Of all the beautiful gowns worn by our Filipina reps in international pageants from the past 30 years, these are the 5 Binibining Pilipinas gowns that can still be worn today.
The concept of recycling gowns for international pageants is a huge No-no for Filipino pageant fans, however there are some pageant gowns that can still be worn today and not look dated. These are our picks from the gowns previously worn by former Binibining Pilipinas in various international competitions…
Miriam Quiambao’s Halston Gown – while the original white and powder blue ombre is lost, there exists a nude copy of that gown that Michelle Reyes wore for Miss Tourism World 2002. In fact even Karen Loren Agustin wore it for her Miss Universe portrait. All it needed is to be updated and re-beaded to look more modern.
Katherine Manalo’s Barraza gown – this midnight blue gown with beaded black tulle flounced overlay is one of the Colombian designer’s best works for a Filipina candidate. The design was very classy and it complimented Kate’s curves in the 2002 Miss World edition.
Lia Andrea Ramos’ midnight blue gown – although similar in cut with Kate’s gown, this gown is a little bit simpler but the ombre effect of the silver, blue and black beadwork would look gorgeous in motion. Lia wore this gown for the evening gown portraits and IMHO would have been a better option for the prelims than the white gown she wore.
Karla Bautista’s Barraza gown – the aurora borealis inspired gown is arguably the best gown that Alfredo lent to a Filipina rep. The gown was worn by a Miss Colombia runner up but that doesn’t remove the fact that it glittered in motion and photographs hardly do justice to how it looked onstage. The good thing about this gown is that because of the crystal embellishments, it will sparkle even when not in motion. Hence it would be very attention grabbing.
Carlene Aguilar’s Barraza gowns – (MW2005 ice-blue gown) it is said that this gown was inspired by ocean waves or the glimmering ripples of ocean waves. The design itself is a beautiful one but the material could be better. It does however look well in motion with the ice blue color and the white crystals on the gown’s bodice. (Red MW portrait gown) This Barraza creation is sexy and timeless. This gown was first used by a Senorita Colombia candidate that Barraza dressed up. The photo was taken during Carlene’s training in Colombia.
We would also like to mention that the pink and gold/ orange gown worn by Anna Maris Igpit would be a runner up to this list. The only drawback to that gown is its color combination that may look dated nowadays.
What do you think of this list? Is there any other gown from the past thirty years that you’d like to see again? Let us know on the comments below…
Not known to many pageant fans, the Philippines has won the Best in National Costume award in the Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Universe pageants. This is the list of the Filipinas who won the coveted special award.
For a Clothing Technology graduate like yours truly, the national costume is one of our favorite aspects of pageantry. And our fascination is specially peaked by the Philippine national costumes worn in the different international pageants. The reason perhaps is of course due to a semester studying all about the development of the Philippine costumes.
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Before we proceed, let it be known that among the four biggest international pageants in existence, only the Miss World pageant does not award the Best in National Costume consistently. In fact it has only awarded that only twice or thrice in its 60+ year history. It is interesting to note, however, that in 1972 Filipina Onelia Jose won the award for “Most Original Gown” in the Miss World pageant. Several pageant fans have wrongly attributed it as a Best in National Costume win. The Philippines have won the costume award in the Miss International, Miss Earth and Miss Universe pageants at least once.
Filipina Best in National Costume winners (L-R): Dolores Ascalon, Melanie Marquez and Yolanda Dominguez
Yolanda Dominguez, MI 1972 – aside from winning 2nd runner up in the 1972 Miss International pageant, Yogi also was the first ever recipient of the “Miss Costume” award in the Tokyo-based pageant. Unfortunately, there are not much available resources on the material and make of Yogi’s award winning terno. The 5’5” raven-haired lass received a plaque for winning Best in National Costume.
Maria Dolores Ascalon, MI 1976 – just like Yogi’s costume, there are not enough resources for Dolores’ national costume except for the fact that it was another Philippine terno that won the award. This was the second of three instances that the Philippines won this award in the MI pageant.
