A blue gown with a Philippine map design drew some witty and hilarious reactions on social media.
Local designer Benj Leguiab IV shared photos of the gown, which former beauty queen Alyssa Muhlach Alvarez wore in 2018, on his Facebook page on June 8.
Alvarez wore the outfit during the evening gown portion of Miss World Philippines in 2018.
“My iconic Philippine Islands inspired Blue Gown in 2018,” Leguiab wrote.
The map of the Philippine islands embroidered on the back of the gown caught the eye of the public, particularly online users, back then.
Prior to Leguiab’s re-posting of the gown design, photos of his creation suddenly resurfaced on Twitter and Facebook early this week.
The photos came from a pageant-centered Facebook page called Pageant Aficionado.
Online users expressed their admiration for the design with humorous tweets about “scratching” of the back while referencing certain Philippine islands in the gown design.
“Bes, pakikamot naman sa may bandang Boracay. Di ko abot,” one user said.
“Becky, pakamot naman sa Palawan,” another user said.
“Pakamot nga banda Batanes,” one user wrote.
Some Twitter users even quipped about “scratching” the Scarborough Shoal.
“Paki-kamot sa Scarborough. Ay wala na pala,” one user quipped.
In an Instagram post in 2018, Alvarez said that she collaborated with Leguiab for a design that would show her love for the Philippines.
“I told him that I wanted my gown to show my love for the Philippines, and he was able to come up with this beautiful gown that did just that,” she said back then.
Leguiab echoed her view, saying that this was one of his best works for the model.
“I put so much love and passion for this royal blue gown with the Philippine island map on it as a sign of patriotism. It is one of the best gowns I ever made for [Alyssa],” the designer said.
Alvarez was crowned the Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2018. She succeeded former title-holder Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez.
This year, Leguiab also designed gowns of Cameroon’s bet Angele Kossinda for the recently concluded Miss Universe 2020 and Miss Grand Philippines Samantha Bernardo.