Beauty's where you find it

3-minute read

This post was just sitting in my drafts since September 2022 so better late than never.

I've read my first Vogue in 1992 with the 100th anniversary supermodel cover. I discovered the magazine after researching what the word means 2 years earlier when Madonna released a song with that title. I got hooked so I collected by buying second hand copies along Recto because that's all a prepubescent boy can afford. 

My first Vogue in 1992

In the pages, I would see Versace ads and photo shoots with Naomi, Christy, and Linda in it. I wanted to be like them, to become a model, an editor, whatever just to be in Vogue. 

A Versace FW 94 ad campaign with Claudia Schiffer and Stan Nelson

I'd create cover mockups with my picture with the Vogue logo superimposed. Recently, it was called the #VogueChallenge on social media. I still do it every now and then.

Made in Canva

At one point, I had to be realistic. Instead, I envision something I thought I can achieve, to become the EIC of a Filipino Vogue. This was in my college years when I wanted to do a lot of things - to be a popstar, a Vatican librarian, a model (still), an MTV VJ. Those things were not for me so I stopped trying. I still try to be stylish though or do fashion editorial-like photo shoots, when I can. 

For a Canva season opener wearing a makeshift dress inspired by Atelier Versace FW 2015

Through the years, as I grow older and have a few hundred pesos to spare, I'd still buy the occasional model cover or the September issue, usually from Anna's. Sometimes, I'd get Franca's or Emmanuelle's when friends travel and they thought of gifting me a copy.

The dream for a Filipino Vogue was rekindled at the same time I felt pangs of jealousy when Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, China, Thailand, India, and Arabia launched their own editions. 

Vogue Philippines Maiden Issue

I've waited 30 years and now, the Philippines is ready. I may not be part of the Vogue Ph team. I've gone too far away from that path. But that dream from the little boy from Manila, all realized, 418 pages of it, all Filipino. Congratulations, Vogue Philippines.