Mimilanie Marquez, MI 1979 – Miss International 1979 surely knows how to grab attention with her 5’11” frame. Melanie wore a Renee Salud terno made from red tulle and sequins. Her red terno was decked fully with sequins with a tulle skirt and stole. So far we do not have any colored images of Melanie in her costume but you can see glimpse of her national costume on the 2:24 mark on the YouTube video below.
Charlene Gonzales, MU 1994 – the T’boli and Manobo inspired costume in gold and bronze was a creation of the late Pitoy Moreno. The ensemble features a Manobo blouson top and headress. The skirt and blouse was embellished with T’nalak panels and adorned with T’boli brass bells. The headdress is also fitted with brass bells. A beaded T’boli/ B’laan belt with tiny brass bells completes the ensemble. This costume would have made noise as it is paraded and would certainly be an attention grabber.
Karen Ibasco, ME 2017 – this Maria Clara costume is the recipient for the gold medal for the national costume for Asia Pacific. It is the only costume in this list that wasn’t named as the only best costume during its year. Designed by Louie Pangilinan, this intricately printed and embroidered piece is inspired by the various stained glass windows seen in Catholic Cathedrals in the country. What made it more striking is the way the black bodice seems to make the stained glass print looks like it is illuminated from the back.
Gazini Ganados, MU 2019 – the Philippine Eagle inspired national costume is a masterpiece by Cebuano master couturier, Cary Santiago. The headpiece frames Gazini’s face while she mimicked how the eagle moves its head. Laser cut feathers adorn the gown with a back ‘peacock extension’. The extension fans out like an eagle’s tail feathers when the wearer raises her hand. On the shoulder of the ensemble sits two majestic Philippine Eagles. Surprisingly, not a single feather was used to create this costume, all are made from fabric.
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Looking at our record, it seems that the Philippine terno is the ‘winning-est’ national costume we have. All three Best in National Costume wins in Miss International features the Philippine terno. Interesting to note that aside from Karen Ibasco’s Maria Clara costume, the other notable Maria Clara costume used in pageants was that of Zorayda Ruth Andam’s at the 2001 Miss Universe in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Aside from these on the list, which other national costumes do you think should have won best national costume in their respective international competitions?
Today’s post in about the 10 Miss Universe candidates who nabbed the highest televised scores in the pageant final’s evening gown competition.
Back in 2015, on my old Sash Factor blog, I wrote a number of interesting articles on the Miss Universe pageant. One of the most fascinating researches we ever made was to track down the highest swimsuit and evening gown scorers in the Miss Universe competition. We posted this several years back and now we are revisiting this topic today.
Note that these scores were taken when the telecast would flash the scores of the girls onscreen, something that was taken out during the 2000’s.
10. Lana Buchberger, Canada
9. Verna Vasquez, Curacao
8. Sushmita Sen, India
7. Paula Andrea Betancourt, Colombia
6. Angela Visser, Netherlands
5. Taliana Vargas, Colombia
4. Wendy Fitzwilliams, Trinidad & Tobago
3. Minorka Mercado, Venezuela
2. Alicia Machado, Venezuela
1. Carolina Gomez, Colombia
Did your favorite girl/s made the list? Was there a candidate that you were surprised to earn top scores in the Miss Universe pageant? Let us know on the comment section below.
We’re working on the top-scorers for the swimsuit competition next. So watch our for that.
This decade has seen a number of gorgeous gowns worn in the Miss Universe pageant. But these are the ones that stood out the most!
Today we will bring out the fashionista in this pageant blogger. Being the fashion industry since graduation (I took up Clothing Technology from the University of the Philippines so that is where the fashion aspect comes in) I always loved the evening gown competition of any pageant. It was through pageants that I got my first taste of fashion, which later translated to a career in the industry.
So it is no surprise that our list of the best in the decade is populated by fashion choices from someone who has actual industry experience, locally and internationally. And this is our best-10-list of pageant gowns of the decade… Continue reading “Year-End Special: The Most Memorable Miss Universe Gowns of the Decade”
The national costumes is perhaps one of the most festive aspects of the Miss Universe pageant. This segment of the competition is likened to a quick trip around the world in just minutes.
