[Lookbook 04.05.2012] The haciendero look

Oh yeah, I feel like I'm thrown back in time to a bygone era when sugar barons lorded over vast haciendas, puffing through their cigars in the comforts of their Hispanic-inspired mansions. Well, at least that's how it felt like as I was looking at photographs from our visit to The Ruins in Talisay and Balay Negrense in Silay with Kwittiegirl.

I guess it was my outfit that day coupled with the Colonial architecture of those structures that gave me that feel, which was totally unintentional (on the contrary, my Señor Santibañez feels at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar was very contrived). Who would have thought that mere bermuda shorts, a polo shirt, espadrilles, aviator-like shades, and a straw hat would fit so well in those places?

I should have gotten a real cigar, though. Even for posterity's sake, that would look good as I rode a calesa, descended a stone staircase, and simply stood by the window of an old house.

With no cigar, my Marlboro Lights would do. The calesa was fake anyway. And all that wealth from sugarcane back when the Philippines was still the world's no. 1 producer of sugar have since dwindled. At least these people from Negros are trying to preserve the memory of their glory days, much to our delight.

The next time I visit, maybe I should wear a suit or something, complete with bow tie, spectator shoes, and a cane. What do you think?
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Polo shirt (Paul Smith); shorts (Surplus Shop at SM); espadrilles (OTOP at Petron SLEX); straw hat (Bench); sunnies (i2i); watch (Timex).