A Sophisticate - "...The Peralta allure have been strongly felt since 17 years ago by women and lately, by men who became addicted to his extra stamp of exclusivity and sensibility. A key officer of the Fashion Designers' Association of the Philippines, Oskar himself is a "raison d' etre" for furthering the concept of clothing, literally encouraging women to dress up painstakingly at a given time without fuss. Oskar opts for stark, contemporary, romantic image that is not old-fashioned. He qualifies that women today have a sense of accomplishment blazing their way to a point where they can relax a little and do the things they put aside during the feminist movement. Oskar further the says that women can indulge in romance without taking any step backward, without relinguishing anything. Oskar Peralta's clothes are, more often than not, romantic as the heroiness of his childhood movie days, "but romance is not one of suppression and sacrifice, his clothes are romantic but free...Vilma Santos - "Vi has develop her taste for sensible dressing in clothes that are simple, understated, elegant pieces that work, that makes her life easy. I see in her a well-groomed woman - sophisticated, not wasting herself to those "sock-it-to-me" numbers. Impressively, I believe she is one who wishes to fall into the background. A sophisticate..." - Movie Flash Magazine, 25 November 1982 (READ MORE)
The Most Finicky - "...There is no definite trend in fashion now," says Christian Espiritu and yes, you better believe him, he's one of Manila's finest couturiers. His name is synonymous to elegance, class, good taste and almost anything that connotes fashion sense. Here is his choice of ten best dressed women in Philippine Cinema. But don't you dare raise your eyebrows, if you don't agree with him, because as he reasons out, "some of our actresses may dress well, kaya lang, hindi ko nakikita." What a good excuse really but knowing the exposure and back-ground of this guy, the ten best in his list are really what you may call the "deserving one." Here they are...Vilma Santos: "I never liked her during her younger years, when she used to wear boots. But as a dresser, I think Vilma has gone a long, long way and I think that's an achievement in itself, di ba? In showbusiness, I think Vilma is the most finicky, na maski maliit ang slit, hindi na niya gagamitin and I can attest to that..." - Phillip Garcia, Jr., Movie Flash Magazine, 25 November 1982 (READ MORE)
Erratic but comfortable - "...Ben Farrales started his designing career as an apprentice worker in Aurelia's, one of the most prestigious dress shop during the '50s. Aside from this, Ben has his fashion pages in the Daily Mirror which bore his designs and further developed his talent. In 1956, Ben ventured into his own and opened a boutique in Mabini, then considered as the exclusive shopping center of the metropolis. That year, the Philippine Couture Association was formed for the upliftment of Filipino fahion. It was headed by Ramon Valera and its members include such names as Casimiro Abad, Emil Valdez, Karlos Burgos, Ben and a lot others. Romance '59 was his first fashion show and it was held at the Manila Hotel's Fiesta Pavillion. It was followed by Anchore to Romance '60 which then paved the way to more exclusive and bigger shows for him. To date, Ben's boutique is situated in his own building along Adriatico street. From the facade of the shop and its interiors and furnishing, one can readily conclude that he ahs arrived and already curved a niche of his own in the Hall of Fame for fashion giants. Among the many fashion mannequins whose careers he helped launched are Bambi Lamoglia-Harper, Guada Sanchez, Cristy Flores-Araneta and Nini Ramos-Prieto. Through the years that he has been in the fashion scene, he has never been branded for using obsolete designs or constantly repeated a singular sketch for execution. In the world of fabrics, Ben has given the Batik due importance by injecting his original designs. With his list of achievements, Ben Farrales is snynonymous with the word "haute couture" in the Philippines. He is an institution. Here's his list of 10 best dressede actresses in R.P. Cinema...Vilma Santos - Erratic, but appears comfortable from bathing suits to formal wear..." - Movie Flash Magazine, 06 January 1983 (READ MORE)
