THE POWER OF STYLE

(FROM THE EDITOR, SENSE&STYLE, JUNE2008 ISSUE, www.senseandstyle.net.ph)

This issue is dedicated to the yin side of the universe, although we do not exactly mean the “feminine passive principle in nature that in Chinese cosmology is exhibited in darkness, cold, or wetness,” as it is defined by Merriam-Webster.

Nevertheless, we believe in unity in duality and that unless we embrace these seemingly opposing forces there is no way we can achieve balance or harmony or, in more temporal terms, success and happiness. To quote from Merriam-Webster yet again, yin, after all, “combines with yang to produce all that comes to be.”

BLURB
The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. —Roseanne Barr

But this issue does not aim to draw attention to the feminine as a force breaking into what history has come to define as a “man’s world.” In a larger context, it’s not about women’s rights or gender equality and it’s definitely not about the classic, if tiring, battle of the sexes. Rather than about woman power, it’s simply an ode to the all that is great, strong, captivating, influential, groundbreaking, life-changing in a woman, whether such powers take her to the top of male-dominated industries, win her the attention of Prince Charming, or simply turn heads as she walks by. It’s true, at least where I come from, that a woman need not imbibe the qualities of a man to make it in a man’s world, although in the previews for Spring/Summer ’08 late last year, tomboy chic made quite an appearance, particularly in the collections of Stella MaCartney, John Galliano, Ralph Lauren, and Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint-Laurent.

Still, now that we are right in the middle of the Spring/Summer fashion season, feminine rules, as evidenced by the prevalence of florals and dainty, girly dresses that have somehow stolen the thunder from the gender-benders. That is exactly the point of this issue: You can be a power woman in a flowing dress, Fendi, Louboutins, and Shu Uemura lashes all included. After all, the word power has no gender, unless you translate it in French.

Our cover girl, Nancy Jane, has metamorphosed from the sweet, shy, you-can-make-her-wait-because-she-won’t-mind Nancy Castiglione (“I.Am.A.Woman,” page 120) and needless to say it has been a struggle. Of course, with every change, something has to give and in Nancy’s case, it might have been innocence and a bit of her faith in the world. “I used to be a big dreamer,” she admits. “But I’m a lot more jaded now, a lot more aggressive, I think, and a little bit more practical.”

But change is not always a dramatic turnaround. Half-Filipino, half-American Cathy Tanco Ong (“A League of Her Own,” page 132) “grew up in Maryland, playing sports, including basketball, softball, tennis, volleyball, and even cheerleading,” so it didn’t have to take too much of a revolution for this former newscaster, mother of two, and now team manager of the Little League to end up in the “world of soiled rubber shoes, fast balls, and catching mitts,” even if baseball is still deemed a man’s game in this age of Lydia de Vega and Elma Muros.

To me, Abby Buenviaje Magpayo (“Strength in Numbers,” page 134) is the embodiment of the vision behind this issue. An investment banker, she admits she moves in a tight circle of men in power suits, crunching numbers, making major financial projections, yet she remains every inch a woman, toting a Fendi Spy bag, to boot. “We can do everything [men] can do. Even better,” she says. “And in high heels at that!”

Indeed, sometimes, it’s sad that some feminists try to push gender equality with an aversion to stiletto heels, plunging backs and necklines, and slits from here to there. Gathering all the tools ever available to women in some kind of a power kit (“Look At Me,” page 26), we let ourselves be guided by the allure of long lashes, the hypnotic charm of red lipstick, the staying power of pearls, and the killer appeal of stilettos. More elucidating is a review of the 1994 book, The Power of Style: The Women Who Defined the Art of Living Well, by Annette Tapert and Diana Edkins (“Elements of Style,” page 20), whose profile of iconic, if iconoclastic, women like Jackie O, Diana Vreeland, Wallis Simpson, and Coco Chanel reminds us in the chic, charming, glitzy, or glamorous way only women can do that changing the world has never been solely a man’s job.

Looking at it this way, our mission to “inform, entertain, inspire, and empower women” is ever more rewarding, as keeping our feet on the ground, we do our best with every issue to put style and substance in one package. In this special edition, for instance, as seamlessly as yin and yang, fashion blends with the call for freedom (“Set Me Free,” page 88), just as the desire for a shapely, fit body mixes with the pursuit of enlightenment (“Divine Secrets of the Yoga Sisterhood,” page 70).

Indeed, it is a disgrace that some people associate weakness with a woman. As one contemporary superwoman, American lawyer and diplomat Faith Whittlesey, once said, “Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.”

A
Post me at aapatawaran@yahoo.com