For a number of pageant fans, this is one of the most awaited portions of the pageant. While it no longer is a part of the finals night telecast of the pageant, it still remains a fan favorite.
Before we proceed to the list, let us first mention that these are personal picks of this blogger. Some of these costumes have won the Best National Costume award while some we’ve seen in person and in motion. This list But one thing is for sure, they all looked spectacular.
This was supposed to be her finals gown! You heard that right. Here are several interesting stories behind Miss Universe Philippines, Gazini Ganados’ Cary Santiago gold gown…
Earlier in November, we all heard rumors that the Miss Universe organization gave a new directive that the preliminary gowns will also be the candidates’ final telecast gowns. Well, that was if the Miss Universe organization stuck with their that decision. This was never okay, however, with some of the National Directors as well as candidates. Rumor has it that several ND’s were vocal in verbalizing their disapproval during the National Directors’ Dinner. And of course they should be vocal about this as the Miss Universe organization has some of the highest franchise fees around. So rumor has it that Miss Universe Org President, Paula Shugart, had caved in due to the incessant requests from the NDs.
When we had a #chichiAndChaah date with Tita Lavinia, we touched into this. And the gold gown was indeed to be Gazini’s finals gown. IMHO, I think it was a great choice to have this gold gown used during the prelims because it made her shine in the EG competition. If she wore her red gown, it wouldn’t make much of an impact in a field of 90 ladies. So for me at least, it was a good happenstance that Gazini wore this in the prelims so that we saw it in action.
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So since the gold gown have already been worn, her next best option was to wear the red phoenix gown by Cary Santiago. Had Gazini made top 10 and had this on the evening gown competition, she would have stood out among the ladies in the top 10 with her intricate red gown without any trace of beadwork. It would have stood out just like how Oxana’s white tent gown (coincidentally with no beadwork as well) stood out in a roster of heavily embellished gowns.
But that is not the end of it! We were told another rumor from one of the people who was in the final dress rehearsals that an eventual runner up in the pageant changed gowns and wore her prelims gown because she saw Gazini wearing red. Another one of those in the VIP section saw that said candidate had a quick talk with her ND and heard in passing that they were discussing gown colors. We’re not saying the rumors are 100 true but it goes to show that people are willing to change plans based on what they see from our girls.
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According to our pageant friends, haute couturier Cary Santiago created 4 lovely gowns for Gazini to select from. It is said that aside from the gold and the red, the designer also created a lovely silver gown for Gazini.
Now our only hope is that Sir Cary Santiago, Mama Jonas Borces, Sirs Gio and Rodgil Flores would have Gazini take a photoshoot in these evening gowns for the pageant fans to enjoy…
With just mere 10 days for this year’s Miss Universe pageant, we have a limited time to cover all of our usual MU coverage. One of the casualties is our selection of the most beautiful costumes in the pageant.
Technically, this post is written December 8th, but it was too close in proximity to the finals. So we decided to postpone publishing our list until after the pageant is done. Before we proceed, these picks are our personal picks based on visual impact and understanding of what these costume stand for. Here are our picks for the best national costumes in this year’s pageant:
5. Mariana Varela, ARGENTINA – The last time we saw the Iguazu Falls as inspiration for a national costume was back in 2014. It was spectacular then, it still is now. While Mariana’s costume doesn’t hold a candle to the 2014 worn by Valentina Ferrer, it still is as spectacular. 4. Madison Anderson, PUERTO RICO – if you want showgirl type of costumes, then this one is for you. The frog and the hibiscus flower costume is grandiose and shows the Caribbean flavor from the enchanted island.
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3. Lee Yeon-joo, KOREA – what is truly amazing with this national costume is that is great representation of actual traditional wear. It isn’t costume-y just to shock and awe, it is actually very deeply rooted to the country. 2. Shweta Sekhon, MALAYSIA – the entire get-up is a tribute to the Malay, Chinese and Peranakan culture. The costume tries to represent the diverse culture of Malaysia being a sort of melting pot of peoples. 1. Gazini Ganados, PHILIPPINES – this was a garb fit for a goddess. Inspired by the Philippine Eagle, this ensemble is a haute couture masterpiece. It was modern, it was trés chic, it was haute couture at its finest. It didn’t hurt that the costume showcased the gorgeous face of its wearer and that no bird was harmed in making of the costume as everything was made from fabric!
