For the uninitiated, Patrick Starrr loves to bake. Perhaps not exactly in the way one is typically accustomed to in the gourmet sense, but it does operate on certain parallels. In baking, as in with bread, pastry, and the like, flour, liquids, and concentrated heat factor in the process of expanding, dehydrating, and browning of the piping hot goods. In baking, as in with the tried-and-tested-the-f***-out-of technique from our drag predecessors, a similar chemical concept follows, except this time, powder, liquid makeup, and body temperature work to control the moisture and finish of the face no matter the external circumstance. This is short of saying: you will appear flawless just like a piece of perfectly risen, crusted, and dusted bread.
For people who prefer a long-wear, fool-proof type of filtered finish, baking is the technique you will want to perfect, especially since working with a liquid base is easier to slip and slide on the skin. Patrick Starrr swears by this makeup miracle, one that not only buffs the face to poreless perfection, but it also helps accentuate the sharp contours and bright highlights for a more snatched beat, honey. “Trust the process,” he would remind his audience in the middle of the beauty application. “It might look busted now, but it will work out in the end.” True enough, with so many tutorials, reviews, and playtimes on YouTube and on social media, baking always reveals a flawless look that needs no work on Facetune or Photoshop.
Always a must on his beauty to do, Patrick Starrr has always been on the lookout for the perfect powder. From trying out tons of powders to collaborating on one with MAC for his highly successful collaboration, it wouldn’t be a true to his vision and mission if his big and bold beauty brand, ONE/SIZE, didn’t come with a setting powder. After being in development for 2 years, the Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder finally joins the ranks of runaway hits that include the GO OFF Makeup Dissolving Mist and Juiciest Makeup Remover Wipes, Visionary Eyeshadow Palette, and POINT MADE 24-Hour Liquid Eyeliner Pen.
“I want to cry and I can’t believe this dream has finally come true,” he writes on Instagram during the official debut of the product online on Sephora. “Makeup is a one size fits all betch!!!” Set against a fictitious backdrop of cotton-candy swirl of pastel pink, the Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder is what it claims to be—the definitive endgame of powders. A super fine and light-as-air milled concentrate, the 14-hour setting powder optimally functions to set the beauty base and complexion that works well with a natural look to full glam. Smoothing with its signature soft-focus effect that evens out texture for a more natural finish and controls excess oil and shine, the Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder comes in two shades (Translucent and Dark-Deep) that covers all skin tones. As it is meant to liaison an Instagram filter beyond the grid, it sets and extends the lifeline of your base, making you photo ready for all the holiday mid-frame virtual get-togethers—no flashback or white cast as guaranteed by Patrick Starrr himself.
Speaking of the founder himself, he offers a pro tip when working with the powder: “For the ultimate, full-glam makeup hold, use in between each base makeup step to help with layering and grip.” This way, everything is set and locked in evenly so as to avoid what might otherwise be delicious in a bakery and not a beauty counter—caking.
A lot of thought and care has gone in the formulation and foundation of the Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder, as evidenced by the product itself, the unique slash opening to dispense an ample amount of powder, and the precise patting partner, the Ultimate Baking & Setting Puff. No stone was left unturned by the prophet of powder himself, Patrick Starrr, primarily because this was and still is a dream come true. “It means everything to me, because I had launched this brand not only on the dot com, but not even just in the US, but in Canada, too. To transcend just that border was a disbelief and for Sephora to carry ONE/SIZE Beauty was exciting to me. And ONE/SIZE stands for every brand of beauty, where we are continuing to redefine beauty by elevating voices of the unheard and the unseen. My goal is to create a space for everyone that feels safe. I want everyone, when I say everyone, everyone all around the world to feel like they can belong—and that includes people in the Philippines,” Patrick Starrr reveals, as ONE/SIZE makes its long-awaited way to Southeast Asia this December. “It really means a lot to me that we can share this sentiment of self-acceptance and love. That’s what my brand colors are red and pink, [because they] are the colors of of love.”
Sweet, now who wants to get ultimately baked? Puffs are at the ready, Patrick Starrr.
Beabadoobee remembers snow the first time she came to London. Back then, it seemed like such a big deal. A lot has changed since that first trip, having gone past OPM music her mom used to put on rotation, her dad making adobo for school lunch, and regular visits back home to the Philippines.
She’s still on that constant journey of growing-up and self-acceptance, but she’s a lot more comfortable now in her Filipino skin than she was as a teenager. This is something that translates into her music, inspired by the honesty of the songs of her childhood—bands like APO Hiking Society, Itchyworms, and Eraserheads. “Every time I listen to those bands, it makes me feel this comforting feeling I always crave. And that’s what I want my music to portray when people listen to it.”
