Prom Dress Tips and Tricks

Prom nights are just a few weeks away and junior and senior high-school girls can't help but to get excited about what are they gonna wear on one of the most remarkable events of their highschool life.

We know that there are a lot of ideas that's bugging these girls' imagination that sometimes cause the dress disaster. You don't wanna look too mature or too young on a prom dress do you?

Here's some tips and tricks that girls can look into and can help to decide better on the best prom dress to wear.

The Curvy Illusion

Spaghetti strap empire cut short dress

This best applies to slender, thin or petite ladies. Commonly referred to as the rectangular shaped figure.
Belts and dress that emphasize the waistline are your best choice. Empire waist and wide belts can help to achieve the hourglass effect.
Slits on long dresses can also add dimension on a straight body.

The Tall Illusion

Empire dress with assymetrical hemline

Mermaid cut dress

Trumpet dress

Petite girls are the target of this "not so hard" to achieve look.
Wearing wide belts can help achieve the curvy and tall illusion if worn properly. Put the belt just about a few inches above the waistline to add length to the lower part of the body.
Dresses that are no longer than two inches below the knees are the best choice for you.
Pleats, vertical prints and assymetrical hemlines are also helpful to look taller.  Avoid adding heavy or a lot of fabrics and drapes because it will overwhelm the structure of the body.
Body-hugging dress that falls straight to the floor will be fair enough if preferred to wear a long dress, just make sure to compliment it with a nice pair of heels.

Mermaid dress is a body-hugging dress that can compliment a slender body, it has a mermaid's tail-like bottom. These type of dress helps to visualize an elongated body figure. Be careful when choosing a mermaid-cut dress especially on a petite body frame.

Busty or Apple-shaped Bodies

A-line cut dress

A-line cut dress

A-line cut short dress

Girls with busty figure or those that has bigger upper body in proportion to the lower part needs to enhance their bottom part of the torso. Drapes or raffles from the lower part of the breast down to the hemline can help make the lower torso appear proportion to the breast.
Wear a dress that can fully support the breast to avoid wardrobe malfunction. Preferred to wear necklines that doesn't show much of what's underneath, you don't wanna be called out because you forgot that it was a highschool event that you attended and not an awards night.

A-line cut dress is shaped like a bell and will best suit an apple-figure body. It is fitted on the upper torso and gradually widens down from the waist to the hemline. This cut also adds elegance to those who wear it.

Pear-shaped Bodies

Girls with wider hips as their asset needs to work on the upper part of their body.
Wearing dress that has a lighter color on top and darker color on the bottom can also create a balanced look. Sequins or raffles around the neckline can also draw attention to the upper part of the body, can also wear statement necklace or big earrings.

Hourglass Bodies

These girls doesn't have much to worry about picking the perfect dress. They have the body structure that almost every girls dreamt to have. They don't usually need to work hard to enhance a part of their body and they have the privilege to accentuate their best asset which is the waist or the curve although waistline just comes out naturally on a fitted dress, wrap around dresses can emphasize the curvy figure the best.

Athletic Shoulders

If you feel ashamed of those broad shoulders (which for some are not) you can wear a dress with a single strap, because it will create an illusion of your shoulder's width was divided thus, making it look narrower.

Tummy Problems?

Empire cut dresses can help to hide a bigger than usual size of a tummy. Avoid tight fabrics that emphasizes the figure and instead go for dresses that has heavier textures or those that has sequins or ruching, this can actually help to draw the attention away from what's in the middle part.



Also pay attention to the color of the gown or dress that you'll wear. Make sure that it will compliment your skin tone .


We don't actually advice highschool girls to wear a daring prom dress like plunging necklines, short dresses (two inches below the knees is fair enough if you're petite) and spaghetti to no strap dresses.
Just choose the dress that you are comfortable to wear and can make you look decent and presentable.

When Ethics Collide With Religion

This actually took me a lot of time and courage to post. I grew up to respect each other's opinion and keep my nose out of everybody else's business as well as to be neutral on topics that can ignite an unhealthy debate like politics and religion. And so I held back to this topic as much as I wanted to speak about what I believe in when it comes to religion and morality.

I grew up practicing the virtues of being a Catholic, went to an all girls' Catholic school run by the RVM sisters. And even after going to a Catholic school I still continued with living an acceptable if not perfect life of a Christian.
When I came to the point in my life when I'm already aware of the issues about LGBT's and other issues that seem to test the faith of a Christian, I became confused and start questioning myself if I deserve to be called a Christian based on what I believe in.

I'm not an expert when it comes to reading the Bible, though I can consciously remember some important verses that I learned from school. Like how God created the universe and man. And so I was also aware that He created only man and a woman and nothing in between, that's why I understand that there are people despised those who prefers to settle and be married with someone that has the same gender (man to man or otherwise). Thinking about the lesson from the Bible, it made sense to me when it was written that God said to reproduce and spread the Word of God when He made the first couple which is Adam and Eve. And I wonder if God was aware that people are vulnerable to being evolved and changes may occur in the future. Which puts the people on the LGBT community in an awkward position where some people cannot accept who they are and depriving them of their rights of a normal person can have. Which sometimes made me ask myself if its still practical to apply all the Bible teachings in the present situation of the world when a lot has already been changed and a million miles far from how people live their life even before the dinosaurs became extinct.
I don't have anything against what's on the Bible and I can't question the Word of God for it has played a significant role in my life on how to be a good person.
So as I recall some verses, we are taught that God's love is unconditional and that we are already forgiven before we even ask for His forgiveness and that God loves even the most evil person. And from how I understand that, we are encouraged to treat everybody else fairly and we don't have the right to hurt someone especially if there's nothing that we can do to help a needy person. That's why I'm confused as to why Church won't allow the same sex couple marriage. Why are they saying offensive words to the members of the third sex (the Bible didn't say anything about offending people or hurting them emotionally if you can't agree with what they are fighting for). We are here to spread the Word of God and not to be like Him and judge people.