UPDATED (12/09/2019, 6pm) – Who would have thought that our top pick actually won the national costume award? It may have been a delayed announcement of the win but still a major win nevertheless…
Do you agree with our choices? Let us know what you think of our choices in the comments below…
Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Ganados will perhaps become the most fashionable Filipina rep to the Miss Universe pageant in years! Not convinced? Just look at her wardrobes so far…
The Kagandahang Flores trained beauty is working with not one, not two but four styling teams for her Miss Universe wardrobe. Thanks to Binibining Pilipinas, the Miss Universe Philippines org and a bevy of other people helping her, she will by far be the only Filipina rep to do so. And from what we are privy to her pageant wardrobe, we can assure you that it will soar like the Philippine Eagle. Continue reading “A Soaring Wardrobe for Miss Universe Philippines Gazini Ganados”
Thank God for small miracles! We’ve mentioned that almost all of our blogposts starting from 2014 to 2015 is lost when the original Sash Factor forum shut down. Apparently, some of the fun-art hardwork I’ve made managed to survive through Facebook archives.
And one my personal favorite fun-art posters I’ve made were those Alice in Wonderland themed ones for Miss World Philippines 2014 Valerie Weigmann. And two Alice in Wonderland themed posters were some of the posters I was able to retrieve!
It is no secret that among the Miss World Philippines winners, Valerie was and still is my favorite. The last time I saw her in Bangkok last December 2018, she still looked so radiant as the day she was crowned MWP. She has managed not to age in the 5 years since she competed to the time where the franchise was still under Cory Quirino! How time flies indeed. We hope that you’ll allow us to feel a bit nostalgic with this post. After all, some of our best blogposts were written in our old blogsite – sashfactor.info/sashesandscripts
Seeing that some of our artworks survive has been one of our truest joys lately…
Our Miss Earth 2014, Jamie Herrell is such a lovely lady to be featured in a number of fun-art features that were almost lost in our old blogsite. Luckily we were able to salvage several photo-manipulation features on this lovely Cebuana.
Remakes have been a a trend in movies nowadays. The live action Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast, has gotten online buzz even back in 2016… and while the movie was yet to come in 2017, it gathered interest with the news that all of Disney’s animated features will be getting a live action remake from Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty (Maleficent movie), Alladin, The Lion Kind, etc… In that vein here is Miss Earth 2014 Jamie Herrel in a #FunArt from the French film version, La Belle et Bete.
We also have a couple more fun-art of Jamie as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella but we’ll post those a little later…
The national costume has got to be my favorite part in any pageant wardrobe. I get more excited with the lavishness and grandiosity of seeing our culture represented in a garb than seeing sneak peeks of one’s evening gown.
In 2017, I had the privilege to be asked to create a concept art for Charmaine Elima’s national costume. The idea then was to capitalize on her dusky morena skin with a Nuestra Senora La Naval inspired national costume as brainstormed with her uncle Larry Elima. One that pays homage to the Filipinos love and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the costume has since then set a barrage of Santacruzan/ Virgin Mary inspired costumes in various national pageants. Even Emma Tiglao’s winning national costume was inspired by 3 queens of the Santacruza: Fe, Caridad & Esperanza…owing to three Catholic concepts of Faith, Hope and Charity. Charmaine’s costume may not have won best national costume but it did create buzz around the candidate who wore it. That costume created waves among pageant fans and that was always the goal. Which is the point of today’s blogpost: a focus on the national costume and how it should be designed and executed.
Whenever I am doing a national costume re-imagining or asked to create a concept design, I only have two considerations: 1) it should feel and look AUTHENTIC to the Filipino culture and 2) it should create DRAMA and IMPACT.
