Manila’s new discovery: VERONICA’S CLOSET

What happened to me in the Sixties was so major and so worldwide and so huge, there's no way I can repeat it. But in a way, I had nothing to do with it, it just took me over. It was bizarre, it was weird, and I had no control over it. I don't think anyone could have planned what happened to me. – Twiggy

Twiggy, the 60s fashion icon, overshadowed the creators of the mini-skirt Mary Quant and André Courréges – among the top fashion designers of the 1960s. Andre made “colorblock” style dresses a definitive feature of the era.
Mary made London among the world’s fashion capitals. Twiggy as the fashion model has become part of the popular culture while the designers’ fame has faded and many of them totally forgotten.

In the Philippines, we have the tendency to care for the image only and not the creator. We remember the singer of the song but not the composer, we remember the actor in a good film but not the director. We remember Twiggy but not the designers who created her image.

After decades of fashion evolution, only the image of Twiggy and the style she carried survives. All the image creators have long been forgotten. The image is so powerful that its influence is still very much visible in today’s fashion choices. In fact, it’s Twiggy’s enduring elegance that became the inspiration of the lady behind Veronica’s Closet, our very own Rona Valente. This young fashion engineer based in Dumaguete City is starting to make waves with the three lines available through Rona’s online boutique, the Veronica’s Closet (http://vintageprincess.multiply.com/).The most popular line is the VERONICA collection of dresses that are pre-owned, vintage finds and altered; this is the high-end version of the “ukay-ukay” but with a surprisingly low price range. Manila corporate women are starting to keep Rona’s text messaging (cp # 09165811421) loaded with orders. They love the easy way to shop through order forms available on the Veronica’s closet website. Another line which is still high-end ukay-ukay under the VENTAJA collection carries pre-owned items, in good condition, unaltered. Rona’s touch makes an item fresh and fully-sanitized the moment it gets to the new owner’s closet. Missing buttons or broken zipper tooth are an opportunity for Rona to give the dress a better look with more fashionable replacements. She even provide belts to give the needed accent. Free fashion consultation includes the right shoes to go with the outfit, the hairstyle, the jewel and more. Rona’s generosity is that of a fashion angel.

The Rona sense of style has total freedom as she gathers items under VESTIDAS. One can shop for brand new, not pre-owned items. Rona who is a civil engineer by profession has always been a fashion genius. She can transform an unremarkable piece of textile into a cosmopolitan statement. She feels frustrated when she is on field work for this is the time in her life when she can’t go beyond the usual. Wearing a scarf with a shirt would be out of place the moment she is surrounded by carpenters. This is why she loves Sundays, going to church for her is sincerely “giving the best look to the Master.”

Under VESTIDAS she can dream, have endless dreaming – her imagination going as fast as she mouths each possibility. She wants to revive the vintage classic Audrey Hepburn elegance and break the too formal fashion flow with the Farrah Faucet hippy chic combination.

Rona wants to put an end to the tendency to do matching with one dominant color. She would love to teach women the other brilliant options. To inspire them to carry themselves with confidence. She loves to share her Heidi Klum magic of giving one’s self a “not-too-thin and not-too-fat” packaging. She also believes that the cool aura of Drew Barrymore – charming and free-spirited – would be perfect for a University Town look.

Rona’s greatest dream is to be able to create a Filipino fashion zen for all the world to discover.

A “new life” is her gift to every woman. Her friends in Dumaguete love their finds at Veronica’s Closet, like Atty. Myrish Cadapan-and the Dejaresco twin sisters Mayen and Ellen. Ellen introduces Rona to the world via the internet with this,”... Veronica—creator and owner who we fondly call Rona—has the gift of transforming simple, mundane, sometimes even ugly stuff into something beautiful, useful and trendy. Fortified with passion and sense of style, Rona painstakingly roams around the ukayans and delves into clusters and clusters of clothes. I had the chance to see her at work once, and it amazed me that she didn’t seem to get tired of all the rummaging she did....”

Veronica’s Closet is all about “putting a piece of the past in your present” and it’s becoming the most rewarding discovery for the busy corporate ladies of Manila who have no time to shop. Beyond Rona’s expectations, a lady visual merchandizer from Fashion 21 Manila was her first actual visitor here in Dumaguete. The moment she opened her closet, the visitor was like in panic buying. The following week, the lady came back with her mother.