The two goddesses agreed to show the most prized pieces from their personal wardrobe and lug the precious contents of their tokadors to a photo shoot. It was indeed a lucky day for YES! magazine, the beautiful women said yes to everything.
GRETCHEN CHATS. Gretchen is a doting mother to only daughter Dominique Cojuangco. To this day, Gretchen religiously fetches her daughter from school every day, almost without fail. In fact, when Gretchen finally agrees to shoot for YES! magazine's sixth anniversary cover, her only request is that we start early in the morning so we can finish at 1 p.m. flat.
Her daughter Dominique, like mother Gretchen, is already showing signs of being a fashionista.
Well, mother and daughter do get their hair cut from the same place: Jazz Salon. (BSA Tower, 108 Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Makati. Telephone 888-4019.)
"Oh, she's into accessories," adds the beautiful La Greta. "She's into the mga hoop... you know, the teenager thing. At her age, I think, she already takes after my passion for clothes. I overheard her tell her friends-because I always say, ‘Dominique, it's not good to go the malls now because it's a bad time, it's dangerous...'-and she said: ‘Oh, my gosh, I'd stake my life for shopping!' I go, like, what?
"But she's a smart shopper. Even if she likes the outfit, she'll think hard before she'll buy it kasi, kung mahal, hindi niya bibilhin. She wanted a jacket in Mix, it was that juicy thing. But when she saw the price tag, 5,000 something, she said, ‘No way.' Ayaw niya talaga. Hindi niya babayaran."
Gretchen herself may be deemed extravagant by some, because of her fondness for fine clothes, but what's noticeable about her these days is the almost total absence of jewelry items in places around her body where we used to see them.
She says quite seriously that she's being sensitive to the times. Plus, she admits that flamboyance does not sit well with the laid-back nature of Tonyboy Cojuangco, the man who has captured her heart.
"Now, I don't accessorize," she declares. "Inaway talaga ako ni Tony two years ago about it."
She tells the whole story of that particular lover's quarrel:
"It was Boy Abunda's birthday show, and then it was a masquerade. And 'di ba, morning show 'yon? It comes out yata 10:30 or 11? But the taping was in the afternoon. When you say masquerade, alam mo naman. So kami ni Patrick [Rosas, makeup artist and stylist], with all the crown and the blah-blah, and the whatever...
"Of course, Tony never saw it, but 'yong intrigero niyang mga kaibigan...ay, I shouldn't talk na lang...they texted him na parang, ‘You know the times are so hard, do you know what Gretchen's doing?' Ba-ba-blah, whatever.
"Oh, my God! He was really furious. He said, ‘You know, you should know what to wear and when, and...' I said: ‘I'm just playing, you know.' And he goes, ‘It's not funny.'
"But he made a lot of sense, na siguro parang I think I'm being so insensitive. Hindi talaga dapat. Saka si Tony naman talaga is hindi ganyan, ayaw niya. He said, ‘Please don't wear anything.'
"I used to like jewelry. I really appreciate it and I really still can appreciate it. I just don't think it's the time to wear them. But when I miss them, I wear them in the house-really, I do, I really do-'cause then at least, it's okay. But out, you won't see me.
"But you know what, I still feel the same. I don't care. It doesn't make me feel less. And I really make it a point that when I go somewhere na talagang papansinin, most of the time I don't have earrings. Because I want to show people na, ‘Hey, you know, it does not matter whether you have or you don't have. It's just material, it's nothing..."
She also refuses to name the signature brands of her outfits and accessories, saying, "Huwag na." But on our own, we manage to match item to brand, as any respectable fashion shoot would.
And, right, denim is the name of the game for Gretch. "Me, I always wear jeans. Kasi jeans p'wede mong ulit-ulitin, e. Like now, uso 'yong tapered jeans, I have at least five of the same jeans in different colors-dark blue, grayish black, white, washed-kasi you have to match it with different tops. And that's it. Pag naluma, you just keep them."
Asked how she feels about being called a fashion icon, she says, "Talaga? I feel old. I just have a passion for outfits, and for me kasi it's really an expression of how you feel. I always judge a person-I know it's not right-on how they dress. Parang alam mong hindi ito masaya, may sakit ito. You can tell right away. You spot a person's disposition for that day.
"I learned from my friends...'coz we always have lunch every day. One of them says, ‘Let's have lunch, I'm not feeling well, I'm so sick.' And she comes to lunch all dressed up to the hilt, so I laugh at her, and she says, ‘If I'm sick, why would I come looking sick?' Because me, when I'm sick, jogging pants na 'yan. Parang I really play the role na...naka-rubber shoes, naka-sweater. Siyempre maganda pa rin, pero you play the role."
Now she says she plays it like her friend does: "You have a flu, get someone to blow-dry your hair, put some curls. You really feel better. I do that, you know, when I pick up my daughter."
