(Updated 11 p.m.) The national costume of a doll that represented the Philippines in a Thailand-based modelling competition of beauty and fashion dolls earned praised from both local and foreign Facebook users because of its design.
The doll named Anna Eugenia Tadeo was among the candidates of an annual beauty pageant for dolls called Miss Beauty Doll 2021.
Tadeo’s photos were released on separate posts Wednesday, November 10.
The first post drew at least 1,000 reactions and circulated more than 41 times.
The other post earned 518 reactions and made rounds at least 29 times.
The comments under it were filled with cheers for the outfit’s intricate details.
“Amazing work very detailed,” one Facebook user said.
“Philippines for the win!” another online user wrote.
“Wow!! Such an amazing national costume from the Philippines,” another commented.
One Facebook user perceived that the design could be inspired by horses.
“I didn’t know horses were found or are part of Philippine culture,” the user said.
The Philippine beauty doll was designed by Cholo Ayuyao. He is also the designer behind the national costume of Miss Beauty Doll bet of Korea.
Meanwhile, according to the Raynang Manika Pilipinas, the Facebook page for the dolls for the local version of Miss Beauty Doll, the outfit’s theme is “Alimuom.”
It re-shared photos of Tadeo in her national costume and captioned it with: “ALIMUOM: MBD Philippines 2021, Anna Eugenia Tadeo’s National Costume.”
According to her profile, Tadeo is a 19-year-old student of BA Anthropology at the University of Philippines-Diliman.
In her introductory message on August 31, Tadeo hoped to empower Filipino women especially her “Aeta roots” in the international competition.
“I’m just so honored to be appointed as the new queen warrior for my country the Philippines. There’s a specific punctuation on the word “Warrior” this year because even when there’s no physical war going on, women nowadays are faced with different situations, and as the new warrior queen, I have the task to send my message across – pursuing women empowerment and retracing my Aeta roots,” the post read.
Tadeo also noted that her grandmother is a pure Aeta and that her grandparents became her inspiration to take up Anthropology in college.
“This is the reason why I’m taking up my course right now, in honor of my grandparents and to simply embrace one’s physicality and traits no matter what they are,” the post read.
It was in 2016 when a doll representing the Philippines won the beauty contest.
This doll was named Shawnah Bautista Vasquez, a professional model and a journalism graduate.