Authenticity is a hard thing to do nowadays with a number of national costumes in pageants. When I did the concept art for Valerie’s costume for Dances of the World for Miss World 2014, it did receive some flak on the usage of the color blue instead of the traditional black and red of the T’boli tribe. Nobody knew that the costume was actually a Blit Blaan costume, a dance from the B’laan tribe which uses navy, blue and white with other colors in their wardrobe. There is a lot of misinformation that could happen based on Filipinos limited knowledge of our own culture which is the point of research to make it feel authentic. Digging deep into the culture and iconography of clothing and how it is affected by culture is a must. Research is key.
Take into account the recent Maranao costume of Catriona Gray. A number of pageant fans assumed that it was a Singkil costume (perhaps owing to the fact that it’s the most popular Marano dance). Others had actually went to post online the inaccuracy of the parasol saying that the princess in the singkil dance only holds the apir fans and the parasol was to be held by her handmaiden (it is noteworthy to mention that the position of a handmaiden in court is reserved for the noble families not for slaves). The costume however pays homage to a less popular Maranao dance called the Kinakulangan where maidens would hold parasols and handkerchiefs as they dance. I had a long discussion with Catriona’s mentor, Carlos Buendia, about the malong whether or not we should still incorporate it. In most Singkil dances the princess actually isn’t required to wear it, although we kept it in the concept art for illustration purposes. Actual research has to back up every design to reinforce being authentic. It is the only way to be respectful to the culture that the costume is representing.
The Original Concept Art of the national costume…
There is also the aspect of impact and high-drama. Every costume needs to have visual impact for it to stand out among a sea of costumes. Whether it was the bells of the B’laan costume of Valerie, the body-tattoos of the Pintados costume of Mary Ann Ross Misa (this was later worn by Danielle Dolk in the national costume show for Binibining Pilipinas 2019), the religious connotations of Charmaine’s terno or the Sarimanok atop Catriona’s parasol…there has to be a focal point that gives the wow factor. There has to be that element that ties everything together without sacrificing the overall impact of the entire look.
When you put these two elements together, you get a memorable costume. Authenticity and Impact.
It’s gown review time! Let’s share with you 10 of the best gowns during the Binibining Pilipinas 2019 coronation night!
After Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray’s leg baring gown in both Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Universe pageants, it seems that everyone was so keen to show some leg! It is no surprise however that it is those who stood out with their own personal style that we included in this list.
Without further a do, here are our 10 best dressed ladies during the Binibining Pilipinas coronation night!
10. Jessarie Dumaguing in Jose Buzeta – no earrings for the evening gown? No problem if you had a face like that of Jessarie’s. She shone just fine in this sparkly white gown with strategically placed ostrich feathers on the hem. She looked like she was floating in the clouds.
9. Joanna Tolledo in Sony-Boy Mendo– This is the goddess gown that any pageant girl would kill for! It had the Minorka mercado-Joyce Giraud pageant feels to it without looking dated. Joanna’s dusky complexion complimented this draped gown with very interesting beadwork patterns.
8. Samantha Lo in Rau Uson – this illussion creating gown suited the boxy body shape of Samantha Lo and this should be her trademark style. Adding more to the overall impact was the soft waves framing SamLo’s face. This gown reminds me of the 1996 Inno Sotto gown worn by Yedda Marie Mendoza in pink with black bows. Stunning!
7. Leren Bautista in Chico Estiva – after 2017 I thought I have had enough of fringes but this white and ice blue gown Leren wore made me think twice. She styled it with a classy pulled back hair and she looked amazing in it.
6. Anne Curtis in Michael Cinco – if there was one M5 gown that shook fashionista fans of the pageant, this was it. Anne overdid the big, blue, bold and brazen gown and we certainly love her for doing so. It was the perfect gown to open a show!
5. Nicole Cordoves in Louis Pangilinan – it had the frills, it had the volume but more importantly it had Nicole wearing it with a cute ponytail. Nicole carried this cotton candy confection that reminded us of the voluminous tulle haute couture dresses by Giambattista Valli. Nicole pumped enough youthful vibes into the dress.
4. Isabela Galeria in Mark Bumgarner – class and sophistication by the handful! Actress Heart Evangelista commissioned this Mark Bumgarner gown for Isabela and she looked ravishing in it. That gold belt was a trademark styling trick by the designer and it is perhaps one of the classiest gown in the evening.
