Marlyn RosasGilan gave me a wink and said, “Women of all ages want to wear stylish clothes but more so when their birthday cake doesn’t carry the right number of candles, on purpose.” The icing is much too good to have candles spoil it, right?
After spending more than three decades in the travel industry and with a daughter who no longer demanded too much of her time, Marlyn was ready to do a spin a la Madonna; she reinvented herself. She pursued something she has always loved: designing and making clothes and accessories that give women an “Oh! I feel pretty” feeling.
Her shop faces a busy street but the parking at the back has ample space for clients and shoppers. I saw rows of shirts, skirts, dresses, bags and accessories thoughtfully arranged — solids on one side and patterned on another — that were too pretty to ignore. In fact, her clients swear that Marlyn’s creations jump from the shelves, and they’re close to hearing a chorus sing, “Choose me, yes ‘me’… I’ll make you gorgeous.”
Marilyn keeps one rule in mind: Clothes must be well cut and stitched, designed to combine good fashion lines that clients could easily slip into, therefore comfortable, wearable and versatile.
How does she do it? She tests it on herself. If she likes what she comes up with, she knows that there will be a good following of women who would, too (she only makes two or three of each design). The cut, the treatment of the sleeves, the hemline, the fine pleats and folds all make a subtle announcement that here is finally the “she” who’s been there and done that but with plenty of living left in those tried and tested limbs.
Marilyn said, “My clothes are loose and easy to wear so that women can hide a few of those physical issues that come hand-in-hand with age and now, cannot be ignored.”
You mean expanding hips, protruding bellies, bat-wing arms and just about anything that physically challenges gravity? “You don’t need to be wrapped like a mummy, you know,” she quipped.
For her mature customers, Marlyn offers these tips:
“Do not be restricted by fashion trends. If what’s ‘in’ is to bare your knees but you have thick green veins prominently etched on them, you wear skirts, slacks or jeans instead. Avoid miniskirts because that definitely will make you look like ‘you’ve lost it’.”
“What you wear has a lot to do with attitude.”
“Sixty is the new 40. Many women look 20 years younger because they consciously take care of their health, they exercise to stay in good shape and adopt sensible eating habits — no diet fads — removing too much sugar and salt altogether. Do everything in moderation.”
“Our target market — my peers, in short — has reached a stage where we don’t want to look old but would not want to resort to dubious, clinically induced ‘smooth-downs’ in an attempt to look young.” That would be pitiful.
“Fashion magazines will seldom focus on the real woman — the one you find at home or the one you see in the mirror — because they don’t exude glamour, that is, their version of it.”
“A 60-year-old can look just as well-groomed as anyone half her age. She only needs to feel good and snug in her own skin.”
“Ilana” is Marlyn’s name in Hebrew. It allowed this Madonna in the sewing room to create wellness in what women wear.
The chorus sings of this, too.
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Ilana is also the exclusive distributor of leather handbags from Germany under the labels “Borella” and “Fancy.”
Ilana is at the ground floor of Saville Building, Sen. Gil Puyat corner Paseo de Roxas, website www.ilanaoptions.com, phone: 384-8464.