I have just come from the most highly-anticipated show of Philippine theater this year... Cherie Gil's reprisal of the lead role in Terence McNally's MASTER CLASS. She played no other than La Divina, the Diva of all divas herself... Maria Callas.
In the award-winning play, Maria Callas utters this sage advice (among several other bon mots) to aspiring student singers:
"If you want to be remembered, you've got to have a look. You have a very fine face and figure, I'm sure, but you don't have a look. How do you expect people to remember you? There are thousands... no, millions of you out there, and you all look the same. You've got to have a signature!"
Now, this might have been uttered to would-be opera singers, but I'm pretty sure that this is something all of us can learn from. After all, we wouldn't want to dissolve into the sea of humanity ALL the time. There is a difference between "disappearing into" a crowd, and "blending in." Of course, there are situations wherein we purposefully dress down (like when we know we're commuting to a potentially hazardous location), but even the simplest outfit can be dressed up just by adding a simple accessory or two. You can simply bring along some earrings or a scarf in your handbag, and put them on when you're in more civilized territory. :)
Here is the first of a collection of pictures of the famous soprano, and what I liked (style-wise):
See how wearing two contrasting solid colors (navy blue shawl against a snow white dress) can dramatically change one's look? And see how classy drop earrings look when paired with a simple yet elegant coiffure! They draw attention to the face. Let's not forget, ladies, that the most important accessory we can have is our facial expression!
Pictures taken from here.
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