Fashion Patriots

Months ago, I was contacted by a Slovakian editor to participate and represent the Philippines for their mag's editorial entitled, Fashion Patriots. More or less, the concept of the shoot was to have bloggers from different countries shoot themselves in an outfit that best represents their country and to explain it. Naturally, I was thrilled. I love my country and I am proud to be Filipino. Granted, as a race, we do have some flaws in society and in our government, I find that what nation doesn't? So despite that, I never actually thought of wanting to change my citizenship even if I have had many opportunities to do so. I am not a hero... I am perhaps very far from becoming one but if I were asked to be proud of my country in a platform that I am engaged in (aka. fashion blogging)... I will put effort on it because I wouldn't want to do my country the disservice of presenting something half-baked or worse, something that would wound our nation more. I thought and brainstormed on this particular shoot...a lot and when it came out on the website this week, I was proud to have delivered. There's also some strange comfort in realizing that while I cannot be in Slovakia, it's nice to have my photo reach the country (which I confessed, I had to Google) and also to orient them that the Philippines exists (they probably will have to Google our country's location as well) and that where I am from, there a lot of fashionably people...Fashion Patriots... in their own right.

Here are more photos of my outfit:

Filipiniana Terno: Glitterati

The writeup was in Slovak but I think the picture is worth a different words and I am just proud to represent. However, if you want to know what I said in my write-up, here it goes:

My outfit is a modern take on my country's national costume which consists of the terno which is a Filipino term that literally translates to coordinates. It is most known for it bell shapes butterfly sleeves and I decided to wear my Patriotic outfit in red, which is one of the main colors of our flag (which consists of red, yellow and blue. I decided to choose a beach to shoot this outfit in as my country is best known for its beautiful beaches which are a popular destination. I chose to stand on a cliff with the waves crashing against me which represents something about the Philippine and its citizens' indomitable spirit and how we can weather any tidal wave of tragedy or natural disaster and still be standing, proud to be Filipino.  PS: Where I am from, everyone is a hero.

 

 To view the online version, CLICK HERE.

Mystuff.sk is a Slovak website/ online magazine platform for My Stuff magazine focused on Slovak and Czech fashion bloggers as well as every fashion lover. 

Photos by: Celyn Jaravata