She goes by Bea for the remainder of our talk, casually perched in front of the camera, signature freckles on full display. There’s some talk of lockdowns and teleseryes to break the ice a little bit, but she’s easily relaxed as we go through the motions of your typical Zoom interview.
Outside of that affinity for sultry rock and hard grunge, she’s also a big fan of strings—currently hoping to re-learn the violin and play the harp next year—and classical music. “I’ve always wanted to be a Disney princess, that’s always been my dream…I also love Lea Salonga, and literally every Disney princess that exists,” she gestures with both her hands and a big smile on her face as she touches on both sides of herself, the typical rock fan, and the overindulgent princess-at-heart. “It’s like, what if I just combine the two? And that’s how Fake it Flowers was born.”
Fake It Flowers is Beabadoobee’s debut album, which came out on October 16 this year. It’s a marriage between the 90s style-music Bea has come to love and new experimental sounds of the alternative range. But she’s quick to dispel a definitive genre for her music, finding them “quite limiting” and “just a bit of a label.” To Bea, “music is music” and the beauty of music is that “you can do whatever you want.”
“I just don’t really believe in genres, but I definitely do believe in growing and exploring new concepts and ideas,” she explains. “I’m not necessarily saying Fake It Flowers is the sound of Beabadoobee, like this whole 90s thing, whatever—because that in itself is another label. I feel like I’ve yet to discover myself and I’ve yet to explore new sounds.”
Her journey to the making of Fake It Flowers certainly helps in this respect. Having found an “amazing, talented band,” she has become more open to the idea of writing and sharing opinions when it comes to her music-making. “I still write and do everything in my bedroom,” she says, perfectly fitting as she tours us around her bedroom with these shots of polaroid. “I find the chord progression, I find the melodies, I find the lyrics, but now…I have these amazing producers called Pete and Joe [who] are able to kind of create these songs from my bedroom and make them come to life and make them sound exactly how I wanted them to sound in my head.”
One of her favorites to record is Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene, the last song off the album. “That was the only song recorded live in the live room, and our live room is tiny so we were all just jammed together. There were two drum kits and we recorded it a complete mess, like actually such a mess. And we just put it out like that,” she says with a shrug. “I wanted the last song to kind of be just this crazy, doesn’t make any sense, just kind of fun type of song.”
With all of that over with, Beabadoobee is writing just a little bit of whatever is next to come for her music, taking inspirations from artists she’s currently listening to such as Portishead and The Cardigans. Stuck in another lockdown, she takes this time to just have a little break and live in the world post the release of her debut album. However, Bea’s story is far from over. She’s come a long way from dreams of becoming a nursery teacher and bad grades.
“I wish I was that type of person to be like—yep, I did both [music and education] amazing. I mean one of those things had to fuck up to make the other one soar,” she recalls. “And I honestly did absolute shit in my exams, like I did not revise—all I did was actually just draw on the exam paper.”
Now she’s making drunk decisions at karaoke bars in Dublin, and touring and living with The 1975—learning from Matty Healy himself all the little ways of songwriting. Gone are those timid days doing photoshoots and being unsure of what to do—now she has fun and openly misses them.
Her talent is big and her experiences are unlike any other, but it doesn’t take much to make her happy at all. “If I can continue to make music and earn enough money to get a really nice house and to make sure my parents are okay, then everything’s good.”
While there are still battles to be had for Beabadoobee, conflicts of misogyny in the music industry, and her continued journey towards self-acceptance, she remains undeterred and optimistic. Such roadblocks only energize her to empower women, and provide a sense of hope, especially during these really uncertain times.
“You know, it’s shit right now, but it’s going to end up okay.” And for her, it helps to know that there are people out there who anticipate her music and find solace in what she has to say. “I don’t think I’m going to accept myself for like a while,” she laughs sheepishly. “[But] it’s like—oh, people actually give a shit about me.”
Let’s talk about the importance of education shall we?
An education helps lay the groundwork for a better future and a better society, to help us learn and understand the world we live in to create a better one. On the more practical side of things, it means earning a degree to find a job that can provide for families, especially for those who don’t have the same accessibilities and opportunities as others. Systems aside and going by purely the context of learning, we are all equal.
With the current pandemic that we are facing, education is not as accessible as it used to be. Following protocols, the Department of Education created the blended learning approach to ensure the safety and health of students and teachers, which consists of students learning from online platforms, television, radio, and printed materials provided by schools. A hotly contested work in progress, this approach has only highlighted the glaring inequalities and struggles that a large number of Filipino students face, such as the lack of accessibility to education and supplies being a part of them.
