The first time I attended Philippine Fashion Week a couple of years ago, I hadn’t started blogging yet, but I was already granted a front row seat since I was writing a review for a major daily broadsheet. Though not everybody was dressed up for the shows, it was a bit daunting to sit face-to-face with some cliques of the local fashion industry.

Early on in the week’s schedule, I noticed a distinct pair, always together, whose outfits always stood out from the crowd.

Eventually I got to know them as Daryl and Andre Chang, actual siblings! Daryl is now the Fashion Editor of Preview, a local magazine, and Andre is a designer for Folded & Hung, a local clothing label. It is not hard to surmise that they are often the source of each other’s inspiration.

I posted a photo of them in a previous post, Style in Manila. I find it amazing that they both manage to reinvent themselves each time I see them at the bi-annual event.

I come up to them and not only do they have different hairstyles, they also occupy a different decade, mixing in various influences in between.

I also admire how they adamantly support local talent, being stylists and designers themselves, but in a way that doesn’t compromise their own vision of the present moment: the place that each of them inhabits as individuals interpreting the zeitgeist.

El Bosquejo

At first I thought it was impossible to even think about it. A streetstyle blog that documents style in Manila. My apprehensions included my perception that there just weren’t enough stylish people, that it’s impossible to dress up well in a tropical country since we couldn’t use many layers, and that, well, the Philippines is a third-world country and one needs money to dress well.

Guess what? I was proven wrong time and again.

The pictures I have taken for my other blog, La Folie Douce, show that people with different personalities have their own way of showing them through their clothing, which even in a single layer are more than enough. I have found stylish people not just in fashion shows and amongst the fashion crowd; I have also spotted them in the numerous malls scattered across Manila, bumping into them while walking in the business district or finding my way in the dirty, littered streets of the old capital. Of course, not all of them were wearing designer clothing. I have found that the more creative and sophisticated are the most well-versed in flea-market bargaining.

Indeed, style is everywhere. One need only to pay attention and look close enough.

Someone asked me what I looked for when I took pictures. I said that no matter what they were wearing, every piece should be them, a part of their identity, like an unmistakable badge. I know it’s very abstract, but you’ll know it when you see it.

I find that such stylish people find it easier to smile and laugh at themselves while staying confident. This I’m sure is true not just for Manila, much less, just for the ‘third-world’.

El Bosquejo

Indeed, inspiration is everywhere.

For me personally, it doesn’t only come through streetstyle blogs, magazines, and movies, but also via seemingly simple and ordinary, everyday things.

Getting up and preparing for work in the morning, or dressing up for a night out or even for a restful afternoon of coffee and sandwiches, I keep my eyes open and ears pricked.

You see a sky so blue that you want to get out and begin your day early – wearing an electric hue that echoes the brightness outdoors!

Don’t control your feelings when you feel like waxing lyrical. A sunny day with birds singing can inspire you to wear bright colors, florals, or paisley, just to match your cheerful surroundings – even if only through a scarf, a pocket square, or handkerchief.

Of course, there is no problem if you keep things subtle when you go out in the gloom of a rainy morning, with all
the shades of gray or the full range neutrals.

A rasta song that suddenly pops out from your shuffle mix can remind you that you haven’t worn red, green, or yellow for months. The smell of coffee may nudge you to consider dark brown in your outfit.

Or if you’re the type who wakes up staring at the ceiling, refusing to budge from your dreams, just let your memories flow.

You may suddenly remember that stylish gentleman you bumped into at the bus, and tell yourself that you too can pull off a bow tie. Or you may recall a doting aunt who years ago visited you at your house wearing a bolero that you stared at as a seven-year-old.

Why not?
Nothing should be forced, though a little planning would help. For me, it’s all about wearing what you feel like, and that depends a lot on what you’re thinking and experiencing around you. Keep your heart open for style accidents.

Always come as yourself.

El Bosquejo