‘A beauty queen wearing a Philippine sash should wear a creation by a Filipino designer’

All right, all ye beauty pageant lovers and bekis, keep calm. The worst is over. We lost the Miss Universe crown. And with it, our national pride.

We couldn’t even win the Best in Gown title. How could we? The public sentiment is that the gown didn’t look Filipino at all. And social netizens say that it wasn’t even nice.

“Huhu, parang plain white cake with colorful icings,” said James Ramos. “MJ Lastimosa’s national costume reminded me of my sister’s birthday cake,” posted Raffy Magno.

The Bb. Pilipinas-Universe candidate was wearing a gown by a Colombian designer, Alfredo Barraza, who is being tortured now in social media for creating a confectionary mix of red and yellow flowers. Bb. Pilipinas chairperson Stella Marquez-Araneta says it was “inspired by the Panagbenga festival of Baguio.”

Maria Stella Marquez Sawadzky won the first Miss International pageant in 1960 held in Long Beach, California. And she also won the heart of Jorge Araneta, head of the esteemed clan that owns Araneta Coliseum, the choice venue of beauty pageants for decades now.

“The designs given to us were not good enough for our candidates. That’s the reason I went abroad,” explains the Colombian beauty queen who has adopted the Philippines as her home. She has, in fact, become an iconic figure when it comes to Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageants, which have always lorded it over other beauty contests.

That statement hurt not only the collective pride of the Filipino designers — and they are a talented, world-class legion who have brought pride to the Philippines on many an international runway or stage. It also stabbed the nationalist heart of Filipinos. 

Unconsciously spearheading the battle cry to Filipinize this aspect of beauty pageants is top designer Cary Santiago, who posted in his Instagram account: “Seeing MJ Lastimosa competing for the title makes me feel proud. But my sentiment is this: Anyone sent for global competitions wearing a Philippine sash should also wear a Filipino designer. Where is our pride when what we see onstage is totally not a Filipino costume?”

Known for his intricate and beautiful gowns, Cary humbly added: “I know that my gowns are not even pageant-fit ’coz that’s not my forte — but we have a lot of insanely talented Filipino designers who can do better than what Barraza can do.”

Cary tells Star: “This is a slap on our national pride. The Philippines is not third world when it comes to fashion. We are number one in Asia. We have more than a thousand Filipino designers to choose from. A Colombian will never know the richness of our culture. You can tell that the gown worn by MJ was done by a non-Filipino.”

The sentiment is that our Miss Universe entry last year, Ariella Arida, lost possibly because her gown was not Filipino enough, and it was also not good enough. Barraza reportedly also designs for Colombian pageant queens but these are “always superior to that of Miss Philippines.”

In fairness to Stella Marquez-Araneta, there was a time when the best Filipino designers created gowns for Bb. Pilipinas beauty queens. It was always a delight watching these gowns, created by pillars in the fashion industry. But that was more than a decade ago, when Stella partnered with senior designer Pitoy Moreno in making sure the contestants would wear pageant-worthy gowns. Was her decision to go with Barraza brought about by Pitoy having been indisposed the past decade? Nonetheless, it is imperative that Bb. Pilipinas should go back to being truly Filipino when it comes to costumes. There are no excuses not to do this.

It takes a Filipino to design Filipino from the heart. Let’s bring back the Filipino soul to our beauty pageants.

Meanwhile, we asked some top Filipino designers what gown they would have designed for our Miss Universe contestant. Given that most of the national gowns we saw last Monday were mostly theatrical — evoking images of their cultural landmarks such as temples — we thought one or two might suggest theatrical props of (God forbid!) nipa huts or rice terraces. What these designers envision is going back to very Filipino roots. Thank God.

And no, none of them would consider it possible for them to design the gown of Miss Colombia in the future.

Inno Sotto

Our Miss Philippines could have worn an original terno very much like the original design of the pre-war Carnival Queen era. She would have looked regal and glamorous as in the days of Maria Kalaw or Pacita de los Reyes. I really think the original terno has been tampered with and altered too much that it has become a western gown with flattened sleeves.

Pepito Albert

I think the Filipino dress is all about the sleeves. Having said that, I would do one of two ideas. One, a very narrow streamlined terno with a lot of asymmetrical draping on the bodice and neckline, and engaging the butterfly sleeves. Two, a slightly modern take on the traditional Maria Clara with exaggerated sleeves and panuelo. Both would have a serpentine silhouette but the Maria Clara skirt might be a bit more voluminous.

Rajo Laurel

If I were asked to do the national costume  for the Miss Universe pageant I would create something inspired by our Ati-Atihan fiesta.  I love the energy and joy of this festival and the fact that we can use our indigenous motifs like the pintado technique.  I would make our contestant a body suit which is fully beaded in gold and wood beads and then feature a feather belt accented by gold pre-Hispanic inspired jewellery. Topping all of this would be a cape of gold organza and tulle.

I feel quite bad about all the brouhaha regarding our national costume,  Specifically about the statements questioning how good our Philippine designers are.  We have some of the best designers in the world in our country and it is shameful that one has to go outside of the country to find another person to represent who we are as a nation. Perhaps all  one needs is to be reintroduced and be reminded about how amazingly talented all our designers, craftsmen and artisans are. 

Randy Ortiz

I would do a stylized modern Filipino terno embroidered long dress with callado and embossed sampaguita flower appliqués in monochromatic bluish pink and natural dyed piña, embellished with capiz shells and coco beads accessorized with a decorative payong also in embroidered piña weave. A Filipino representing our nation in an international competition like Miss Universe should always wear a Filipino design in reverence to her country, culture and tradition. Ang Pilipino ay para sa Pilipino.

Ito Curata

These came to mind as I watched the national costume portion of the Miss Universe pageant: The person who designed the costume had a total lack of creativity and, finally, that person had absolutely no understanding of the Philippines — its rich history, culture and customs.  Had I been asked to design the national costume, I may have used one of our national dances, such as the singkil, as my inspiration. The costume would include unique Filipino fabrics as well as shell or coral embellishments.

I was shocked to learn several years ago that the costumes/gowns for the Philippine entry in the Miss Universe pageant were designed by someone in Colombia.  Shameful!  Not only is this an affront to the Philippines and its people, it is a slap on the face of designers who work here as well as those designers who have made a name internationally.

Efren Ocampo

I would have done a very simple, modern iconic white terno with black T’Boli pattern embroidery.

With so many brilliant Filipino designers, why are Colombian designers doing the gowns of Miss Philippines? Is it because the franchise holder, Mrs. Stella Araneta, is Colombian?