Only the best for Mommy Dionesia
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:56:00 05/10/2009
Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle & Leisure, Fashion
A BALL gown fit for a duchess.
Or skirt suits by Balmain and Chanel. Heck, even a two-piece gold-dipped suit by Lanvin!
And why not? Dionesia Pacquiao, mother to a multimillionaire boxing champ, could now certainly afford them.
Fashion designer Frederick Peralta pored over vintage issues of American Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to find looks that befit “Nanay Dionesia’s” new doña stature. He found several, each more extravagant than the next “for the various functions that she has to attend.”
Who knows if she now shares her daughter-in-law’s penchant for designer purses and glitzy jewelry. But doesn’t the woman who single-handedly raised the so-called People’s Champ rightly deserve at least a wardrobe upgrade, even virtually? The HBO Pacquiao-Hatton docu, in fact, hinted the woman was Rodeo Drive-bound on her first (shopping) trip to America.
Peralta chose a pink ball gown worn by Duchess Camilla Parker Bowles from the pages of Harper’s Bazaar (2005) and a couple of more sedate designer suits worn by two New York philanthropists in Vogue (2007), among others.
He observed the 60-year-old woman has a sense of flamboyance in her. “I think a lot of women could relate to her,” he says. “She comes from humble beginnings and suddenly she’s able to buy all these things.”
To go with the new wardrobe, hairstylist Henri Calayag suggests a wavy cut with fringes to frame the diminutive woman’s face. He says to maintain the length, similar to American country singer Reba McEntire’s ’do, on whose photo our artist Photoshopped Ms Pacquiao’s face, zapping a facial crease or two in the process.
And voila! We get a pretty good idea: This would be Dionesia Pacquiao in her prime.