Stripes and Solids: A Call to Patronize Filipino Brands

12:00 PM Unknown 0 Comments

 Hello, guys! Let me yet again welcome you all to my humble page. For today’s post, let me first share a realization. I was having a (maybe drunken) conversion with my non-blogger friend a couple of days ago about why I blog. He queried, “so Ronwell, why do you blog?” And I was like, I don’t know; I like doing it. I like styling myself, and I like sharing said style to others. In my mind, my only mission is to inspire my readers & followers alike to find their inner style. However, as pointed out by this friend, I never really considered that as a Filipino blogger, maybe I should aspire for something bigger; that is, to help promote local clothing brands for so many reasons such as to help Filipinos overcome colonial mentality, help those who cannot afford foreign brands feel assured and proud of what they wear, etc. And that got me thinking.  

 One problem with so many Filipinos (myself included) is that a lot of us would rather buy foreign rather than local brands. Some do this by choice, others by habit. Personally, I just never really got used to buying local because…well I don’t know; I never got used to doing so. I excused this by saying that local brands are of inferior quality, but really, we all know that’s not true for all. There are many of those that strive to be as competitive in terms of design and quality as their foreign counterparts. My friend then went straight to pointing out that after a year of reading my blog, he never saw me wear any locally produced/marketed piece of garment. And this, he said, raises a problem. First, it supports colonial mentality, and second, it is insensitive to those who can’t afford foreign brands. To be honest, I never realized this at all because…well, I never really (over)think things but when I did, I realize he was right. As a menswear blogger and influencer, I have the ability to help others give local brands a try, to help them see that it’s not so bad at all. So let me make a promise that I’d be more patronizing of these brands, especially those sold by small enterprises.

  Anyway, here I am, wearing my SM Youth apparel from head to ankle HAHAHA! Shoes are from Dr. Martens so I couldn’t really say head to toe TEEHEE.

To say a few words, I love how the shirt has adopted that long tee street wear addiction right now; it’s very 2016. I also love how the bomber jacket is just as good as its foreign counterparts in terms of design, while having in mind the condition of the weather here in the Philippines in terms of its production. I mean, unlike foreign brands, it’s not as think and thus not as hot, perfect for the tropical weather here in the country.