The way it is crafted for the times, the blended learning approach relies heavily on internet access and gadgets, however only 67% of the population in the entire Philippines has access to the internet, which plays a major role in education during the pandemic. But aside from internet accessibility there are still a lot of families who don’t even have the access to smartphones or tablets, some are even considering pulling their children out of school due to the lack of income. There are also parents who are no-read and no-write preventing them from being able to help their children to learn from home. Let’s not even get to the matters of the educators, who despite their most valiant efforts, going above and beyond the line of duty still struggle with access, exhaustion, and the system that seems to be operating on an archaic perspective.
As a student myself preparing for the future, we need to work towards a better system and quality of education, especially when only 19% of students have passed the minimum proficiency level for overall reading and literacy in the PISA (Programme for International Students Assessment). The Philippines only spends over 3.5% of its GDP on education as of 2017, whereas neighboring countries like Vietnam and South Korea, with some of the best performing schools in the world, spend over 5% of their GDPs on education. Education does not only benefit the children and the youth, but the regions and nation as well, as it plays an important role in economic development and an investment for a better future. It has been said that the youth are our future leaders, so it is only fair to give them best education to lead a better society and future for all.
One would assume that learning would come easier with all the time we have been accorded with. However, it must be made known that learning in this time of the pandemic seems like a working solution for those who can afford it, and even they are not immune from the challenges therein. Research says that as of 2018, over 5 out of 10 Filipinos are deprived of basic education, which doesn’t sound the least bit hopeful. Education is not only for the privileged, but for everyone. It shouldn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what you have, what your religion, and beliefs are. Education is for everyone, no one should be denied it.
Education is not a privilege, but simply a human right for all. So, for all discoveries and developments accounted for, why haven’t we figured it out yet?
The worsening environmental decline takes a toll on a person’s mental health, manifesting in anxiety, stress, and depression. Plenty of people often feel this way, but this chronic fear of environmental doom is called “eco-anxiety.”
Eco-anxiety (or climate anxiety) is a common feeling among Generation Z who often bear the crushing weight of the future’s uncertainty, but anyone can suffer from it. People who experience extreme climate events, especially those who are forcibly displaced due to disasters, are very likely to suffer from mental health problems.
For Filipinos, this is an all-too-familiar feeling. The Philippines is often ravaged by deadly storms and typhoons that leave havoc in its wake. The geographical location of the country makes it prone to disasters, traumatizing many communities in cycles. Though they may be natural calamities, extreme weather events are worsened by climate change. As if that’s not dreadful enough, parts of the country will be under the high tide line in 30 years. All of these are significant factors that contribute to an individual’s mental health.
via GIPHY
Marginalized groups are the most vulnerable during calamities, but they are also the least likely to have the resources and access to professional help. Acknowledging that climate threat affects psychological distress and knowing how to cope with it is crucial.
COPING WITH ECO-ANXIETY
If you experience eco-anxiety, don’t invalidate your feelings of distress or think that they’re unwarranted. Your reaction to climate change is valid. Feeling hopeless or anxious about the future doesn’t make you atypical because there are millions of people in the world going through the same thing. Looking for like-minded people who understand and relate to your struggles might help.
In this age of social media, there may be a Facebook group or Telegram group chat that’s right up your alley. Find that local (or even international) community with whom you can share your thoughts freely and strike up climate conversations. You can have a great support system aside from your friends and family amidst all the chaos.
STOP SCROLLING
Don’t forget to unplug and disengage every once in a while. It is important to be educated about climate issues, but recognize when you’ve reached your limit. Give yourself permission to seek respite and engage in activities for your enjoyment. It doesn’t mean that you’re abandoning the cause—you’re just prioritizing your mental health, too. Keep in mind that it’s never wrong to seek professional help from psychotherapists. Some people find that seeking climate-aware therapists has helped cope with the impacts of climate change on their mental health.
TURNING IT INTO TANGIBLE ACTION
The state of the planet can be overwhelming to the point of believing that nothing you’ll ever do will make a significant difference, so you might as well not try. Others are optimistic enough to think that everything is going to be alright, so there’s no need for them to step up. Get away from the extremes and land in the middle where you recognize the dangers of climate change, you’re hopeful for a better future, and you know that it’s time to take action.
Being idle might magnify the feelings of helplessness, so turn eco-anxiety into climate action by committing to personal changes. Focus on the factors that you can control and commit to small steps, such as spreading awareness and educating other people about climate issues, taking part in environmental initiatives and organizations, and reducing your carbon footprint by living a more sustainable lifestyle. Holding big corporations accountable and lobbying for genuine change by supporting the development of environmental policies are crucial as well.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that climate action looks different for each individual, and environmental justice is a must. It is an intersectional issue that involves class, gender, disability, race/ethnicity, and indigeneity. Though climate change is a global issue that includes all human beings, not everyone has the same resources, opportunities, and privilege to take climate action. This means that combating climate change goes hand in hand with the fight for equality in every form of society.