3. Catriona Gray in Mak Tumang – the Waling-waling orchid inspired gown was a magnificent closing to Catriona’s Binibining Pilipinas journey. Though we would have wanted to see her Sinag gown by Mak once again during the finals night, Catriona nevertheless continued to pay homage to the country’s icons and symbols in her wardrobe.
2. Jehza Huelar in Cary Santiago – this outfit was meant for Paris haute couture week during the months of January and June! And Jehza nailed this look with very little effort. She was so at ease in this gown! The newly-wed queen didn’t get lost in this very striking gown and carried it at the same level of intensity as the gown elevated her. The steel gray gown with 3D parrot embellishments on the shoulders could easily overwhelm any wearer but Jehza’s stature commanded attention to her, not just to her gown.
1. Gazini Ganados in Cary Santiago – she was the scene-stealer in the evening gown competition with the way she carried her fuchsia pink gown. By then, she cemented herself as the frontrunner and would end up with one of the crowns. It was devoid of any sparkles but it had impact with its almost violent pink hue, Gazini brought out the drama in her presentation and together it was a lethal combination that she deserved winning the Best in Evening Gown award.
To say that Cary Santiago was the winner of the night was an understatement. His creations were the ones that truly popped out in a sea of sparkling and shimmering gowns.
How about you? Which gowns were your best gown picks?
This year there were a couple of Urdujas, a number of Pintados, a handful of Maranao princesses, lots of Santacruzan-inspired costumes and a whole lot of dance moves on the Binibining Pilipinas national costume stage.
Before we get to the main part, I would have to say that a number of national costume presentation were a major copycat of Catriona Gray’s Best in National Costume winning performance last year. Everybody had to do some dance moves that it was painful to see some ‘inauthentic’ dance steps just to get it on with the trend. Even those that were reportedly ones who bashed Catriona last year had their mentees doing dances for the national costumes. Ayy Caramba!
After my involvement with Catriona’s BBP national costume, I have to say that the experience elevated my taste on what I would look for in a national costume. I was looking for something reflective of not just culture but also taste and execution… Which one really stood out? These are our top 5 list: 5. Ilene de Vera – this should have made top 10 in the best costumes category. The pintados-slash-gitara costume strongly represent her province of Cebu. It also complimented Ilene’s statuesque frame of 5’9″ tall. Only someone that tall could carry the gargantuan extension at the back without looking minuscule herself.
4. Hannah Arnold – never-mind the knock-off comparisons with an Indonesian costume, even without the banga on the train this costume was superb. I personally would have preferred it if the extra bang were taken out as it adds nothing different from the costume itself. It actually distracts from how well executed the costume is. This Banga costume is among the three that I would say has the biggest chances of winning the best in national costume award.
3. Emma Tiglao – love this costume to bits! And while the gold and white terno looked divine, it was Emma’s serenely beauty that elevated it to higher levels. She was poise and class personified in this costume, the costume in itself was magnificent in its grandeur.The perfect girl to carry this perfect costume…IMHO this costume is of international competition levels.
2. Honey Grace Cartasano – this ‘suman’ inspired national costume was my personal favorite that night. Nevermind that it maybe a design that the traditionalists would raise their eyebrows on, this costume was genius! While some are put off with the head-piece, I think it compliments the entire get up as this is reminiscent of the drooping silhouette of the banana leaves used to cover up the suman. It was unique and it gave people something to talk about. And that is what I believe to be a hallmark of an effective costume.
1. Jessarie Dumaguing – among the national costumes in the top 10, this one is the most ‘alta’. I think this costume should win the best in national costume award simply because of how Jessarie carried it off! With just a graceful flick of her hands the peacock extension of her gown rises in the same graceful manner. It is not very fancy but it is very effective. Add to it is the fact that the Palawan Peacock Pheasant has the same gray-blue plumage that is as striking as Jessarie herself.
Overall the costumes this year was an improvement on the costumes from the recent pageant past. And I have high hopes that this level of costumes will be brought to the international stage during the international pageant season.
Don’t forget to vote for you pick for the best in national costume on the Binibining Pilipinas website!
