‘Momsie’ and her high taste in fashion
‘When Ramon Valera did mywedding gown, he did not even measure me, he just studied my figure and nodded’
Now 80 and retired as CEO of LBP Services, Momsie ( I also call her Mamshee), Rosemarie Leviste, is still a sharp dresser. Her high taste in fashion is still evolving, but her strict codes in styling are still as fresh and young as I recall.
She was a Fall (autumn colors) person but now, with her short platinum hairdo, is a Winter (white and primary colors).
I have eight siblings; Kuya Ikoy and I have seven sisters, so I truly treasured my alone time with Momsie. When I was 10, she allowed me to watch her dress in her huge bath and dressing room which had four walk-in closets.
Mom’s little helper
I watched as she applied her spare Audrey Hepburn makeup: soft arched eyebrows and pink lipstick with finishing powder. Ma’s forever fashion was strictly tailored, no frou-frou and ruffles ever. Give her a Peter Pan collar and she would be smiling the whole day.
She would allow me to zip her up before she dabbed on her beloved Joy by Jean Patou or Diorissimo, which she still favors today, 50 years later. Then her day as professor of psychology at St. Scholastica or Assumption would begin.
She wore her shoulderlength hair in a bouncy ponytail or a bun. Her signature style consisted of short-sleeved dresses or tailored trousers with a sportive blouse in Swiss pima cotton. Accents: sometimes an Hermès scarf or elegant brooch or her Mikimoto pearl necklace.
In high school, we would go on “dates” in her Volkswagen Beetle. Buying fabrics with her was my favorite day trip. We would talk in her car.
“Ramoning Valera was the first designer I ever met. Tall, slim and always impeccably dressed in white lab coat, his work uniform. His atelier was in Mayon Street near the Quezon City Rotunda.
“I remember he was strict about stitching. He was friends with your Lola Memeng (Carmen de Santos Pineda) and your Lolo Art (collector Arturo de Santos). When Valera did my wedding gown, he did not even measure me, just studied my figure and nodded. My waistline was 23 inches. “It was a silk tulle maria
clara with fine lily of the valley beadwork. When your Lola made a suggestion, Valera waved a dismissive hand saying, ‘ Ako na ang bahala Mameng, wedding gowns should not have heavy glitter, the beauty of the bride should shine, not the dress.’”
“At that time (1954), a house in Forbes Park rented for P1,000 while Valera’s simple long dress was P1,500, ” said Momsie.
I always ask her to recount the ruby anniversary celebration of her Tita Nitang Moreno Lopez.
Memorable party
“All the European royalty was housed at the Hyatt on Roxas Boulevard. It was Joe Salazar who made my A-line crepe terno in shocking fuchsia pink. They imported Xavier Cugat and Sergio Mendes for the all-night dancing music. Mountains of caviar were wheeled about and there was a small fountain of Dom Perignon champagne.
“Dad and I danced beside the first couple and I noticed Imelda was taller than I. We had ar
roz caldo with all the fixings at dawn and finally went home past 6 a.m. ”
When she found out Valera would no longer sew her daywear ( he would accept only gown orders), we took her guipure lace and Irish linens to nearby newbie Joe Salazar. Salazar would do her clothes for the next three decades.
When I graduated from high school at La Salle Greenhills, she wore a white crepe tunic blouse by Salazar. It was the shortest dress I ever saw, her long sexy white legs startled everyone, most of all my classmates. She was hot that night. I was beaming with pride. Hahaha.