Although Miss Philippines Maxine Medina drew cheers at the Miss Universe preliminaries, she also got people riled up. During the event, Maxine said that Imelda Marcos invented the terno.
In a video showing the terno fashion show in Vigan, Maxine said, “The terno was actually invented by our former first lady, Imelda Marcos. She invented these butterfly sleeves and they use it (to) cover their face.” Oh, no.
Maybe she meant that Imelda popularized it since she’s widely known to wear a terno at formal functions. But we never thought of using the butterfly sleeves to cover one’s face. Did Imelda do that to hide from the people she stole money from?
For those in need of a refresher, the terno existed way before the Marcos regime—around the 1890s, to be exact. Unless Imelda is actually a time-traveler and hijacked the idea. (They probably had the money to make a time machine anyway.)
Meanwhile, livestream viewers also caught Maxine’s mistake and tweeted #ImeldaIsNOTtheTerno. Most were confused by her answer but many used the hashtag to educate people about Imelda and the terno. Even noting that Imelda wore it to “inspire the poor to dress better.”
The Terno correction is not an attack against Maxine. It's an attack against misinformation. #MissUniverse #Philippines
— Saul (@unSauLicited) January 26, 2017
#ImeldaIsNotTheTerno #MissUniverse #Philippines
Maxine: Imelda invented the terno.
Us: pic.twitter.com/2caA6TlLct
— K D P Y (@KasjayNgarud) January 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/TMPRMNTLBRAT/status/824645701959245825
https://twitter.com/queertastically/status/824645172755443714
https://twitter.com/TMPRMNTLBRAT/status/824648446934020097
There were also those who say that they will still support Maxine, but hopes that she takes back her statement.
https://twitter.com/RegisAndanar/status/824600323423662081
Let us keep on supporting #MissUniverse #Philippines @maxinemedina but keep in mind that #imeldaisnottheterno. No to historical revisionism!
— Gino Bengero (@ginobengero) January 26, 2017
But if Imelda did invent the terno, we’d be buying at least 3,000 designs to go with our massive shoe collection. Also jewels that can pay for an entire train station and airport.
Photo courtesy of Maxine Medina’s Instagram account
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