There are actually other reasons why I'm thinking of changing religion but I don't want to dwell much on them, I just emphasized the LGBT issue because I know that majority of the population are already aware and understands the situation. I love how I was raised to be a Catholic, I love the culture and practices of a Christian. I wanna die as a Catholic as much as possible but my instinct of being ethical is bugging me. It is the Bible who taught me to love my neighbors and not to even dare think of bad thoughts about them because that will already be considered as a sin, and that is not what I can see with some Catholic leaders right now.

My rule in life is to live life without hurting other people and to help in the most possible way that I can those who are in need. And not to be judgmental and deprive my brothers and sisters of the rights that we have. Live a humble life and do my best to make an impact on the lives of others. I can't help but to feel sorry for those who are being mistreated whether emotional or psychological.

I decided to speak up after I witnessed a person being bullied about his stand as a Christian and how he believes in same sex marriage. And it actually made me leave a reaction post "Humanity and Equality regardless of race, color, religion, sex or nationality"
And now made me decide that I will keep my religion for what its worth and I will love my brothers and sisters like how I wanted to be loved back, because amidst every debate on how to be a good Christian, I still believe that it all boils down to one rule and that is to respect and love unconditionally like how we always say that God is Love.
Afterall, Humanity should always come first before Religion and Sanity.

Presidential Election History in the Philippines

Filipinos are once again will be given the chance to vote for who they think has the potential to be the next leader. While most of us are busy to dig on the credentials of the candidates let's look into the election history of the Philippines and let it take us back from the very first election to the most remarkable presidential election that our country had.


It's already in the history that the first Philippine president that was elected was Manuel L. Quezon bearing the flag of the Nacionalista Party. The election was held September 15, 1935. And this was during the transitional government called the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

1949 was the year when the Filipinos were able to elect President Elpidio Quirino as a newly independent republic. We used to hold elections every four years, during every second Tuesday of November and inauguration was every December 30th. Nacionalistas and the Liberals are the only political parties during this time where the two-party system of the Third Republic came from.

This was changed after President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and ruled by decree. A new constitution was ratified in 1973 stating the abolishment of the office of the vice president and that the members of the National Assembly (Batasang Pambansa) will have no term limits and that the president may serve indefinitely.  

Constitutional amendment happened 1981 which gives six year term office for an elected president which amidst protests won by Marcos. It was 1984 when the office of the vice president was reinstated by another amendment where the vote for the president is also a vote for the vice president, and was later on changed and gave vice president candidate a separate vote.

1986 was when Marcos called for an early “snap” election, 1987 was supposed to be the next election. And again Marcos and his running mate Arturo Tolentino was declared winners. And that was when Philippines made a history when the People Power Revolution happened that removed Marcos from his position and declared the then runner-up Corazon Aquino as the President.

Year 1987 when a new constitution was ratified, it was identical with the 1973 constitution as far as the presidential election is concerned. It marked every second Monday of May of the election year as the election day and June 30 of the same calendar year as the Inauguration date, and it was 1992 elections when the new constitution was first applied giving Fidel Ramos the position as the newly elected president then. And elections are held every six years thereafter.

1992 was when the multi-party system happened during the Fifth Republic. Fidel Ramos (1992 elections) bears the lowest percentage of votes in history which is 23℅, far from the 40℅ that Joseph Estrada (1998 elections) was able to achieve and 42℅ for Benigno Aquino III (2010 elections) and was both considered as landslide winners. While Gloria Arroyo (2004 elections) and Fernando Poe Jr. made a history by having the closest margin of votes. Before the 2004 elections, Gloria Arroyo replaced the position of the then president Joseph Estrada after the 2001 People’s Revolution. No ruling party ever won the presidential elections since 1986.

Emilio Aguinaldo (1898 elected by Malolos Congress), Jose P. Laurel (1943 elected by the National Assembly under the Japanese Empire) and Ferdinand Marcos (1973 elected by the National Assembly following the new constitution) are the Presidents that was appointed by the National Assembly which we call now the Batasang Pambansa which was composed by the twenty four senators. Contrary to the other presidents that the Filipino voters took them to the position.

ElleMenThoughts:

Looking back from the election history, based on the collected facts Filipinos went through some ratifications in constitution which gave presidential elections major changes especially on the number of years that the elected president will serve his/her term.

Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law was for the Filipino majority the worst among all the government that the Philippines ever had, but some believed otherwise. Freedom of speech suppressed, human rights victims increased are some of the factors that democracy hungered Filipinos despised this law.

Filipinos seemed to learn how to stand on their ground and finally was able to unconsciously find a way for their freedom and made the historical EDSA People Power Revolution. And the power of the people being together as one seemed to work the second time during Joseph Estrada’s term when his government faced the Jose Pidal controversy and was impeached from his position.

People may have different standards and choices in terms of how a leader should be but during critical times, showed unity and fought as one.