected because she presents herself well, and she is liked because how she conducts herself, how she deals with others, and what comes out of her mouth continuously prove that she is as much a lady as she looks.
4 comments:
"There are two ways for a woman to turn heads by the way she presents herself. She can either look polished and elegant or trashy and wild. Both are effective but only the former commands respect."
I couldn't agree more! What power huh?
I learned recently that a basic part of good dressing is presenting oneself as a person, not as an object. Maybe some women who unconsciously present themselves as objects see that they attract more attention (admiration?) when they dress that way. Could be they elicit curious gazes from men, quips like "wow, ganda naman ng backless low-cut micro-minidress mo! you're the sexiest chick on a 10-meter radius!" Haha!!
Nice piece you wrote here. Interesting blue shoes, too ;-) Me naman, I'm fascinated by red shoes.
P.S. About being polished and elegant all the time, I think it is possible -- unless one's definition of "polish and elegance" is Jackie O level of dressing and accessorizing :-) I think it's really a matter of dressing appropriately in every situation and maintaining that refined attitude no matter what.
come to think of it...maybe there is such a thing as "elegant and polished" in a casual setting. you're right; it's dressing appropriately in every situation ;)
i'm still thinking of a "cooler" word for modesty. hehe.
I have red shoes; i always like red shoes. But these blue shoes are just really cute because they're in a very nice shade of blue, as if saying, "Hello there! It's a beautiful day!" I think the blue is shimmery too hehe. :D
What about "refinement"? It can apply to speech, behavior and dressing.
Maybe elegant dressing includes dressing in a refined way regardless of where you are -- like even when in the comforts of one's own home, or in the company of folks at a squatter resettlement area, the tshirt that one is wearing doesn't have a hole or isn't ripped. Kung nabutas man, sew agad :-)
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