Eloisa Del Rosario-Francisco
Eloisa Del Rosario-Francisco, nicknamed “Chic”, obtained an A. B. degree in Communication Arts from Maryknoll College (class of 1972). In her high school and college years, Chic was a member of the Filipinescas Dance Company, directed by her aunt, pioneer choreographer Leonor Orosa Goquingco, who received the country’s first National Artist Award in Dance. Chic’s aunt pioneered in stylizing folk dances and creating her own choreography to weave a story line depicting Filipino life, lore and legend, making a Russian critic observe that Mrs. Goguingco had captured the soul of the Filipino. The members of the company traveled around the world as ambassadors of goodwill. Chic still remembers Filipinescas’ performance at the Bolshoi Theater where she heard for the first time the build-up of a unison thunderous applause besides the standing ovation of the appreciative Russian audience. Chic’s love for the arts was bolstered after the company’s visit to the Hermitage Museum where the great masterpieces of Rembrandt, Rodin, etc were exhibited. And in 2006, when her family visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Chic felt so privileged to have seen the awesome works of the Delph painters from Netherlands –with Vermeer taking the lead-, which were on special temporary exhibit that summer.
For nine consecutive years, Chic R. Francisco owned and operated a made-to-order dress shop in an exclusive subdivision in Metro Manila, Philippines. Through this length of time, Chic gained not only invaluable managerial skills but also first-hand knowledge of pattern-making, having observed pattern-makers at close range. She fortified this knowledge with personal self-study as well as through the trial-and-error method. Eventually, she developed a uniquely simplified method of pattern-making. Realizing that she had something good to offer, she closed her dress shop and in 1981, opened a dressmaking and fashion design school, the Golden Hands Fashion and Arts School. In Chic's school, students were taught on a one-on-one basis with no time limit. Students learned at their own pace and schedule, as most of them were housewives, students of nearby schools using their vacant period. The rest were professionals....lawyers, dentists, architects, etc.
In the midst of operating her school, teaching, and lecturing on Entrepreneurship, History of Costumes, Art Appreciation and Values Formation, she authored despite her hectic schedule, several books, namely, The Simplified Pattern-Making Method of Golden Hands Fashion & Arts School I, copyrighted in April, 1988 with ISBN 971-91349-1-7; The Simplified Pattern-Making Method of Golden Hands Fashion & Arts School II, copyrighted in September, 1988 with ISBN 971-91349-2-5; The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Fashion Designing, copyrighted in November, 1992 with ISBN 971-91349-0-9; Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Pattern-Making and Sewing of Various Skirt Styles, copyrighted in June, 2000 with ISBN 971-91349-3-3; and Simplified Pattern-Making of Ladies’ Wear, copyrighted in June 2005 with ISBN 971-91349-4-1.
When Chic turned 60 in April 2009, she decided to close her school. But being a workaholic, she soon embarked on a new project. Believing that her easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow pattern-making method would significantly enable and empower a multitude of people world-wide, she started her e-learning project. Some of its lessons maybe long in coming because the venture is almost a one-woman project, however, Lesson 3 - The Pattern Drafting of a Straight Blouse with a Notched Collar with Short Sleeves - will be ready, hopefully, soon. In the meantime, Chic admonishes practicing and mastering the lessons that are available. The first two lessons are so greatly dependent on the student’s mastering them so that learning the succeeding lessons will be easy. The realization that the first two lessons are the foundation of pattern making, Chic is giving away these first two lessons for free. Further, they will demonstrate how her lessons will be taught in detail and also give viewers a chance to anticipate and appreciate the value of the succeeding lessons. The availability where the lessons may be found will be posted at www.chicfrancisco.com.