So the Binibining Pilipinas fashion show has gone by just like that and a major movement on who made the biggest impression among the 40 candidates.
The ladies walked the catwalk in three segments with the Jag Jean fashion show and a new segment by World Balance. The national costume portion was hosted by Robi Domingo alongside several of the reigning Binibining Pilipinas queens. MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS
One of the biggest surprises were the announcements that the national costume portion of the Fashion Show was one 4 major legs of the preliminary competition. There is the close-door interviews that happened a day or two prior to the fashion show, a free speech (which presumably happened behind the scenes at which we are not yet privy on when it happened) and the press presentation. With that in mind then it is indeed clear that there are a handful of major events that the Binibini should be delivering their best. It is now understood that after the culmination of the show, a top 25 semifinalist has been selected based on their composite scores from each of the 4 scored competitions.
Aside from the top 10 best national costumes being selected, they also announced the three ladies that had the best talent presentations. Samantha Bernardo, Cassandra Chan and Alannis Reign Binoya were the top 3 girls in the talent competition. A very deserving top3 considering that these were the ones that truly made an impression during the talent night at the Farmer’s Plaza a month earlier.
We already heard rumors that there will be 3 segments in the fashion show this year from our insiders but failed to name which one will be the 3rd segment. Initial speculations that there will be a designer portion of the show which we believe doesn’t jive well with the audience who watch the fashion show. We have to say that the World Balance segment provided a great breather between the high energy Jag and the theatricality of the national costumes. Besides the WB section made sure that the girls were all styled well but look collectively cohesive as a group.
As for the Jag Jeans segment, our gut feel tells us that the Jag Denim Queen will be from the last 10 ladies of the show. It is no joke that we saw Vickie Rushton, Aya Abesamis, Gazini Ganados, Samantha Bernardo, and Ilene de Vera in one strong group. Although I wouldn’t discount that the winner could also come from the first group as well…
THE OUTSTANDING PERFORMERS * Samantha Bernardo – she got 2 for 2,both making to the finalist for the talent and costume competitions. May 29 was her night and she looked very radiant and nailed each of the three segments of the fashion show. We saw (from behind the judges) that two of the members of the BPCI Execom clapped for her presentation, not that it should matter (though it kinda does to fans). * Hannah Arnold – to say that Hannah brought down the house during the national costume segment is an understatement. We have been very vocal on social media posting about her national costume, thanks to her handler Tito Ito who provided us with behind the scenes videos. * Emma Tiglao – she was serenely calm and composed the entire show and she outperformed almost everyone in all three segments. She gave enough pizzazz in the Jag and World Balance segments but was so serenely divine in her white & gold terno. * Jessarie Dumaguing – another one of the ladies that gave impressive presentations in all three segments of the fashion show. Her defining moment was her national costume presentation, she wowed everyone in the theater that even the matriarch was wowed and clapped for her. With just a simple flicker of her hands the peacock extension of her costume rises gracefully. * Aya Abesamis – despite the overkill taras bulba hair extension that should have been left in the 1980’s where it belonged, Aya pulled of a decent performance on all three segments. Last time we were able to converse with her we mentioned that we hope she is able to put the Yakan face paint for the national costume show which she did… Full marks for her during that evening.
COASTING ALONG THE MIDDLE * Vickie Rushton – she served face the entire time. She did good during the Jag and national costume segments but found her too bouncy during the WB portion. It is undeniable that the small flaws she made wasn’t quite noticeable as everyone would just concentrate on her face. That has always been her strength. * Gazini Ganados – the 5’8″ charmer did great at the Jag segment, had too much poses at the WB part and did well in the national costume portion. In as much as I love her face during the JAG & WB segments, I wasn’t a fan of the red lips for the national costume part. Had she been given a strong eye (which has always been her best asset), she would have been on top of our list. * Jessica Marasigan – despite a strong performance in all three segments, her position coming out as first of 40 hurts her. By the time you are halfway through the 40 candidates, you’ve probably forgotten about Jessica. And that is something she has to worked on because she did very well in all 3 segments. * Ilene de Vera – was a revelation that night. Despite BBP being her 3rd pageant ever, she showed everyone that she could slay it on the runway! She was one of the girls with the better walks in the group. It was quite a shock not to see her among the top 10 national costumes. Nevertheless, she got something better, the ‘mahiwagang palakpak‘ award. * Leren Bautista – one of the ladies who did good but could have owned the night had she exerted extra effort specially in the national costume segment. Thankfully her face during the national costume presentation carried it for her. She still needs to work on that magnetism to really make sure she makes it among the top contenders. * Shane Tormes – this girl gave it her all and she did remarkably well in all three portions of the fashion show. Her best performance was on the Jag and costume segments (where she showed she can move gracefully as she glides). THE MAJOR LETDOWNS
In the interest that we do not want to discourage the girls mentioned in this part, we will just write down our feedback without mentioning their names.
