The Inspiration
Recently, right after the academy awards night, best supporting actress winner, Anne Hathaway apologized for having worn the beautiful Prada gown instead of the Valentino dress.
( which apparently according to E! News, would have resembled Alexander Mc Queen’s creation that was on Amanda Seyfried.)
could have been bigger-a-deal than those n_ _ _ _ _ _ underneath the blush pink gown. ( blushing )
And yes, I could be one of those rude, uncouthed and uncultured children of
The Emperor and His New Clothes, who pointed out that, the Royalty was indeed naked. ( partially )
( Besides, those which pointed out , really got me DISTRACTED from the FANTA-BULOUS blush pink gown, and NOW, they have their own twitter account and followers anyways, oh well.)
An Idea
It is during major events like these, that dresses and clothes do play vital roles.
While the inevitable form of salutation had to be ,
” So, who are you wearing?”
(Some things which the Adam and Eve of the pre- apple & pre- snake period might not be able to relate with. )
But it had secured an interesting thought for me.
It made me appreciate these incredible blessings called “Friends”.
They even fall into the same categories like that of clothes.
Friends and Clothing
It is with thundering inspiration ( clap!) that I began to see how clothes represented and symbolized my good friends.
It is of the same reason perhaps, why friends just like clothes will remain “my greatest loves.”
Thus, it is in the same “fashion” as acquiring clothes that I have categorized friends:
I.Vintage Steals
II.Office-Work Clothes
III. Flea Market Finds
IV. Hand Me Downs
V. The LBD
VI. The ‘ IT ‘ dress
I. VINTAGE STEALS: ( Of the Retro chic style )
you still cannot help, but seek out the “OLD” ones.
Your vintage steals, well, they never run out of style.
They are just so retro, they keep on coming back.
in a Jughead and Archie or
Bananas In Pyjamas sort of way:
” That sounds like a good idea, B1 ”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking B2? “
They are those handful of friends from your grade school and high school.
And your dads, daddies too.
They address your elder sisters and your elder brothers, as
” Ates ” and “Kuyas” as well.
While your address?
e.g. 21 Pres. Aguinaldo St,
is theirs too.
Piktyuuuuuuur!
Family picture…they would be there and so would you be, in theirs.
Even the new kasambahay gets confused too:
” Ay, Ate akala ko anak niyo din. Kaklase pala ng anak niyo.”
They are the ones who go to your houses, not through the front doors but through the back doors- directly going to the kitchen.
You don’t get surprised anymore, when you see them already sitting on the dining table, even before you did.
” Kain na! “
And the best thing is that your friendship need not to speak in volumes.
Anything and everything with them, will always be relatable.
You know what they mean and they know what you mean.
- MENUDO was a band you all loved and it had nothing to do with Del Monte Kitchenomics Recipes.
- ACID WASHED is the quality of the jean while USED is a brand of a tattered-riptorn jean.
And together, you can sing to this:
Wherever there’s a pool, there’s always a flirt
whenever there’s school, there’ll always be homework
wherever there’s a beat, there’s always a drum…
Everybody else knew you read Sweet Valley High’s and Sweet Dreams but they were the only ones who knew where your Mills and Boon’s and Barbara Cartlands were hidden.
And when you get into a neighborhood fight, they come running
in a flash.
( thor, spiderman and wolverine.)
( parang Optimus at Bumblebee lang na rumeresbak.)
” Hear ye, Hail, All-Spark!”
They were with you, when teacher first humiliated you, made you cry and called you something other than The Best.
But they were also there, when you once solved a math problem which even teacher could not.
And they clapped and cheered you on, during quiz bees.
You will always be a winner in their eyes just as they are to you.
They saw you when you first fell in love, got hurt and fell in love again.
They saw you in pigtails, bangs, side bangs, curls, pixie cut, in long tresses and even in Rapunzel’s, when the school swim-team captain one time took notice of you.
(haba ng buhok, girl.)
(pictures taken from the video created by Jobert Miole)
(ang mga unang bata sa montessori.)
These are the friends you would watch a movie with, even if all of you are seats and rows apart.
Or while in a karaoke bar, these are the friends, inspite of their beautiful voices, would suddenly sing off key, just because you are.
( The tide is high, I miss my girls.)
And it would take a lifetime of apologies, when you would not be there on their wedding days.
You most definitely get to to be the godparent, to their children or them to yours.
I have my handful of friends from my gradeschool and highschool whom I consider my Vintage Steals.
In particular, I share an unequivocal bond with three girls whom I must
call my Fab Three.
prep school, gradeschool, highschool, college and well till now.
We do not see or talk to each other, like we used to but we know we will be there for each other.
I share with them special memories that range from
ordinary to deep thinking.
A friendship defined with dinners, movies, and nights out at Greenbelt strip , specifically Segafredo’s, Italiannis’, Redbox and sometimes Noveau & Temple too.
( This was of course roughly twelve years ago with the aim of broadening our social lives, only to still end up in each other’s company at the end of the night…)
Or the words: love tarot cards, stylist, propaganda,Tony&Guy and Rockwell – where eyebrows dared to ” thread “.
Or with self improvement purposes such as the importance of the words: cleanse, tone and moisturize.
Even with one, stepping into an Ivy league school,
two with university masters degrees and their chosen careers,
my girls remained the same.
And an email from the U.S. brought poignant thoughts:
“ Do you remember our friendship bracelets? I found mine tonight. Thought I’d take a quick snapshot and send to you all girls.
Hope all is well. I miss you Doung, King, Jing.
