Dominique Cojuangco plays a princess

Dominique Cojuangco plays a princess
in this real-world fairy tale as she
recounts her personal experience in
this year’s Le Bal des Débutantes
Photography tim griffiths
Art Direction anton san diego
Clothes viviene westwood
Jewellery Payal new york
Le Bal
Must Go On
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philippine tatler . february 2016
old world
splendour
Dominique
Cojuangco
in a gown by
her designer
sponsor
Vivienne
Westwood
philippine tatler . february 2016
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On
November
thirteenth,
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philippine tatler . february 2016
the Paris attacks shook the world. Many
took to social media to express their concern and hopes for better days to come.
After discovering the news, I messaged
Ophélie Renouard to ensure she was safe.
She responded with “All safe! Thank you!
Let’s resume life as usual. Love, Ophélie,”
highlighting that a life lived in fear is
much more frightening. Paris seemed
to have adapted to the same mindset—
jumping back in full swing—with positivity radiating and Christmas lights and
decorations lining the streets.
philippine tatler . february 2016
window
dressing
Dominique’s
cover shoot
took place in
an impressive
Parisian
apartment;
for more
details turn
to “Stately
Perfection,”
(p.192)
5
Debutante balls have been a European
tradition for centuries. In 1992, Ophélie
Renouard founded Le Bal des Débutantes,
an event famous for keeping classic
traditions of glamming up and waltzing.
It is the only debutante ball where tickets
are not available; it is by “invite only.” It
also places high importance on charities.
This year’s proceeds benefitted the Seleni
Institute, displaying the gravity of mental
health awareness. In previous years, the
ball’s donations would go to Enfants d’Asie,
sponsoring education for girls in South
East Asia (including the Philippines), which
have been supported by deb alumni such as
Natalia Zobel de Ayala, Marie Victoire, and
Julia Piaton. Other past debutantes include
Scout and Tallulah Willis, Lily Collins, Bee
Shaffer, Kathleen and Kyra Kennedy, SophiaRose Stallone, Lauren Bush, and one of my
best friends from a summer camp in 2009,
Ashna Mehta.
“They all are such genuine
people; so down-to-earth
and fun-loving that their
names and achievements
come second to their magnetic personalities”
palace
beauty
Dominique
photographed
by the Grand
Palais
6
In addition, this event has now grown
to be more about forming friendships and
making the most out of the memories. If
you put 20 girls in a room from morning to
evening for three days straight, you would
expect at least a little bit of cattiness. But,
I promise you, there was none of it. It was
one of the most refreshing experiences.
We had the likes of Countesses Sarah and
Victoria Faber-Castell from the worldrenowned pencil manufacturing company,
Princess Anastasia Diaz Pallavicini of Rome,
and Olivia Hallisey, who not only won a
2015 Google Science award for discovering
an affordable way to diagnose Ebola, but
is also a competitive swimmer. They all
are such genuine people; so down-toearth and fun-loving that their names and
achievements came second to their magnetic
personalities. The weekend was filled with
sincere compliments, constant laughter, and
memories from the very beginning. I went
to the ball hoping to leave with a handful
of new friends; however, I found genuine
philippine tatler . february 2016
philippine tatler . february 2016
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1
2
3
the princess diaries
1 Having her fairy tale dreams come true at Vivienne
Westwood 2 Renault is one of the sponsors of Le Bal
3 Founder and prime mover of Le Bal, Ophélie Renouard
flanked by guards at the event 4 Dominique in Vivienne
Westwood 5 Dominique with her cavalier Viscount Emilion de
Roquefeuil 6 The debutantes are all smiles on their big night 7
Dominique with her father Tony Boy Cojuangco
7
8
6
5
philippine tatler . february 2016
philippine tatler . february 2016
4
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“Seeing Payal New York’s jewellery for the first
time was like a scene from The Princess Diaries II,
where Queen Clarisse Renaldi reveals all the royal
jewels to Mia Thermopolis”
friendships in every single one of the girls.