* This frontrunner was a major letdown during the fashion show, she was ok in the Jag jeans part, forgettable during the WB section, ending with a lackluster performance at the national costume. The eyes were so dead and her dance at the natcos portion felt forced with her costume.
* Despite being too active on social media, it is clear that this girl should have practiced her pasarela and national costume presentation. Her Jag & WG performance was an improvement though much is still lacking. But it was her national costume presentation that was a total letdown! At this point, you cannot be just good at one thing and be terrible at everything else. If she wants MUP, she has to be a total performer in all aspects, not just on social media.
* A beautiful face couldn’t save a wooden performance at the national costume segment, a segment where it counts as it is part of the show where the ladies were judged. Despite a passable performance at the Jag and WB segments, this lady bombed it at the national costume portion. The movements were uncoordinated and hard, her costume requires finesse and refinement in movements and she didn’t deliver there.
* A girl wearing a costume from the North needed to be guided properly on our traditional dances as her national costume presentation accompanied jerky and stiff movements. The costume she wore came from a tribe of proud and fierce headhunters and her presentation did not do justice to that tribe. Her team should have advised on a Filipiniana costume for her as it would have suited her face better. ON CLAPS AND CHEERS
It is usually detrimental in pageant when one is called clapper but during the fashion show, we were anticipating for the claps coming from the matriarch. Sitting behind the judging panel (which is mainly comprised of the BPCI Execom and Executives of ABSCBN, Chit Guerrero one of them), certainly has its perks. We have seen several girls who were recipients of the mysterious claps. In no particular order, the ladies that were given the clap were Emma Tiglao, Resham Saeed, Cassandra Chan, Jessarie Dumaguing, Ilene de Vera, Hannah Arnold and Samantha Bernardo. Emma got the cheers when she made top 10 in the national costume presentation, while Sam and Hannah got it twice (once during their costume presentation and when they made top 10).
We are not saying that these ladies are going to be the final winners but the claps and cheers from the matriarch has always been something that pageant aficionados of BBP have always looked forward to. It weights no bearing in the winner but it is fun to see that there is something we all have in common with the powers at be, that we love beauty as much as any other pageant fan. Seeing that side of her humanizes her and endears her more to fans. TOP 10 BEST COSTUMES
Since we will be having a review of the national costumes, I won’t dig deep into it in this blog. But I would have to say that there is more variety in this year’s national costumes that made top 10 compared to last year where only a couple of Filipiniana made the list. It is no surprise that a couple of Maranao/ Maguindanao/ Mindanao made it in the top10 looking at how Miss Universe Catriona Gray made waves in last year’s national costume competition.
There are more tribal, fauna, mythological and regional costumes that made it this year. And despite several of our faves not making the top 10, I would say that this is pretty much a solid selection for best national costumes (do watch out for that later).
Alessio Stefano Costantini – Mister Suisse Francophone 2017 & Mister International 2018 top 5 finalist – is our featured hunk for today.
The 6’1″ model posed shirtless for the lenses of photographer Adriano Artexcellence in a photo-essay in Switzerland. Alessio is a sports enthusiast and enjoys travelling. He is also a karate black belt holder and works as a private fitness consultant.
We hope that you’ll allow us to feel a bit nostalgic with this post. After all, some of our best blogposts were written in our old blogsite – sashfactor.info/sashesandscripts
