Before we move forward Question: How did you convince Madam Stella that you are going to wear that red gown at prelims and blue at the finals Oh okay! So when we we were still in the Philippines...... ...oh, you know what I have the photo of the gown that I am supposed to wear! Someone sent me a picture. I have a picture wearing the gown. But it was too big for me. It was size 6. At that time I was really fit.
You were slim. uhm... But I found a picture of a model wearing the gown. It's not a picture of me wearing it and it looks like this... The one who posted it....Anyway, I'm going to look for it. I'll look for it first. What happened was, I was the last to compete out of all the Binibini [winners] that year. Ann Colis [Miss Globe] was first to compete. Then Rogelie [Miss Supranational] after that it was Janicel [Miss International] then Christi [Miss Intercontinental] and it was finally me [who competed internationally] Now, uhm... the.... the first few Binibinis who competed internationally used gowns designed by Filipino designers although Madam Stella said no. When it was my time to compete, she was kind of ready. I her mind, she was not to be fooled again. There's no way she can allow me to use a Filipino-designed gown. When I arrived, I brought all my stuffs, my luggage... She hid my luggage in a different room to prevent me from sneaking in any gowns of my choice. But never intended to do that. I swear! Promise! Uhm... Like a hunch! She was just being cautious. What I did is that whatever dress or gown she was asking me to wear, I didn't refuse any of them. I never returned any of those dress or gown. If she says "Pia wear this!", as long as it fits. I'm fine with it. Then one day... I came in the office. We were doing fittings for the Miss Universe. And then I prepared a folder of pictures of myself wearing blue gowns. It's something I collected all through the years. From any events. From gowns are from Cumbia. Some are from Filipino designers. It was a mix. Then, I went inside to her room. I said, "Madam..." "Yes?" "Madam...uh.... if I may" I said, "Madam, if I may..." "...uhm, I would like to show this to you." "These are pictures of me wearing blue gowns" "I don't care about the style, madam, as long as it is blue." "It will make me feel beautiful and very confident" Then, she was like a little bit not happy when I first approached her. But I said, "No pressure Madam!" "No pressure at all" "Just have a look at it when you go home". "I just really love the blue color". And she said okay. I'm not so sure if she took a look at those photos. But when we arrived in Las Vegas. The prelims was fast approaching. And now, I have to wear this gown. Wait.... We are so intriged with that gown. You really convinced Madam Stella. We are all intrigued with that gown that you are supposed to wear in the prelims. Oh my God, here it is! Black.... Black and silver. Black and silver. I can forward this picture to all of you. Now... I'll forward it to Bong. Bong can actually.... Yeah. Okay I sent it. So, that's the gown. So the color was black. Black with silver. But, ah...uhm.... It fit well with the model but that's not the case for me. Anyway, the length was a bit short for me. We were trying that gown on the lobby. That's the gown that I am supposed to wear for the prelims. Madam was pulling the dress down. When she pulled it down the upper part in the breast area came down as well. And I blurted out, Madam, because we were in the lobby of Planet Hollywood. She was pulling it down and I'm pulling it up! And Jonas Gaffud was there. He was just watching. He was worried. Madam Stella got angry when she found out that we prepared a back-up gown. She got angry. But then, they were already calling me. I should be in my room by 8 PM and it was 0745 PM already. There's no decision yet about my gown. And Madam Stella said, "Why did you go behind my back". "I knew you would do this to me". And I was like, "Madam, I'm still asking for your permission". "I am not yet wearing the back-up gown". I was like, Madam, please allow me to use the back-up gown. But I was not insistent. She just saw it in my reaction. I was stressed. I was crying. And then, I returned to my room. There was no decision yet about the gown. I lie down on my bed. Then she called on my phone. And she said, "Okay, you can wear whatever you want". "Just make sure you will win" And I replied, "Okay, okay, okay...." And then I told my roommate about it. "May! May! Madam said yes!" My roommate knew the whole story. She knew and she was like, Oh my God! She knew all about it. I remembered during the prelims. When the prelims started and I am already wearing the red gown Madam Stella was in the front row of the audience She was really clapping. She was happy. I was like, oh well Madam was really happy, anyway. But with the blue gown it was the same. I saw that. I just felt that she was scared at the beginning that I would go behind her back. But when she saw that I am actually asking for her permission eventually she trusted me and she softened up and then she allowed me [to choose my own gown] So I was thankful that she allowed me to. And oh, also, Mr. Araneta.... He has something to do with it. He told Madam Stella to let me wear the gown I wanted. Nice one.
They were actually good people. They were like my parents for a period of time.
