That is how people remember Lily de las Alas Padilla: ‘Classy Lady.’ Friends, colleagues, contemporaries, media members, relatives speak fondly of Lily, wife of Sen. Ambrosio Padilla and daughter of Batangas businessman and civic leader, Don Antonio de las Alas.
She was a religious and civic leader, active in the undertakings of the Senate ladies association in the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Lily de las Alas Padilla on the cover of The Sunday Times Magazine, June 7, 1959 issue. She is wearing a Ramon Valera terno.
Lily was also a fashion plate, a favorite of Ramon Valera (later named National Artist). But she also wore the creations of other designers, as photos in this column show.
Newshens at that time tried to pit Lily against another beauteous wife of a senator, Imelda
Romualdez-Marcos. But Lily was too classy for that kind of rivalry. — RKC