She looks gorgeous wearing those butterfly sleeves
Fashion has never been more important in the pageant industry. Gone are the days when beautiful dresses, fantastic shoes, and a tiara are good enough to make a winner. These days beauty queens are seen as champions of their local culture, which they best express through the clothes they wear.
For many Filipina beauty queens, the terno has been the go-to look. Its history and dignified beauty matched with the contemporary vision of Filipino designers fit the modern image of a beauty queen. Some even have it made with local textile for added patriotism. And it seems like this trend is now going beyond the Philippines' borders.
Miss Universe Mexico 2020 Andrea Meza shares on her Instagram account one of her OOTDs at the beginning of her reign, which is inspired by the Philippine terno.
"When preparing my wardrobe for Mexicana Universal, I asked Roud & Rous to create a dress for me inspired the terno, a traditional Filipino dress," Andrea posted. "The first time I saw a beauty queen wearing it, I thought those oversized sleeves looked very classy and elegant, and fell in love with them."
Created by Mexican fashion brand Roud & Rous, the dress was worn by the beauty queen during her second media tour in Mexico City.
According to the book Fashionable Filipinas, the Philippines saw the rise of the terno sleeves or the butterfly sleeves in the 1920s. Couturier Pacita Longos is widely credited for the transformation of the sleeves, which usually feature eight to 12 pleats to ensure the round shape and a height of three inches from the shoulder.
What can we say? Andrea looks beautiful in her terno dress.