MANILA, Philippines ? People may think she buys only imported branded items, but GMA 7 talent Princess Violago insists she actually favors locally made goods.

?I want to support Philippine products, like bags and accessories made from indigenous materials,? she points out.

Of course, there are Louis Vuitton totes in her closet, but her favorites are native bags from Batangas and other provinces.

?Your worth as a person isn?t measured by how expensive your things are,? she explains.

Princess swears she has outgrown shopping. ?When I?m in the mall and there?s a sale, I just take a peek and, usually, not buy anything,? she says.

What she?d rather do is open a distribution link for accessories online through her Multiply and Facebook sites. ?I want to show the whole world that local products are just as good as their imported counterparts,? she says.

Dresses

She?s into vintage dressing. ?Since I was younger, I?ve been making my own dresses,? she relates. ?Most of my clothes are custom-made. That?s one thing I learned from French women. They look slim because they wear tailored pieces.

Princess wouldn?t think twice about going to Kamuning for bazaar finds, either.

She also raids mom Bootsie?s closet and alters vintage dresses to suit current trends. ?Wearing vintage clothes makes me look unique at the parties I attend,? she says.

She sums up her fashion style: ?Eclectic, but always classic and elegant.?

Accessories

Princess rummages through her mom?s accessories collection on various occasions.

?My dad (businessman Oscar Violago) bought these pieces in Paris for my mom in the 1960s,? she says.

Her favorites are the Gucci and Christian Dior gold belts that go well with anything in her closet.

Tiaras

As a newcomer on the talk show ?S Files? four years ago, she started wearing tiaras, which became her trademark every time she covered red-carpet events.

She has boxes of tiaras in her closet, most of them passed on to her by her mom. But she seldom gets to wear them now.

These days, she has opted to scale down a bit by wearing less elaborate headgear.

Hats, headbands

There?s a hat rack beside her bed and one favorite is a beret from Anthology.

There are huge, wide-brimmed native hats.

She also keeps a wide array of headbands that she made when she was in high school.

She plans to sell headbands online as well.

Bags

She really loves bags made from abaca. ?I got these native bags from a small store in Lipa,? she says. ?Then I saw them in Shangri-La Plaza. They?re also sold in some London boutiques.?

A mother-of-pearl bag from Firma is another favorite. She saw a mother-of-pearl pouch from the Philippines at the Ronald Reagan museum in the United States. ?It was [former First Lady] Imelda Marcos? gift to Mrs. Nancy Reagan,? she recounts.

Princess also adores a slim clutch made from old French fashion magazines.

Shades

She has Kate Spade shades in her collection?red and embellished with rhinestones.

She also wears Christian Dior aviator glasses.

The green Gucci pair, she says, is a gift from her mom.

Scents

?My favorite is Vera Wang Princess because it bears my name,? she laughs. ?I also use Caleche by Hermes and Bulgari Rose Essential.?

She experiments on fragrances. ?I mix six different scents to come up with my own unique fragrance,? she says.

Stuffed toys

Though surrounded by beautiful and ornate objects at home, the most beloved item in her collection is a simple stuffed rabbit that sits in the center of her canopy bed.

?It?s special because it was given by my mom,? she says.

Mother and daughter have become especially close these days.

?When I was younger, I couldn?t understand why my parents were so protective,? Princess says. ?But now that I?m older, I?ve realized that they were right all along.?

Makeup

What?s inside her makeup kit depends on the occasion. ?When I?m out with family and friends, I just bring blush and lip gloss. At work, I have to bring my entire makeup box,? she says.

When it comes to makeup brands, she vouches for only one name: ?I love Sephora!?
Paintings

She?s a whiz with both makeup and paint brush.

Like her mom, Princess studied painting under Nestor Villanueva, brother-in-law of renowned visual artist Romulo Galicano.

Princess? works, from her earliest childhood doodles (in 1993) to her most recent still lifes, are displayed all over her bedroom. Some of the pieces hang in her spacious walk-in closet.

?Painting relaxes me,? she says.

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com