By Robbie Pangilinan
SURREY- She loves style. She teaches style. She lives style.
Verna Almeyda Bohn, a 32-year-old Filipina from General Santos City who is now based in North Delta, British Columbia, says that style can absolutely be taught to a person.
“It takes time and it’s not an easy process but I always get there,” says Verna, who came to Canada 15 years ago.
Verna, who married Irish-Canadian Riley Tough, adds that it is easier for people who are willing to embrace style but more challenging to those who are not open-minded and unwilling.
Bohn knew even then that she will be in the styling industry because as a young girl, she loved clothes, dressing up her dolls or her little sisters.
“It made me feel so happy when they looked good because I dressed them up. One time I was in a party and I met a fashion blogger and for the first time in my life I listened to someone intently in the midst of a chaotic party. So since then my passion was on the rise and it’s overflowing that I had a great urge to share it to everyone,” recalls Verna.
She started doing research and created her own blog, then enrolled in a fashion and personal styling course in the QC Academy of Arts and Design, a Montreal-based academy in Quebec, Canada. Since then, Verna has had a steady flow of clients, from ordinary people who want a makeover to commercial clients like swimsuit designers, TV personalities, and designer or fashion retailers who want to showcase their collection. She was one of the stylists in the very first Vancouver Fashion Night Out.
Verna says that as a stylist and not a designer, she does not usually follow the trend, but there are trends that really work with a lot of people and she has to use the current trend for that type of client.
“Like this year, the color trend is serenity blue and rose quartz. These are my favorites as they are minimalist and focus more on the general outlook of the person rather than the outfit,” she shares.
Verna excitedly says that one of the “in” fashion this year is based on romanticism of the Shakespearean era—lots of laces, nature pattern like roses or leaves on a minimal color like gray pattern on white fabric. On the lighter side, street wear is a big trend, more likely inspired by rappers—sneakers paired up with casual dresses, or hats and sneakers and green army jackets. Of course, a fashion that never goes out of style is the timeless “little black dress,” which Verna says every woman should have in her wardrobe.
Verna’s own style is classic with a twist of freedom. She is curvy, so she wears clothes that emphasize her curves in the right places. She wears fitted to loose clothes, as long as the waistline is not taken for granted. The decade she likes best is the millennium as it has more freedom and people are more creative.
“We bring back fashion from different decades in the past and add a millennium twist. It excites me every time I think of what else this era can create,” says Verna whose fashion icons include Blake Lively and Beyonce.
When Verna styles people, she looks at their personality, as she believes that no matter how good-looking a person is, and no matter how badly he or she wants a certain trend, if it does not fit his/her personality, it is not going to work. After personality assessment, Verna looks at their body type and works around that.
Even when she has reached her dream in Canada, Verna’s heart is still in the Philippines. Someday, she wants to come back home and dress up Filipino celebrities and to share her talent by creating a show dressing up ordinary men and women who do not know that they can look great just wearing the right outfit.
Say hi to Verna or ask her about style by visiting her website wwww.curvesisfashion.com.