There was an honest bond between all of us
that I felt like I had known them for years. I
would gladly fly or take a train for any one
of them for any reason at all. A week after
the ball, I met up with the other debutantes
living in the UK, such as Kareen Fares from
Lebanon, Klió Kosuth from the US, and Zara
Fistolera from Nepal, for lunch at Electric
Diner. After this, we began to plan a summer
trip with each other, and mini trips for the
time in between, which just goes to show
that the bonds we all had formed were going
to last. At that point, we were still receiving a
flurry of messages from the other debutantes
on our WhatsApp group.
The Le Bal experience begins two days prior
to the event, with the first and second day
consisting of photo shoots at Maison Champs
Elysées and being dolled up by the hair and
make-up dream team—MAC Cosmetics and
Alexandre de Paris. They absolutely spoil you
like no other! Our dressing room was filled
with couture and haute couture dresses and
lines of Christian Louboutin shoes. Seeing
Payal New York’s jewellery for the first time
was like the scene from The Princess Diaries II,
where Queen Clarisse Renaldi reveals all the
royal jewels to Mia Thermopolis. I felt like I
was living the movie.
On the second day of shoots, on the side
of my eye I saw Tim Griffiths and Anton San
Diego walk into the room, and I got excited
to see some familiar faces. They notified
me about the Tatler shoot that would take
place. An hour later, in full hair and makeup,
white and yellow Payal New York diamonds,
12-centimetre metallic Christian Louboutins,
and Vivienne Westwood couture, we walked
down the Champs Elysées to the carousel
by the Parisienne Christmas markets. It
reminded me of when my mum would take
my childhood friend Libby and I to a mall
with a carousel in it after school. This would
occur once a week from when I was four to
six. We would go on it for hours on end and
would never tire. They would quite literally
have to pry our hands off of it. Our next
location was across the street by the market’s
claw machines, which further made me
reminisce my childhood pretending I knew
how to play games in arcades. Truthfully, I
would simply press on the buttons aimlessly.
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philippine tatler . february 2016
philippine tatler . february 2016
Still, I loved how everything seamlessly
interlinked. Whether it was because I
overanalysed the situations, or because life
meant it to happen serendipitously.
The second day ended with waltz
rehearsals with our fathers and cavaliers.
Being put into a new setting, like the ball,
I decided it would be best to allow Ophélie
and her team to assign a cavalier to me. I
was already going to be out of my comfort
zone, so why not? They assigned me to
Viscount Emilion de Roquefeuil whom I got
along with on the get-go. During my first
dress fitting, Ophélie was excited to tell me
she had paired us together for the ball—and
with good reason. He is extremely charming
and funny. I have two left feet, so the idea
of dancing made me anxious. Nevertheless,
he was good at leading and distracting me
with conversation.
I went to dinner with Iman Perez, Sonia
Ben Ammar, Ines de Bragança, Gloria de
Limburg Stirum, Zofia Krasicki v Siecin,
the Faber-Castell twins, as well as a few of
the cavaliers afterwards. Though there was
no change in conversation, it was lovely to
spend time with them out of couture, in
casual clothing and more comfortable shoes.
On the morning of the ball, the girls and I
were driven to the Palais de Chaillot in deep
purple Renault cars that were adorned with
the ball’s logo for rehearsals. The Faber-Castell
twins, my roommate Vanessa Wang, and I were
like high school juniors going to prom, asking
the driver to open the sunroof sticking our
arms out to take Snapchat videos of “la Tour
Eiffel.” We did not realise we would only take a
short turn to get to the venue. Even in daylight,
the set-up was already stunning with a close
view of the Eiffel Tower greeting us from the
windows. Chandeliers of cream flowers draped
from the ceilings, with round tables that were
circled with gold chairs, beneath them. A white
carpet ran through the centre of the room for
the debutantes to parade down. The enchanting
atmosphere was heightened in the evening, with
the perfect lighting and music. The debutantes
were introduced one at a time with their
cavaliers. The guests released such a
positive energy that I felt quite comfortable
walking through the room.
