Mothers and daughters do fashion
It’s all in the genes, people often say, when a mother and daughter just look so impossibly stylish, individually and even more so when together. There’s always that bond of nature and nurture, when elegance and grace are passed on from parent to child and even the other way around, as the energy of youth revitalizes the elder in a symbiotic relationship that just gets better as the years go by.
For young mothers, the joy of twinning is irresistible while they still can. Just look at Anne Curtis in absolute bliss as she doubles with daughter Dahlia in cotton eyelet dresses at the beach while her sister-in-law Solenn matches her girls’ vibrant aqua summer dresses for romping around.
For Easter holiday, Anne opted to go preppy-striped wholesome for serious mother-daughter bonding at a theme park in Seoul.
Over at Paris Fashion Week, Kylie Jenner and Stormi Webster embellished their black ensembles with feather boas. In a few years, if not already, these girls will have a fashion sense of their own and may want to choose their own outfits, with the guidance of their fashionable moms, of course.
For royalty, twinning may be a matter of protocol, the way Catherine, Princess of Wales, and daughter Charlotte had to wear regal robes for the coronation of King Charles III. But she still made the looks their own, contradicting suggestions of wearing flower crowns by opting for leaf headpieces made from silver bullion and crystal finished with silver thread embroidery, by milliner Jess Collett for Alexander McQueen. Mother and daughter wore matching ivory silk crepe dresses by the same fashion house. At age eight, Charlotte actually makes her own fashion choices, choosing a horseshoe brooch to her great grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, as a tribute to the monarch’s lifelong passion for all things equestrian.
For the Tony Awards, Angelina Jolie did a sea-foam green velvet Versace gown and color-coordinated with her tween daughter Vivienne who went age-appropriate but with a boyish edge, wearing a white shirt, green bowtie, a vest, and trousers paired with sneakers. The reason they were even there was because of the influence of the daughter on the mother since Vivienne inspired Angelina to co-produce the play, The Outsiders, after attending a workshop. Vivienne obviously has her own mind but still coordinated her look with her mom so they look good together as a team since she is credited as producer assistant on the playbill.
Dawn Zulueta has such a bond with her daughter Ayisha that they share so many things, including a love for ballet, the practice of which gives them poise and grace, making them always look so soigné, whether it’s at the Ascot in complementary prints and Roger Vivier pumps or in jeans and sneakers, albeit the daughter is certainly not a little girl anymore and is into the trends of the moment—with wider pants, cropped top and bomber jacket. Dawn does her own style of layering, with an unusually cut cardigan that gives her outfit a fashionable twist.
CCP president and Red Charity Gala co-chair Kaye Tinga has her impeccable fashion sense as well as her background in culture and the arts to pass down to her daughters Kerry and Kylie, making them mature beyond their years—old souls who reference films by esteemed directors of the past as much as they are up to the minute on what’s going on in the world today. The three act like sisters, inspiring one another and even sharing tips as we witnessed at the recent Ternocon where they, as always, emerged as three of the best dressed of the evening.
Lucy Gomez and daughter Juliana are regularly featured in editorials for their style which is informed by a relaxed aesthetic and a profound gentility. With Lucy, this is expressed in classic, ladylike looks whereas Juliana goes for a more casual, sporty look that is no less feminine—exemplified by one of their Filipiniana outings where they adopt the same color scheme but mother wears a terno while daughter does a kimona.
Charmaine Lagman passed on her refinement and musical acumen to daughter Anya whose compositions wowed the audience at the Goldenberg Mansion concert series for which she was chosen as the very first featured artist. The mother and daughter made waves in their beautifully draped satin ternos that evening, as they also turned heads in coordinated black ensembles at the fashion show of Paul Cabral at the Laperal Mansion. Attending symphonies and events around the world, the duo continues to pull fashion surprises wherever they appear.
On the other end of the spectrum, Madonna is always an iconoclast in the music world where she dresses in the most outrageous outfits. Her daughter, Lourdes Leon, has followed suit with her fearlessness, appearing recently at Paris Fashion Week in a barely-there fishnet catsuit underneath a black leather trench, stilettos and chunky gold jewelry.
Models, of course, live and breathe fashion, making it inevitable that their daughters take cues from their style if they do not adopt the same profession altogether. Pat Cleveland and Cindy Crawford from the ‘70s and ‘80s have daughters who followed their career paths. Apples Aberin’s daughter, Sam Sadhwani, always admired her mother’s style which she says is “the perfect blend of classic and chic,” teaching her to invest in quality, timeless pieces that will last. At Sam’s recent wedding, she was in an elegant ecru terno while her mother opted for a simple, strapless silk gown in beige, fashionable yet chosen not to compete with the bride. It was the perfect example of mother and daughter dressing in style harmoniously and intentionally—wearing pieces that are right for the moment but are future heirlooms that they could definitely be passed on to the next generation.