Though climate issues are grim and distressing, it is possible to keep fighting for our future while keeping our mental health in check. Go beyond the personal level and create change in your respective communities, too. Mitigating the effects of climate change cannot be done alone, so we must all work together to overcome this great living emergency.
Playing with your favorite celebrity doesn’t seem too out of this world with a game like Among Us. After all, one of the charms of the game is the fact that you can play with anyone around the world and stay anonymous.
Among Us is a multiplayer game that you can play online or over local wifi with 4-10 players. As you attempt to hold your spaceship together and return back to civilization, you have to be wary…as there may be an alien impostor aboard.
HOW THE GAME WORKS
One crewmate has been replaced by a parasitic shapeshifter. Their goal is to eliminate the rest of the crew before the ship reaches home. The Impostor will sabotage the ship, sneak through vents, deceive, and frame others to remain anonymous and kill off the crew.
While everyone is fixing up the ship, no one can talk to maintain anonymity. Once a body is reported, the surviving crew will openly debate who they think The Impostor is. The Impostor’s goal is to pretend that they are a member of the crew. If The Impostor is not voted off, everyone goes back to maintaining the ship until another body is found. If The Impostor is voted off, the crew wins.
THERE ARE CELEBRITIES AMONG US
Intrigued yet? So were these celebrities. Below, we listed down personalities that have openly streamed or showed off their Among Us obsession.
Aside from streaming her game on Instagram, Andrea also dressed up as a white crew member (or impostor, more like) for Halloween. Matching with Seth Fedelin who rocked a crew member in black.
DONNY PANGILINAN
Donny Pangilinan has streamed his Among Us games with his celebrity friends on YouTube. And boy is it star-studded.
BRETMAN ROCK
Bretman Rock played Among Us with James Charles and CORPSE. And yes, he’s pretty good at it, too.
KYLINE ALCANTARA
Kyline has played Among Us with her friends, Kyle Echarri, Darren Espanto, AC Bonifacio and more. It’s on Kyle Echarri’s YouTube channel, if you wanna have a good laugh.
FRANKIE PANGILINAN
Kakie appeared in one of Kyle Echarri’s streams for Among Us—and she won as impostor, too!
ALODIA GOSIENGFIAO
Of course, pro-gamer Alodia Gosiengfiao joined the Among Us hype, too. Are we surprised of her skills? Definitely not.
NIANA GUERRERO
Niana Guerrero plays Among Us with her close-knit family, and even went as far as playing real life Among Us! Check it out on her YouTube channel.
No matter what type of student you were in school, recess was something one looked forward to. Whether it was for a mid-morning munch or an afternoon break from math, science, and history, this time was a moment where anyone and everyone could just be with zero pressure—adults included. Needless to say, this often-joked favorite subject has graduated to pockets of respite in our responsibility-laden grown-up years. While the bells no longer ring, nothing gets one quite going than the promise of break time.
These are the same parallels that the female-led unit of Anne Curtis, Isabelle Daza, Roxanne Farillas, and Paulina Ortega has operated on with their distinct and decidedly diverse line of activewear called, Recess. While in development for a while, the production and eventual introduction of the brand has been stalled due to the persistence of the pandemic, forcing their band of sisterhood to recalibrate and refocus their efforts across time zones spanning from Australia, Hong Kong, and Manila. Despite the stress and strains of the reality we all had to face, the girls of Recess zeroed back in to their core, which is to espouse a relaxed approach to activewear.
Coordinating the progress and logistics was no easy feat, but at the end of the day, Recess was all about enacting and encouraging a movement beyond the rigors of activewear. Meant to be settled in and lived in, they like to see themselves as life-intervention-wear. “We’re what you wear when you need to be good to you, when you need to take a moment for yourself to recess—physically, mentally, emotionally, etceterally,” it reads on their Instagram. More than fitness, the brand operates on the function of well-being across different activities and different stages of life and fluctuations of the body, which was the jumping point of this undertaking from Anne, Isabelle, Roxanne, and Paulina.
