- Bianca Umali takes on the persona of Imelda Marcos in STAIL PH’s reimagining of the former first lady
- Netizens reacted negatively to the magazine and to Bianca for idolizing Imelda as a fashion icon
Sahaya lead actress and one of GMA Network’s young prime stars Bianca Umali was recently featured in STAIL.PH’s reimagining of Imelda Marcos titled The Embellished Life.
The young star took on the persona of the flamboyant former first lady by glamming up with a modern Maria Clara style.
“This issue is a reimagining of all things Imelda—her love for beauty and eye for fashion. Sure, you can say a bunch of things about her but you can’t deny her impeccable taste in style. We want to imagine ourselves as beautiful people. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be beautiful, it’s a natural thing. What is wrong is obsessing over wanting to be who we are not and who we can never be.”
“This is the Embellished Life. An Icon Reimagined,” wrote STAIL.PH on their Instagram.
Bianca was dressed to the nines in different concepts such as The Iron Butterfly, classic Imeldific, and Pearl of the Orient.
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByrOSppBRXZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
But netizens clarified that they did not see Imelda as an icon of fashion, they only see her as a bloodthirsty politician who aided her late husband Ferdinand Marcos’s authoritarian regime. Netizens expressed their strong opposition to STAIL PH and Bianca’s reimagining of Imelda, saying that the politician must not be idolized.
Imelda Marcos' direct involvement in, refusal to pay restitution for, and continued revisionism towards a regime that brutalized this country, butchered its people, and burgled its coffers and future is far more than "A bunch of things about her" and @stail_ph should know that.
— AJ ELICAÑO MICROBLOG (@anelicano) June 24, 2019
Maybe you should review this one because this doesn't only give a bad taste. This clearly gives an idea that Imelda Marcos is to be celebrated as someone who gave so much in the fashion industry when in fact all of those were because of their atrocities. Review and check.
— B #FreePalestine (@btrzkji) June 24, 2019
https://twitter.com/gisenchy/status/1143020946149662721?s=19
https://twitter.com/dawnlanuza/status/1143016493438783488?s=19
Portraying the fashion style of a convicted plunderer, how stylish? Good job #BiancaUmali & #StailPHxBiancaUmali on this magazine cover I guess? Even the caption of the post says it all "Bianca Umalis" lol
— Glenda Beldad (@BeldadGlenda) June 24, 2019
You do know that she has been convicted of plunder, right? Right? She should NEVER be an icon. And btw, you may have misspelled your name. https://t.co/6tLhCQfrS5 seems to be more apt.
— peachy natividad (@peachynatividad) June 24, 2019
https://twitter.com/tintangdilaw/status/1143053607937273856?s=19
StailPH is stale for honoring Imelda Marcos. Please research more about the word 'imeldific'. It is not about beauty but extravagance–to the point of corruption. You never glorify a plunderer. You never dignify a fascist. Bianca Umali, pera-pera na rin?
— Hiraya Murakami (@dummysinasabi) June 24, 2019
Imelda Marcos, the matriarch of a family that murdered, plundered, and surrendered our nation to many years of misery and doom.@stailph and Bianca Umali: But she's a fashion icon!
🙄
— armand (@armanddc) June 25, 2019
In 2017, actress Iza Calzado also received backlash from netizens for idolizing Imelda’s sense of fashion. She attended a birthday party wearing a classic terno and her hair in a coif very much like the former first lady. But Iza responded to these criticisms on social media saying that “people are too sensitive and opinionated about politics these days.”