Diary of a celebrity makeover

I’ve been known in my younger years not only to date men/boys (is there a difference?) but to make them over as well. My group was the original Queer Eye. It was convenient that one of my best friends owned a retail empire, thus providing me with the biggest closet to muss about in with my beloved. We also have wine lessons care of my oenophile friend, home living tips care of my interior designer genius of a pal, and, of course, socialite debauchery tips courtesy of everyone. We were a powerhouse of the vainglorious. None of the relationships lasted, as you can see. As I got older, so did they. The older they got, the more they loved their unfight stuff. Anyway, I realized that an extremely well-dressed man who knows his A-Zs of the hot Swedish designers is trouble: it’s either he’s borderline va or a jerk. It’s rare to find that perfect package.

So that’s my view on makeovers. It’s more trouble than it’s worth. It can also leave them worse off than they originally were. Take a look at any cheapo fashion rag and you can see that the before sometimes looks better than the looker afters. People think that makeovers are about adding and piling it on. That, children, as far as I know is a tragic misconception. It’s all about defining a person’s personal style, coaxing out things they may have not yet revealed. Good to do if one is secretly a vixen in the bedroom, bad if one is a sociopath. So make over wisely.

YStyle was charged with the daunting task of making over a celebrity. First of all, making over certain celebrities can be fun but also limiting (contracts and endorsements won’t have me chop my star into a modern Pocahontas, my real fashion icon).

A star that already has that one-name thing going, because she is destined to be big, is Karylle. She comes from showbiz royalty (her mother is Zsa-Zsa Padilla). She is also one of MTV’s star VJs and was the presenter at the phenomenal MTV Pilipinas Awards. She is hauntingly beautiful with an angelic face and lustruous curls. How could we mess with that?

Respecting the gifts of nature we (the tag team of Ivar Aseron, Leo Posadas, Hindy Tantoco and I) decided our peg for Karylle was to do her as Mischa Barton’s character, Marissa of The OC during her short lesbian phase where she was at her happiest. She always looked so miserable with Ryan, not to mention her clothes during her "discovery" period were far more fight. So it was big curls, shiny and adventurous clothes, sophisticated makeup and high, high heels. Not mention chunky jewelry.