The designer that sponsored me for
the big event was Vivienne Westwood
all in the
family
Dominique
with parents
Tony Boy
Cojuangco
and Gretchen
Barretto
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could and took a flight to Paris on the 25th
of November; getting to Paris just in time
to ring in my dad’s special day. Ever since I
can remember, my dad has asked me what I
want to do for his birthday. Never once has
he denied my requests, and this year wasn’t
any different. He flew to London, then Paris,
socialised with the other debutantes’ parents,
and learnt how to waltz. We did not practice
before the rehearsals, but my dad was sweet
enough to pore over YouTube tutorials to
mentally prepare himself for what was to
come. It would be the first time we would
dance together. I chose to not have a cotillion
for my debut. The idea of that much attention
terrified me. The ball was the perfect
opportunity for our first waltz—I was sharing
the experience with 19 other debutantes and
their fathers.
After being introduced by Stéphane Bern
twice, once with our cavaliers, then next
on our own, we had a Michelin star meal
“The ball was the perfect opportunity for our first
waltz—I was sharing the experience with 19 other
debutantes and their fathers”
Kid at
heart
Dominique
has fond
memories of
pretending
to play arcade
games
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tinge of orange. It consists of three pieces
and was inspired by Boucher’s paintings
with its drapes mimicking his brushstrokes.
This is especially interesting to me, having
just finished studying Rococo art at my
university. Bustles have been added to this
dress for the first time, especially done for
me. It is beautiful and simple, but behind
that simplicity is a highly technical and very
carefully constructed dress.
As a child, I was mesmerised by the colour
red. Why? I have never been quite sure.
However, the first time my parents took me to
Paris I stopped them as we passed the stores.
I had seen a red dress in the window that
was ten sizes too big, but I was convinced it
was compulsory for me to own… even after
an explanation as to why it was impractical.
I find it wonderful that, 18 years later, I
am being “launched into society” in a red
dress that fits perfectly—and in Vivienne
Westwood, no less.
Being a 20-year-old in London,
studying fashion design, work can be
very demanding—but when there’s a will,
there’s a way! I finished as much work as I
before the next event on the programme—
the waltz. The music quickly transitioned
to contemporary music performed by a live
band. We danced at the Chaillot until two
in the morning, and then gradually walked
downstairs to return our jewellery before
leaving—it was the Cinderella effect. Our
Louboutins became more of a handheld
accessory, rather than shoes. So, we may
have “lost” them a lot earlier on in the
night, which is somewhat of an unspoken
Le Bal tradition. The ball was over and we
slowly had to return to being the typical
girls we were.
I would like to thank Ophélie, the whole
“Le Bal” team, my parents, the debutantes, as
well as Anton San Diego for this experience.
It was such an honour to be the fifth Filipina
ever to represent the country in a ball that has
been recognised by Forbes Magazine as one of
the top social events anticipated annually. It
was nothing short of amazing. The only thing
I could possibly complain about was having
to test my willpower to deny the platefuls of
macarons they left out for us to eat. And, hey,
I was able to do that too.
Shoes: Christian louboutin; Make-Up: MAC Cosmetics; Hair: alexandre de paris
whose dress craftsmanship is akin to those
seen in Disney Princess, with the bonus of
being as comfortable as sweats. She knows
how to balance traditional technique with
a modern and edgy twist parallel to Le Bal
itself. I had three fittings with the Vivienne
Westwood team—one for selecting, one for
the fitting of the final dress, and the third
to ensure I knew exactly how to put it on.
On the first day of fittings, I walked down
the stairs of the Westwood boutique. The
red fabric that peeped from the centre of
the rails immediately popped out at me.
Ophélie turned to me asking if it were the
one I should try on first or one we should
work up to. We had two and a half hours to
fit and be photographed in as many pieces
as possible. I must have tried on a dozen
dresses, to say the least. But, I think we
were certain it would be the one I would
pick before trying any of them on. The
gown I chose was a bold red colour with a
philippine tatler . february 2016
philippine tatler . february 2016
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