It certainly makes the most sense to debut an unassuming brand of activewear in the middle of quarantine and self-isolation, with uniform consisting mostly of anything and everything comfortable that is repeated day in and day out. Low impact but often high compression, the pieces are clean-cut and comes in an assortment of colors that fits in your personality whether it be straightforward in neutrals or sassy in sorbet shades. Allowing for a range of motion of your own decision, the collection is designed from scratch with immense consideration for fabrication and sizing, with bra sizes accommodating cups AA-DD and the rest running a range of a size 1-6. In the debut, you can slip into the mood of your day with the Personal Best set, which is a soft and breathable cotton fabric that lends itself well from lounge to activewear in leggings, tees, and tanks; or Do Everything segment, which is rendered in a more lightweight, medium-compression, sweat-wicking fabric for the active set’s need for more support. Other standouts include the Future Is Here maternity leggings, the Going Places Crop, and the Tricolor Athlete Bra. Fun fact: its colorful pipings are made from leftover fabric scraps. So, yes to a sustainable consciousness.
It is quite auspicious that in the days leading up to launching this foray, finally, the ladies would remind themselves to stop for a moment and just breathe. And don’t we all need that point in the day to just answer to the ringing of the bell and just be, just like we were in between subjects in school. Nothing really changes, you see. The responsibility multiplies, but all that stands between going bonkers or blazing through it is recess. This time, however, we can do it in clothes we actually like to work and while our time with.
What most people would call the questionable decade in style, the 2000s were filled with trends that are both cringe-worthy and memorable. Most probably because in the early aughts, everyone wanted to re-define what sophistication really meant. Sparkles, flip flops, and low-rise jeans anyone?
In the Y2K, American teen movies were the melting pot of style choices. Mini dresses over pants, multi-colored sweat bands, and belly button rings were just a few make-or-break trends that were all the rage from the era. From Lindsay Lohan in Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen to the Olsen Twins in Passport in Paris, here’s a look back at the 10 of the most iconic fashion moments of cinematic history at the turn of the new millennium.
The perfectly pink wardrobe of sorority-girl-turned-law-student Elle Woods will never not give us sartorial envy. We’re still torn between her Harvard entrance look in pink leather coordinates and her fur jacket and sparkly bikini outfit that Ariana Grande paid homage to in her Thank U Next music video.
13 GOING ON 3O
Who else had a fan girl moment when the actress who portrayed Young Jenna recreated her iconic look upon turning 30? Yes THAT dress. It was also revealed by the costume designer in an interview that it was actually a Versace look that almost didn’t happen. And can we please appreciate her cardigan set when she pitched for Big Time magazine?
CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN
Must be hard moving to the suburbs when you’re New York’s It-Girl. At her teen queen prime, Lindsay Lohan wears a lot of show-stopping looks from boho, grunge, to glam. Let’s not forget Megan Fox wearing a Dior tee and her girl gang wearing matching Burberry outfits in this film.
JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS
When will we admit that Josie and the Pussycats perfected glam rock? Long before everyone sported kitty ears, the trio was ahead of their time. We were still reeling from the 90s, so it made a lot of sense that fashion was still undergoing a metamorphosis in this film. Everything was studded, there were lots of visible lingerie, velvet and chunky platform boots that are also currently having its moment.
COYOTE UGLY
Arguably, the plot of Coyote Ugly isn’t for everyone. But the fashion? None would look out of place in the today’s style radar. With big, stomping feminine energy, the film is supercharged with cowgirl looks, animal prints, leather belts, and midriff-baring tops. Can’t fight the moonlight indeed.
PASSPORT TO PARIS
Long before they were sullen and decked in swathes of archival designer pieces, the Olsen Twins have always been fashion royalty. The micro sunglasses, crystal hair clips, camisole tops, and playful chokers were as dazzling as it is now. Eat your heart out, Bella Hadid.
THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE
Of course we would never leave Lizzie, our ~unproblematic teen queen~, out of this list. Not only were her hairstyles iconic, but her bandanas, beaded necklaces, butterfly clips, and the aqua vs. lime green monochrome looks in the finale duet performance with Isabella will forever live in our heads rent-free.
FAST & FURIOUS
The action movie may not be a teen film, but no Y2K style list would be complete without Devon Aoki in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Her appearance as the car racer Suki was brief, but all the looks and her pink Honda S2000 stole the show even if she disappeared for almost a decade after the series.
MEAN GIRLS
While Damian’s incognito look remains a classic halloween staple, almost all of the outfits for each character had their own movie moment. Gretchen’s preppy looks, Cady’s Plastics transformation, Regina’s “A Little Bit Dramatic Tee” and Mrs. George’s “cool mom” tracksuit are still pretty much talked about—and copied—until today.
BONUS: HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
Growing up into a hopefully mature adult means realizing Sharpay Evans deserved better. She was driven and tried her best to help Troy with his career while he was too busy trying to antagonize her. Sorry, but we only stan independently fabulous girls in this house.
