Pilita Corrales: The Style Chameleon

'My mamita was thrifty, she enjoyed a bargain and she didn't really splurge. She told me that one doesn't really have to spend a lot to look great,' says granddaughter Janine Gutierrez.

- RICKY TOLEDO & CHITO VIJANDRE

Pilita Corrales was always a vision that captured our imagination. Watching her on television in that fully beaded, serpentina gown singing A Million Thanks to You, defying gravity by bending backwards in her signature liyad pose, it was both a singing and acrobatic feat that no singer ever dared do or could do. She was such an icon that many tried to emulate her singing and her style, including impersonators led by Boots Babushka in the 1970s. A famous hairstylist, he was known as the only one who could come close, immensely amusing Pilita who complimented him and remarked, "Now, I wonder if I'm the fake one!"

But that was Pilita, who was known for her humor and generosity of spirit that made her popular with all demographics, drawing a lot of tributes when her passing last April 12 came out in the news. She said in an interview with Joanne Zapanta-Andrada in this paper once, "You know that many of my gowns have slits that show off my legs. I notice sometimes that the wives get uncomfortable, assuming that their husbands will give me undue attention. Well, these are the women that I go out of my way to engage with during my show. By the end of the evening, these women are all smiles and are happy to have been with me."