GMA Actress Heart Evangelista on Wednesday showed off her stylish “new normal” look amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
While her fans and colleagues found Evangalista’s posh and fashionable “new normal look” creative, some Filipinos perceived this insensitive and detached from the issues of inadequate medical equipment in the country.
Evangelista had been posting a series of photos of her preparations for the so-called “new normal,” a term used to describe economic conditions while coping with the global health crisis, wherein she wore modified protective protective equipment, face masks, and other accessories from expensive brands.
In her Instagram post on May 20, she wore an outfit from celebrity fashion designer Mark Bumgarner called the “Armor Project” and a face mask from an online store.
Prior to this, she also shared photos featuring a stylish dress-looking modified PPE designed by her cousin who owns a local clothing brand and a customized face mask from another online store.
She used the hashtag #TheNewNormalWithLoveMarie in the captions of these photos.
PPE suits refer to full-body suits often used by health workers when dealing with patients with infectious diseases. Only portions of the face, feet and hands are exposed.
The PPE reduces their potential of being exposed to bacteria and viruses in the hospital.
In March, Bumgarner and other renowned local fashion designer launched their initiative to help COVID-19 frontliners by sewing PPE suits and donating it to hospital workers.
Evangelista also shared this effort on Instagram.
Stylish outfit creative but insensitive?
Meanwhile, after Evangelista’s unique outfits made it to local news, some Filipinos expressed disdain against them.
A Twitter user shared screenshots of her photos and captioned it with: “God this is so gross.”
god this is gross pic.twitter.com/azazwehcMF
— ⟭⟬bunny⟬⟭ (@bvnnylvx) May 20, 2020
Others who agreed in the comments sections argued that Evangelista’s photos of expensive modified PPEs are insensitive to other Filipinos’ needs.
“It’s insensitive and really, really stupid. Half of the nation is either dying of COVID-19 or of hunger, Heart!” one user said.
Some Filipinos who defended the actress noted her donation drives and contributions to help health workers and other frontliners in Sorsogon, where her husband Chiz Escudero currently governs.
“She’s helped a lot and very generous, check out her twitter account to see some. Lagi din syang pinapakita sa GMA special thanks pa nga. Definitely not insensitive. And she also donated a lot of PPEs to frontliners,” a Twitter user said.
Last April, Evangelista reached out to Filipinos in need of medical and financial assistance through her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
She also helped organize donations from private companies to health workers and other frontliners in Manila and Sorsogon.
Evangelista, who was also known in the fashion industry for her hand-painted Hermes bags, also previously shared photos of the face masks she customized using clothes from designer brands.
She also previously earned social media buzz last year and in March when she shared elegant “palengke” and grocery shopping outfits.