It goes without saying that the Philippines has claimed dominion over the game of basketball. A cultural obsession, with its reach dribbling to the far edges of the country, as well as of practically every street corner, there is no other great signifier of the recreational sort synonymous to the Filipinos. Well, aside from boxing and beer, but that’s a whole other conversation in itself. One doesn’t even have to be a hardcore lover or even player of the game, because when and where it counts, every Filipino has a basketball story to tell.
And of course, you cannot even begin a telling of the beloved game of ball without making mention of his royal airness, Michael Jordan, the man who despite following many greats before him, has stuck his tongue out and taken basketball to soaring heights. With his unique stamp on the sport, Jordan has cultivated a culture out of it, expanding its reach to entertainment and even fashion. So much so that his brand of athletic clothing and sneakers has since earned a loyal following well after he retired the number 23. Growing into a top-of-the-line, innovative, and stylish offshoot of expression, every move on the proverbial court is always a highly anticipated one.
Latest collabs or quality developments aside, it doesn’t get any more talked about than the launch of a Jordan store, an encompassing and immersive space that houses all the best of the brand, as well as celebrates the colorful culture of the country it finds itself in. A groundbreaking first in Manila and Southeast Asia, the Jordan brand enclave rises in the midst of the bustling commercial district of Bonifacio Global City. Boasting of two floors and an expansive 4500 square feet space, the store becomes an experience the moment the door swings open. (It must be noted that safety protocols and health measures are well in place, especially with its book and shop store feature.) The retail design concept is a basketball aficionado’s version of heaven with its assortment of kids, women’s, and men’s apparel, walls lined with a timeline of Jordan classics and a drool-worthy display of must-have drops.
Rooted in the heart and soul of basketball and the Jordan legacy, there is a lot to take in—from the sneaker stories you can scan via a QR code as if you were in a museum, one-on-one styling services, and Custom 23, a hub tucked away where you can personalize your Jordan haul into something more you.
Coloring the Jordan haven are splashes of artworks that line the walls in distinctly Filipino details from Filipino artists such as Veejay Villafranca, Jaime Pacena, Raxenne Maniquiz, AJ Dimarucot. To further make its public opening even more special, 150 pairs of the limited edition Air Jordan 4 Retro Manila will drop. Not to worry, it is also in display in-store for you to marvel at its green glory.
There is more to this than just apparel and sneakers, because as Jino Ferrer, Marketing Manager for Nike Philippines explains, “Basketball is more than just a sport in the Philippines, it is embedded in the culture. In the high streets of Manila or the local barangays across the country, the passion for basketball inspires and drives the communities.” Committed to the culture, the Jordan promises to expand the expression of basketball, to grow the game and participation in sports from the youth, and to champion positive changs when it comes to the community. This includes using the rooftop court as a safespace for initiatives dedicated give backs and sports clinics. “This store will help take the future of basketball culture to the next level by inspiring our new generation through the legacy of Jordan, the best innovation and services like never before.”
The crowning jewel of the Jordan store in Manila is a basketball court featuring a stunning graphic mural imagined by NYC-based artist, Kimou Meyer. Illustrating the energy of the game, the brand, and of the culture, the work of art is realized in eye-popping visuals black, white, and varsity red. Pulsating and primal in form, it is indicative of the spirit of basketball, which revs you up once you step off the Brooklyn-esque metail staircase and onto the court for even just a few shots through the hoops.
Ahead of its much-awaited opening to the public on December 3, the calendar of Jordan store in Manila is considerably filled up through its book and shop system, naturally. The site actually lists it as far as May 2021, but for those waiting to get in on the game, the jumpman brand is working hard at making sure you have the chance at the Jordan Manila experience sooner. Keep your eyes peeled for updates, because for anyone with a hardcore or remote love for basketball, this is one game you wouldn’t want to miss.
In the illuminating revelation of the documentary Miss Americana, Taylor Swift makes a defiant stand and lets her voice be finally heard. This is no mere dip; she is full on diving into the politics that affect you, me, and her.
Allow me to preface this piece by saying that this isn’t an in depth, introspective internalization of Miss Americana, drawing of the bedazzled curtains on the life and times of Taylor Swift, pop culture zeitgeist and avid manicure enthusiast. Before you roll your eyes and click that ominous red exit button, scoffing in pure disappointment that this is nothing but false advertisement, or you know, pure clickbait, hear me out. While it is true, I wasn’t actually planning to watch the Lana Wilson-lensed documentary, reasoning how it appeared to be yet another self-serving, highly-choreographed instrument of microscopic self-awareness from a pop star (heck, I barely went halfway through Gaga: Five Foot Two), I’m glad I did. No, really.