Interestingly, Gretchen doesn't have fashion do's and don'ts. "I go with the feel, e," she says. "Kasi sa fashion nag-iiba, e. 'Yong don't sa akin, ginagawa ng iba and basta bagay sa tao...Let's say Tim Yap-'yong mga ginagawa niya, pag ginawa ng ibang tao, hindi maganda. Boy Abunda-may mga ginagawa siya na 'pag ginawa ng iba, they'd look funny. But on Tim and Boy, they work. You know what I mean? You can't tell. Basta overall look ang importante."
Gretchen adds, however, that you have to have the right body for the clothes you choose. "That's why I work out hard, to wear the outfits. You need the right body for the outfit so that it falls correctly. You can wear, I think, the cheapest outfit, even just a white T-shirt, if you have the right body."
LUCY SPEAKS. Even someone as naturally attractive as Miss Lucy-the form of address of a family friend Douglas Quijano-knows what works for her. She does have three favorite hairstyle: "long, flowing hair curled softly al over; neat ponytail; and loose chignon." (The dictionary defines chignon as a "knot or roll of hair, especially when worn at the nape of the neck."
Lucy keeps her own fashion advice simple. "Don't wear anything you're not comfortable with. Do invest in quality. Ako, ayoko talaga 'yong marami kang damit, 'yong binili mo lang dahil mura kahit hindi bagay naman sa 'yo or kahit hindi mo rin magagamit. Do spend on quality, but don't spend too much naman na it's obscene already."
She adds, earnestly: "Dapat merong mga clothes na no-brainer...na pag may occasion, hindi mo na kailangang isipin. Ako, I always buy clothes even if there is no occasion kasi I don't want to be stressed na tomorrow may affair pala and then wala akong damit, kailangan ko pang lumabas para bumili. I don't like the pressure."
Lucy at 5'7" has a corresponding weight of 120 lbs. She says she's not sure if that's the ideal weight for her height. But she has her own way of measuring her weight without help from a weighing scale. "Mas importante sa akin 'yong, meron akong mga pants na 'yon 'yong standard ko pag tumaba ako. Pag sumikip 'yon sa akin, mataba na ko noon. Ang standard waistline ko is 26 [inches]. Pag sobrang payat ako, 25." These days, she sports a 27-inch waistline. Wow.
While prepping up for her last solo shots, Lucy makes a call on her cellphone. At first, we think she's talking to her honey, Richard Gomez, because the exchange sounds adult. But as the call progresses, we realize it isn't Richard at the other end of the line.
Seated beside Lucy to do the last segment of our interview, we can't help but overhear her end of the conversation: "Nagpi-pictorial pa ako, matatapos na... You're mad? Why are you mad?... [Giggles] Don't be mad na, I'll see you later. I love you... Teka, anong ‘Love yah'?... Sabihin mo, ‘I love you.' Love yah ka diyan?"
When she puts down her phone, we ask: "Si Juliana ba 'yon?"
"Oo," she says, laughing. "Galit daw siya sa akin? Kasi bakit daw ako nagpi-pictorial na hindi siya ang kasama ko. Sabi ko, me pictorial din naman kami soon. Nakakatawa talaga 'yang si Juliana."
That sets off the Juliana stories.
"Iba talaga 'yong mga bata ngayon. Like, pag sinasabihan ko siya ng ‘Juliana, stop that! Stop that, Juliana, stop that!' sasabihin niya, ‘Calm down, Mom. Calm down. Settle down.' Kinder pa lang 'yan, ha. Noong kinder ako, hindi naman ako ganoon. Tinanong ko mommy ko. 'Tapos, siguro 'yong mga love yah-love yah, sa Cartoon Network 'yan nakuha."
Like Lucy, Juliana learned to be fashionable early.
"Like kagabi, ha, habang inaayos ko mga dadalhin ko for this shoot, lahat ng tinatanggal ko, sinusukat niya. Mga jacket ko, sinusuot niya. 'Tapos, mukhang kikay talaga. Ginagamit nga 'yong mga lipstick ko. 'Yong mga sapatos ko, sinusuot niya. 'Yong pa-girl siya talaga who loves to dress up. Ganoon din daw ako noong bata ako."
Besides Juliana and Richard, Lucy's other source of happiness is getting a massage. For more than three years now, a masseuse, Aling Aida, has been going to the Gomez house twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.
"Si Aling Aida, 'pag magmasahe, ang sarap! 'Yong masahe niya talaga, pampa-relax. Kasi halos two hours, 'tapos nakakatulog talaga ako."
At one time or another, these ladies have been voted Most Fashionable Celebrity or Most Beautiful Celebrity in the yearly YES! Readers' Choice Awards. Obviously, our readers know beauty and fashion icons when they see them. Now we're glad to have our readers know something else: Lucy and Gretchen are more than the sum total of any and all the fashion-and-beauty talk put together. They are truly nice people.