Kaye Tiñga with daughters Kylie and Kerry, all wearing Joey Samson

A social wag has commented that the culminating program of TernoCon may have become what the Kahirup Ball was in the mid-20th century. Both events got the café society to don their finest Filipiniana.

A coproduction of Bench and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), TernoCon 2020 consisted of a program and fashion show directed by Dexter Santos, an exhibit of Rafael del Casal’s portraits of women in terno, dolls in terno by Cholo Ayuyao, and vintage terno from Slim’s School of Fashion and Arts.

The event got designers busy. Dennis Lustico dressed up business consultant Rhoda Aldanese in a tube gown with a white terno top with appliqués; restaurateur Ana de Ocampo in a pink and navy terno with crinoline terno sleeves; ex-model Menchu Soriano in a black jumpsuit with a bolero terno top and a tapis; Tourism Secretary Berna Puyat in a wine-colored Mikado silk gown; and Christine Lim in a terno with a barong Tagalog pechera (embroidered bib) pattern.

Patis Tesoro’s signature embroidery and appliqués were reflected in the baro’t saya of Marivic Vazquez, the barong of Jose Marie Treñas, and the terno of Ballet Philippines president Kathleen Liechtenstein.

Milka Quin’s macramé terno top by Elaine Pagtalunan

Knitwear and piña designer Lulu Tan-Gan came in an empire piña terno dress over pants. She also created piña and knit ensembles for Suzy Quiros and Cedie Lopez-Vargas, who wore a piña terno tunic with gold printed palmeras over a long knit skirt.Simple and easy

TernoCon 2020 mentor Lesley Mobo said he emphasized the hourglass figure of CCP chair Margie Moran Floirendo through construction technique. “I used duchesse silk satin and lace over a nude base. It’s simple and easy—less of the ‘madame’ look,” he said.

Another TernoCon mentor, Philip Rodriguez, made variations of separates for Cebu socialites who flew in to Manila to support him. Marissa Fernan of SM Cebu looked comfortable in a terno top over pants.

Gilda Cordero-Fernando wears a “baro’t saya,” with the “baro” bought off the rack, the pañuelo dating back to her “Jamming on an Old Saya” days, and an “inabel saya.” Gino Gonzales’ Joey Samson barong features miniature terno
sleeve appliqués by Cholo Ayuyao. —PHOTO COURTESTY OF WENDY FERNANDO-REGALADO

Designer Ignacio Loyola flew in from Dubai to make a contrasting black-and-white terno for Mons Romulo.

While majority did the full elegant terno dressing, others took a less conventional route. Trickie Lopa came in a patchwork denim terno by Carl Jan Cruz, while Milka Quin wore a macramé terno top over a black outfit, done by Elaine Pagtalunan from Slim’s. Kylie Tinga donned a minimalist cotton piqué terno by Joey Samson, who highlighted the crisscross back.

In his speech at the TernoCon show, Bench CEO Ben Chan said: “You have to dig deep, study, research and you have to design it with love in your heart. You have to do it with utmost respect for the master designers before you, and for our ancient traditions in weaving, sewing and embroidering. You have to make the terno relevant to the present. And you have to ensure that the terno lives on in the future.”—CONTRIBUTED