Actress-turned-beauty queen Stacey Gabriel recently trended online, this, after she unveiled her Binining Pilipinas National Costume as inspired by the taho vendor.
Quirky, unusual, if also audacious, designer Erjohn Dela Serna's creation is truly eye-catching.
It features a piña silk pechera barong, Ifugao-weave skirt and belt bag, and "arnibal-soaked" Jusi train.
Adding a bit of whimsy is the Good Morning towel, the "sago-embellished" gladiator heels, and the "panukli" as placed between Stacey's knuckles.
It even comes complete with taho buckets!
For authenticity, Stacey even has a coin in one of her ears.
So how did it all come about?
In an exclusive interview with Bulletin Entertainment, the 24-year-old from Cainta, Rizal, revealed her mom had a lot to do with it.
"Back in April, when we were brainstorming about it one day, my mom suddenly shouted, 'Taho!' I was electrified by the idea. But I knew that, ultimately, the decision would lie in the mind of my designer."
She didn't have one yet at the time, though.
"Finally, in May, I was connected to my designer Erjohn Dela Serna. And we had lunch and he pulls up a PowerPoint presentation and lo and behold, out pops an image of a taho warrior, a taho vendor," Stacey shared.
"I got chills. And I told him, 'Oh my goodness, my mom pitched me this exact idea a month and a half ago and this feels so God-ordained. I'm so grateful that you, my mom had a meeting of the minds because that is even more affirmation that we're meant to work together.' So I let Erjohn take the creative liberty. Those were all his ideas, his creativity."
Stacey noted how Erjohn just ran wild with the idea.
"And I'm so grateful that I was able to be his muse and honor taho vendors on the national stage."
Asked what the magtataho as with the actual taho symbolize for her, Stacey noted how it is so "nostalgic."
"I believe we would be hard-pressed to find a Filipino who doesn't have a story, especially related to their childhood... Everyone has that story of that nostalgic childhood, a sweet symbolic story, right? So, for me, lagi ko pong hinahabol ang mag tataho sa umaga, kami pong magpipinsan. Even up to these days, kanya-kanya po kaming labas ng mug."
As for her mom throwing the idea out of nowhere, Stacey explained that in her family, most of their special moments are anchored in either cooking or eating.
"Food is our love language. So it was clear to me even before I was announced as a Top 40 candidate that my national costume will be food related," she said.
"I knew that it had to have something to do with this love language of ours," she added. "And at that moment, I thought about how beautiful the taho buckets would look on stage, how glistening and powerful that image would look at never pa po siya nagagawa in either female or male pageantry. So we were very happy to be the first."
The big sisters
Meanwhile, with coronation night just a few days away, Stacey couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.
"Of course, there are nerves. Of course, I feel overwhelmed but mostly I'm just cherishing the time we have left. Sobra po kaming na se-senti ng mga girls. You know, we look around and we've been together pretty much every day for the last four months and now that's about to come to an end. So it's, you know, it's bittersweet."
But how did Stacey's pageantry journey start exactly?
Well, courtesy of Miss International 2013 Bea Santiago and Miss Universe 2014 Top 10 semifinalist MJ Lastimosa.
Apparently, she was able to work with the two back in 2017 via the horror-fantasy drama TV series "La Luna Sangre."
"'Yun po 'yung unang exposure ko sa actual queens who planted the seed in my mind and said: 'You're young now, you're a baby now, but perhaps in a couple of years, you know, revisit this idea.' And so, of course, I just took that and put it in the back of my mind. As I got older and the pandemic happened, I was forced to redefine what happiness means to me, what success means to me."
So when she realized that pageantry is essentially acting meets advocacy, she finally decided to dip her toes into it.
Up until now, she still communicates with Bea and MJ.
In fact, she noted how Bea has given her many "pearls of wisdom."
"She has been a steady source of encouragement throughout this journey. She's been a mentor to me, and I hope to do her proud on the 31st," she added.
As for MJ, Stacey said she "had lovely words to say about my costume, Taho Warrior."
"Receiving those positive words and those lovely thoughts from women I have always looked up to is so surreal. So I'm very lucky. You know, talagang God works in the coolest of ways. Pinagtugma kami ni Lord noon. Pinagkrus niya ang landas namin noon, when I was 19 years old. And now five years later, I'm following in their footsteps in Binibining Pilipinas and will hopefully join them in the ranks of Binibini queens."
Aside from "La Luna Sangre," Stacey appeared in "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano" and "Ngayon at Kailanman."
She also did movies, including "The Day After Valentine's" and "Indak." (Photos courtesy of Raymond Saldaña and Owen Sy)