There is nothing wildly ground-breaking from the exposition. In the beginning of the quasi-confessional, Taylor Swift bemoans her own desire of perfection. “You know, my entire moral code, as a kid and now, is a need to be thought of as good,” she begins, drawing on a memory of her writing in quill and ink on a diary. “That’s dangerous for you. It was all I wrote about. It was all I wanted. It was the complete and total belief system that I subscribed to as a kid. Do the right thing. Do the good thing. And obviously, I’m not a perfect person by any stretch, but overall, the main thing that I always tried to be was like, just…like, a good girl.”
And that’s exactly what she has become, a textbook goody-two-shoes buffed to impossible flawlessness. However, despite being revered and venerated to an almost god-like stature, this perception of perfection backfired on her, with Taylor Swift being assumed to be just your typical manufactured pop star living for the applause.
A well-intended, earnest dissection of Taylor Swift, Miss Americana stretches out to the span of life and career thus far, careening from the usual roaring of a stadium and standard quiet moments with in-your-face camera shots to a pulling of the rug that uncovers the dark side of her fame: body issues, cancel culture, and yes, even Kanye-gate. A compelling and sympathetic unravelling, the story of Taylor Swift in the context of this documentary climaxes to a crossroads, where she grapples with the idea of who she is, how she was told to behave, and what she is actually capable of on her own terms.
“I want to love glitter and also stand up for the double standards that exist in our society. I want to wear pink and tell you how I feel about politics. And I don’t think that those things have to cancel each other out,” she says at the awning of her realization. Coming from the heels of the sexual assault case she found herself in, and a more pivotal political awakening, the myth of Taylor Swift as a pop star puppet. Unlike how the world reacts to every little, mundane, and often totally unnecessary thing, she chose to distill her thoughts and informed herself before dispelling anything into a precocious and highly impressionable timeline.
“It’s not that I want to step into this. I just…I can’t not at this point. Like…something is different in my life, completely and unchangeably different since the sexual assault trial last year. Like, and no… no man in my organization or in my family will ever understand what that was like. For 12 years, we’ve not got involved with politics or religion. Yeah, but this is on the home front. And also, back in the presidential election, I was in such a horrendous place that I wasn’t gonna pop my head out of the sand for anything. Why would you?”
Bearing a wisdom far beyond those of her contemporaries or even that of supposedly more mature, (cough) adults (cough), Taylor Swift makes a strong case for thoughtful paradigm, setting her personal partisan politics into a framework of proper discourse. “I’m trying to be as educated as possible on how to respect people, on how to…deprogram the misogyny in my own brain. Toss it out, reject it, and resist it. Like, there is no such thing as a slut. There is no such thing as a bitch. There is no such thing as someone who’s bossy, there’s just a boss. We don’t want to be condemned for being multi-faceted.”
With an acute sense of self, one that obviously has gone through the wringer and back, Taylor Swift is able to leverage her pedigree and privilege, and uses it to defy what has been expected of her, especially when it comes to politics. “I couldn’t really stop thinking about it. And I just thought to myself, ‘Next time there is any opportunity to change anything, you had better know what you stand for and what you wanna say,” she firmly asserts.
It now can be said: Taylor Swift is political, and in Miss Americana, it becomes even more apparent, what with the struggles that she had to go through to even just have the liberty to speak up. Quite ironic for a person whose professional currency is primarily her voice, right? As the documentary on Netflix continues to unravel, the debate on how personal politics become really comes to the fore, where she really goes at it with issues such as fair wage, violence against women, and LGBTQ+ rights. The mere fact that she had a rainbow spectrum of queer artists and people for her You Need To Calm Down video is a political choice, one that among other issues raised, has inadvertently caused a divide among die-hard fans and spectators alike.
This is perhaps the same context the highly righteous and overly insensitive plane of social media should learn a thing or two from. If Taylor Swift, a woman of immense power can see beyond her proverbial pedestal, private planes, and personal sanctuaries, then why is the rest of the high-horsing world acting petulant and holier-than-thou?
In an age where the very freedom to express your thoughts and live out your sworn truth is threatened every day, why is everyone afraid of being political? At this point, there is little to no choice but to choose a side and be political, because the very conditions of humanity is being eroded as we speak. Besides, the mere fact that we get to enjoy these privileges is enough reason for us to say or do something in whatever capacity we can. Let’s get a little biblical here. In the book authored with the guidance of God, it has been written that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” With a whole lot at our disposal, we should be affected by inexcusable and obscene peddling of skewed morality disguised as objectivity. Wait, no. We should be angry.
