SO who says trashy can?t be elegant? Or ugly can?t be beautiful?? asks Tippi Ocampo in her appropriately titled ?Not by the Book: Fashioning Design.?

Indeed, the fabric cover, corset-like hook and eye-fasteners of this book, which force you to open it from behind, intimate a quirkiness readers will encounter throughout. The book takes us on a jaunty ride through Ocampo?s creative process.

The text is sparse, written alternately in handwritten script and book text, like a scrapbook. We feel privy to the inner workings of the designer?s mind. It is part picture book, part personal musing, part design philosophy.

?Where is inspiration found?? she poses. ?I find it in the ruffled tiers of cabbage at the market, I glimpse it in the shining chrome and quilted seats of a jeepney.?

Visual delight

A visual delight that shows the images that have inspired her, the sketches turning inspiration to fashion and the dresses that they have become.

Not a recipe-like how-to-design book aspiring ?Project Runway? participants are probably searching for (though there is a little section on how to make a lace shrug), but much more useful for those trying to find their own voice or style?a guide for seeing and appreciating the qualities of that which surrounds us.

Ocampo teaches the reader to see the world through fresh eyes and validates the everyday experiences and reflections of the individual as design inspiration. She gently suggests that we reevaluate our aesthetic judgments.

By showing how the corrugated metal sheeting of a shanty inspired her to create crinkled metallic dresses, she playfully pushes the limits of what we accept to be visually interesting and worthy of a designer?s attention.

Antithesis

It is the antithesis of makeover and design features that fill magazines and lifestyle channels, which dictate to the viewer what is beautiful and instruct them how to copy it, for a fraction of the cost.

This is about deciding for yourself what is beautiful and getting others to see it, too. The book makes clear that design for Ocampo is not about the glamour of couture, it is about reflecting and translating the aesthetic of the Filipino, as seen in the stuff that surrounds us, into fashion.

All throughout the little book (it?s only about 35 pages) with big ideas, the book?s designers Cynthia Bauzon Arre, Lizza Gutierrez and Chinggay Labrador ably combine the words and photos to forcefully convey Ocampo?s thoughts.

Beneath the photo of a church?s stained-glass window and image of a saint, the text reads, ?Vision is not a mirage. It is an image that is unwavering and that we see even with our eyes closed.?

Not quite what you would expect from a designer who makes dresses that look like ice-cream sundaes, but then again, the title told us that already.