back to gap (updated)

in the late ninety's, then reigning sex goddess (who can forget her leg--spreading scene in basic instinct that had generations of men salivating?) and beginning to be taken as a serious actress (casino), sharon stone shocked the whole world tuned in to the oscars' more interesting show, the red carpet, when she boldly proclaimed that she was wearing a sexy, button down, gap white shirt (an old one at that owned by her husband) over a vera wang skirt!

ms. stone did not only dominate the headlines for weeks after that evening, but she had also touched a sensitive nerve inside of me, then a fledging and budding fashionista. chos! (until now, that look still lands on some fashion experts' best-oscar-looks list.)

gap? my innocent mind asked. who the hell wears gap nowadays except middle-aged men? at that time, i was so enamoured with my rls, lacostes, banana republics. double chos!! since then, gap has won a page in my limited fashion vocabulary. every time a friend or a relative leaves for hong kong, new york or los angeles, i would ask him or her to buy me a gap shirt, even if it would mean not eating for a month, or not going out for a beer for a year.

anyway, if artists suffer for their art, fashionistas have to starve for their outfits, not only to save money for those expensive couture pants, shirts and ball gowns, but also to look good on them. in my case, it is always to save money. i never have a problem looking good on anything, regardless if i were skinny or fat, or just enough. hahaha. triple chos!!!

but as years went by, gap, the all-american brand just like levi's and rl, just lost its mojo. it failed to reinvent or restructure, or even update its look. it always is your basic khaki chinos or jeans. the cut stayed. the style stagnated. your granddad's clothes, to put it bluntly.

gap lost, of course, to younger, bolder brands like d&g, dsquared, even armani who ventured into (high end) street fashion to strengthen its foothold in the fickle-minded industry.

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the good news is...

in recent years, gap has finally reinvented itself. updated its look. the shirts, pants, shorts, shoes are younger, edgier, fresher, even bolder. the cut, especially the pants, are thinner, even flawless.

the brand has also collaborated with designers such as liam and sammy fayed, the brothers behind the uber urban bespoken, matt baldwin, ernest alexander, to name just a few. i won't be surprised if one day, japanese junya watanabe of the famous commes des garcons would also come on board. after all, commes des garcons (the phrase means like boys in english) has done several collaborations with british  swedish clothes retailer and street fashion mover and pusher h&m.

gap is of course perfect for a tropical country like manille, where summer is all-year round. even if it's the rainy season, you can still wear their outfits.

here are some of my favourite gap looks.

the last one is my favouite not because the model is gorgeous, but because the whole ensemble can also be worn to a semi-formal event like cocktails thrown out by a big global bank to welcome its new chief executive officer or to celebrate the successful initial public offering that raised billions of dollars for a struggling fashion brand. just tuck in the tee, put on a decent looking belt, leather shoes, a dark dinner jacket (black, brown or navy blue) and voila! a better-dressed steve jobs!!

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their sneakers are also divine.

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of course, the look won't be complete without those totes. these ones made of denim are gorgeous -- perfect for storing those paperbacks, vanity fairs, iphones, ipads, keys, wallets, and in my case, perfumes, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, lipgloss and lipbalm, and moisturisers for emergency dates with the hunk that i have been chasing for months. quadruple chos!!!!

the last one is a vintage nineteen sixty-nine era tote that i found on ebay. in case you're wondering, i was born in that year. so there!

that's all fairies, bitches, witches, princesses, queens and pa-queens. have a lovely, easy-breezy sunday!

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a very important footnote: some friends complained that these are all men's wears. what about us? they complained. well dahlins, be bold like sharon stone. wear your boyfriends' outfits. it's just fair, don't you think, after you caught him stealing your moisturisers, colognes, lipgloss, etc! 'nough said.

(all photos are taken from different web sites. no copyright infringements intended.)