The “MMD effect?”
A replica of the national costume of Miss Universe 2023 Top 10 finalist Michelle Dee was spotted at a beauty pageant for queers.
Pageant pages reposted a picture from the 1010show Facebook page which showed a photo of a candidate wearing a similar ensemble for their national costume at Miss Gay Kamuning 2023.
The beauty contest was held on November 30 at the K-District Bar and Cafe.
Online pageant page “Pageant Talk” reposted the picture on its page and called it the “MMD effect,” referring to the initials of Michelle Marquez Dee.
“Michelle Dee’s Natcos [national costume] spotted at Miss Gay Kamuning 2023 pageant,” the page said on December 1.
The creator of the replica is Iya Sanchez, a self-employed make-up artist who said that she thought of replicating Michelle’s costume to make Filipinos smile since the Philippine bet was not able to secure the crown.
“Thank you so much, to post and share [my] creativity and replica…” she wrote on Facebook on Friday.
Fashion designer Michael Barassi, who designed Michelle’s winning national costume at Miss Universe 2023, also commented on the replica.
“YASSSSSS!” he wrote with fire emojis.
Iya saw his response and offered her gratitude.
“Super thanks po, super inspired ako gayahin gawa [niyo] po..” she commented.
For the national costume presentation in the 72nd Miss Universe, Michelle wore an airplane-inspired ensemble by Michael to pay tribute to her role as a Philippine Air Force reservist. She also showcased some of the country’s tourist sights in her wings.
The Philippine bet won the “Best in National Costume” award at the beauty pageant after garnering the most number of votes at the Choicely app where fans voted for their bet.
Michelle also bagged gold for her “Voice for Change” video and received the “Spirit of Carnival” award.
The Miss Universe 2023 was won by Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
Anntonia Porsild of Thailand placed as the first runner-up, while Moraya Wilson of Australia was second runner-up.