This isn’t to heckle anyone or recruit a sizable chunk into a side that is just and right—that is your call to make. (Although at this point, there should be no more reason to support what is obviously inhuman and unjust.) What we are trying to contend here is that just because you are able to dish out an opinion, it doesn’t mean that it is an absolute, irrevocable gospel, especially when at its essence, it intends to malign and antagonize a segment of the community that is doing what it can to disrupt the status quo and encourage conversations to hopefully end the persistent tug-of-war of humanity.
This function of ignorance and deliberate apathy concerning the politics that involves us all, based only on what your limited view of the world has to stop, because it no longer works the same way it did a few comfortable years back. Activism and the rights movement are inextricably linked, and thus, it is our intrinsic responsibility to resist when and where we can, because this is our life, our reality, too. We wouldn’t even be living and speaking of these if it weren’t for the unsung heroes, the bold and brave pioneers who came and paved the paths for us today. The mere fact that they took the courage to shift the power for the greater good of the world, then if by trusting this long and arduous process, it won’t be like this hopefully within our lifetime.
Whether it is shedding light on the obscene inadequacies and governance of patronage that rules the country or stepping out from a comfort zone and speaking up on issues that plague the world, everything is political. More so, it cannot be stifled or silenced—not now, not ever.
“I’m saying right now that this is something that I know is right, and, you guys, I need to be on the right side of history. And if he doesn’t win…then at least I tried,” Taylor Swift reasons when she wanted to take a stand in politics. Just like the rest of us, it was her intrinsic responsibility to do so, and so she did. “I feel really good about not feeling muzzled anymore. And it was my own doing. I needed to learn a lot before I spoke to 200 million people. But I’ve educated myself now, and it’s time to take the masking tape off of my mouth…like, forever.”
In this debacle of political and personal proportions, the greatest lesson to be learned, and one that she has taken to heart, is that you don’t just speak when and just because you can. An opinion isn’t obligated to be offered, especially when it is obviously misguided and misinformed, but let it be clear: you cannot separate the personal from the politics, even Taylor Swift knows that now, because it is simply that—a choice you have to stand by.
From where things stand, we still have a lot of learning and living to do, but as time ticks by, and perhaps even if history repeats itself, we have to hold on to the belief that at the end of the tunnel isn’t just a silver lining for all of us, the marginalized, but rather a raucous of a party waiting to be celebrated. We have to persist and persuade. Yes, we have to keep on fighting—for you, for me, for us.
Who would’ve thought I would get to all of this reckoning because of Taylor Swift? Well, the joke’s on me, because I’m certainly glad I gave Miss Americana a go. If you haven’t, then what are you waiting for? You’re in the clear.
While thrift shopping (or ukay) hasn’t been easily accessible for the last few months, the Internet has its gems hidden beneath hashtags and shopping haul vlogs.
But first, what is reworked clothing? Simply put, it is redesigning old clothes or fabrics by sewing them into something new. Type in reworked on your search engine and there are tons of DIY videos on TikTok and YouTube on how to get started on deconstructing your next outfits. A newfound hobby to consider perhaps? If you’re in dire need of breathing new life into your old garms (in a sustainable way, of course), then look no further than these fresh local brands.
Fifi’s Vintage reminds us of Cady Heron’s wardrobe in Mean Girls, except it’s set in the tropics. A lover of slow fashion, their notable pieces are button-downs turned loungewear and old pajama sets reworked into stylish coordinates. Oh, and they have bucket hats, too.
If you’re into cut-outs, corsets, and everything cropped, Psyched PH definitely has a lot to offer. They even customized Nadine Lustre’s opening look in her visual album and one of the outfits from her birthday shoot with BJ Pascual.
They might be a fairly new brand, but their swoosh tops made from ribbed socks and reverse-stitched patchwork pieces are slowly becoming must-haves for the season.
This local brand has been recently noticed by Complex and we can’t blame them. LISE Laboratory is a Baguio-based brand that deconstructs designer fabrics and puts its own stamp into each creation. No wonder they’ve gained a following from all over the world, especially in the streetwear community.
Don’t you just love it when brands get creative? Even better when they show you other ways to wear their reworked pieces. They also make sure that no fabric goes to waste by trying to create more than one design cut from the same material. Ethical fashion all the way!
Strong Village’s deconstructed garments have been on the runway before the pandemic began, even landing a feature on MEGA Man. The clothes are all patched up fabrics from old jeans, button downs, and linen shirts.
In case you’re wondering, the fringed jacket that our cover star Yanyan de Jesus wore on the cover was actually upcycled. It was made out of table runners from the designer’s lola, fiber fills, gems, and ropes that were carefully quilted. One of our favorites is from Antonina’s previous collection in Bench, an oversized jacket made out of wheatflour sacks.