And Italianni’s and Sega ( and our Mocha Spin)
Love,
Joy
We love you back , Joy! And I could not find my friendship bracelet anymore.( sniffles )
Your vintage steals-friends, are those you grew up with.
They are the psychedelic paislies, the polka dots, the plaid, the crocheted lace, the pearls and the florals of your life.
These are friends that are just there, all stacked, and stuck in the closet.
Rarely seen, sometimes hidden, masked, veiled and cloaked.
But when you take them out from their hiding places, they are good as new.
They never ever run out of style and when,
the NEED ARISES they never fail to stand up to the OCCASION.
They are the friends to wear, whatever the occasion.
I am so proud to be friends with kids I grew up with.
My classmates in kinder, in gradeschool, in highschool and my friends from Barangay Consolacion district 4, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.
We may not be as Vintage, YET,
as those group of grand daddies taking their coffee at Mc Donald’s in Banaue and Retiro.
Nor as mature and retro chic as some of those ladies dancing at the Qurino grandstand.
But I pray, that God will grant us the grace to achieve that feat.
My Vintage Steal-Friends: ( Vintage ,well.)
( Suits and Corporate-Office attires )
As the attire suggests, office friends are those associates you met first, on a more formal environment.
As you unwind and relax, in the company of office friends,
you begin to know their heartaches and joys too.
As the suit and suit -separates,( pun intended )you peel the layers, three piece and all, you begin to know the real people underneath.
They share the same troubles like you do, despite branded shoes, high end bags and high tech gadgets.
– ” A snag in the stockings. ”
– ” Gas, rice, gatas, diaper and tution.”
– ” Bayaran kita pag sweldo na. ”
– ” Thank God it really is Friday.”
– ” Everybody in the conference room. ”
– ” Di mo ba natanggap ang memo.”
– ” Of knowing the bosses initials : D.M., M.V.P and W.B.”
– ” Of finances and of living life from paycheck to paycheck.”
As you grow in the company, your officemates grow on you too.
” The Sipsip kay Boss.”
Or to be each others’s shield.
(e.g. coverage , or plainly in office-friends parlance, takipan. )
( Hawak kamay, kapit bisig,
and the winner for this Company’s yearly Christmas Presentation, ” Customer Care Department ! ” )
You get to name the workaholic office mate as
” Ang babaeng walang pahinga.”
While you on the other hand, earn an office pet name as,
” Ang babaeng-kalimot/madali. “
(Kalimot-Madali na banlawan ang conditioner sa buhok at bayaran ang taxi, na nag aantay pa rin hanggang ngayon sa baba, anong pecha na? )
The small funnies shared in the midst of a stressful environment, till you and the running joke become one.
Like a favorite office mate/friend of mine,
one exhausting day,
could have said,
“ calm down, calm down, sir ” to an irate customer
instead said,
” Lie down, lie down sir.”
( ” aha, so just how do you, peddle your products, miss?” )
Or instead of saying,
“Slammed the door “,
said something like ,
” BANG the door.”
( The bullet proof door had just been SHOT, errrr SHUT. )
And with office friends like those, stress would opt for an early retirement.
Sometimes work is really having to work as a team or to reach a quota and partake in the commission.
You really have to function as a group.
Why else should companies spend so much, on team building if and only to be broken by nasty rumors and discord among office mates.
It is a give and take relationship-friendship.
Minsan four gives , pautang na bags and clothes from Hongkong.
Share taho for brunch, fastfood for early dinner and sa gimmick, isang kampay ng San Mig Lite.
Tapos walang pambayad at sabay uwi yung isang office mate niyo si Crime.
( ” crime does not pay.” )
They will sometimes bravely take a call from your cheater of an ex boyfriend and put him on hold forever,
or till Tony Boy Cojuanco himself sold his PLDT shares to M.P.
They come up with imaginative ways of answering your credit card collector that even Isla Fisher and the creative department may fade in shame.
It would either be,
that you are not part of the company anymore,
or
you were presently taking the longest vacation ever,
somewhere, wherever with no information whatsover, when you would be coming back.
And the best is when they either develop selective amnesia, via Tony Gonzaga in Amnesia Girl.
” Ho? sino po yun? ay wala po kaming office mate na may pangalang ganyan dito.”
Plus informing the person on the other line, that the local number he was connected to, actually belonged to another officemate, eversince.
Office friends would screen your calls from would be suitors and would be boyfriends, they tell you to go out on dates and stop being single.
” Pina-buy one take one na yung cellphone number mo, may kasama pang kalan. ”
And they are also the first ones who get excited for you when finally they saw your bouquet of roses, even before you did.
I must mention also, the ” ates ” and ” kuyas” who take your trash out and gives your rasyon ng tissue.
And of course, there is your friendly or unfriendly manong guard
that advices you to stop spending overtime, so he can close the building and just leave on time.
He would say,
” May balak ka pa bang umuwi, iha.
O , kanina ba may bayanihan akong di na abutan,
kaya dito ka na nakatira? “
But what would remain the most memorable of all, was when office friends cheered, when,
for the first time in your entire employment in the company,
they heard the voice of manong guard placed on speaker phone, saying:
” Ma’am, andito na po sa baba, yung sundo, niyo.”
In the office, everything will be memorable like cost cutting : on tissue paper, bond paper, paper clips, staple wires
to Endo, resignation and retrenchment.
So even if you did transfer to another company, a competitor,
and most especially the rival one,
you still remain friends.
( not just on facebook.)
N.b
AT hindi ko naging officemate si Machete.
Swerte ko naman.
si Alpha yung sa kanan, officemate ko dati.
Fan picture yan.
To be continued…
- posted, using BLOGPRESS on Pier Angeli’s iPad2
