500 YEARS OF FILIPINA FASHION

2020 Asian Pacific Heritage Month 500 Years of Filipina Fashion By: Charity Bagatsing Doyl

Research for this presentation includes:  The Boxer Codex  Emma Helen Blair’s The Philippine Islands 1493-1898  William Henry Scott’s Barangay  Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation  The Henry Otley Beyer Library Collection

Thank You Dean Cameron, DaShond Bedford and Spokane Public Library. They do not however on this account go naked, they wear well made collarless robes which reach the ankles and are of cotton bordered with colors. When they are mourning, these robes are white. They take off this robes in their houses, and in places where garments are unnecessary. But everywhere and always they are very attentive to cover their persons with great care and modesty. Wherein they are superior to other nations, especially to the Chinese.”

Father Chirino - Relacion de las Islas Filipinas 1602 One of the earliest records of Philippine fashions comes from the 16th century manuscript known as the Boxer Codex. 15th century Filipinos were described to wear stylish and lavishly beaded clothing from only the best and most expensive materials available at that time. In 1591, the Chinese merchants sold over 200,000 robes of cotton and silk up and down the islands. This shopping spree caused such an alarm to the Spanish regime because chiefs and slaves wore the same extravagant silk and lavishly beaded outfits, making it impossible to judge their rank from their dress. Another concern was the exorbitant amount of money Filipinos spent on their clothes, which the colonizers maintained should go to the Spanish treasury instead of the pockets of the Chinese traders. His majesty the King of Spain, issued an ordinance forbidding the Filipinos from purchasing garments sold by the Chinese and decreed they should cultivate, weave and manufacture their own clothing. The early 16th and 17th century costumes were chiefly an interesting mixture of Mohammedan, Hindu and Chinese with native elements. The Spanish era brought about Spanish ethics, which influenced Christianized women to wear a skirt called the saya , tapis and a blouse called the baro, which was worn throughout the 400 years of colonization. The baro was of butterfly sleeves made consistently of fine fabrics and was said to have been influenced by the costume of the statues of the Blessed Virgin.

The saya was generally fashioned out of opaque plaid or striped cotton and sinamay varieties, It was to remain unelaborated until the period of intensified global trade.

Since the baro was made of fine material, a square kerchief called alampay, usually made of the same fabric as the saya was worn over the baro to cover the breasts which also doubled as a veil, later called the panuelo.

An overkirt made of darker, thicker material known as the tapis was wrapped around the lower half of the woman’s body and tied at the waist or below the breasts. It was secured in place by the knotted ends or by a length of braided material. In some societies, belt-like pieces were used. The tapis was an assertion of native pride. To this day, the tapis is worn by older women in barrios all over the Philippines.

When the Spaniards ruled over the country, one of their three missions was to spread Christianity. With the advent of religiousity and veneration of the Blessed-Virgin, the Filipino women’s clothing transformed to that of conservatism. Showing off certain parts of the body like one’s foot or leg, was a great taboo. Traditional shawls in the Philippines were known as alampay, these were head and neck coverings among pre-colonial Tagalog women. These were carried over into the Spanish colonial period and acquired European design motifs like floral embroidery (using techniques like calado, sombrado, and deshilado). In addition to the native abacá fiber, they were also made from piña fiber, acquired from pineapples introduced by the Spanish.

They also featured borders of lace or knotted fringes, a Spanish element which itself were acquired from the Moors. These Spanish-style shawls were known as pañuelos in Philippine Spanish and were an integral part of the traditional traje de mestiza fashion of aristocratic Filipino women, as they brought modesty to the relatively low neckline of the traditional camisa shirts. They were also luxury goods exported via the Manila galleons to Nueva España and Europe, sometimes as gifts to royalty. The pre-Spanish costumes styles gradually died out in the Filipino towns before the end of the 17th century- although they persisted in the barrios and among the country people until much later dates. The clothing restrictions imposed by Spain, brought about the use of the starched pina and the finer forms of sinamay and jusi. The addition of embroidery and appliqués as forms of ornament on clothing, brought a delicate perfection to later productions that is unsurpassed in quality to this present day. For this presentation, the focus is on the changes of Filipina fashion, particularly in the Tagalog region. The garments of the 16th century Filipina lady consist of a skirt and a camisa. The skirt was made from either silk, cotton or abaca, while the camisa was made from pineapple fiber and woven into the famous pina cloth. Both separate pieces were heavily embroidered. During the 17th century the Filipino-Spanish mestisa used the dress similar to the European ladies. Consisting of a short skirt, blouse, a hat with the addition of an apron or tapis and a panuelo or baksa. This style however was not very popular and was only shortlived. The baro for the men and panuelo and saya for the women became dominant during the early 18th century. The sarong or tapis was worn on top of the new saya- an interesting assertion of native pride. The short wide skirt was introduced.

The sleeves of the camisa became longer and narrower and were heavily gathered and pleated at the place where they were joined to the body of the camisa.

The panuelo or kadenga was very small - it served like a loose collar around the neck. Many believe this was a native touch deviating from the fancy neck ruffles used by European nobles. Years later, the skirt became wider, but our venerable grandmothers decided to put a lining made of coarse fiber cloth at the bottom of the skirt to make it very stiff. Embroidery was still very much in vogue. Sometime during the early 18th century, an aristocratic lady wore a house dress using a skirt made of heavy lustrous silk of wide stripes and gray colors and topped with a pina camisa. It was an instant favorite with other ladies such as the capitana or wives of the cabeza de barangay or teniente del barrio but for special occasions the addition of a soft beautiful large handkerchief with gorgeous designs was draped over the neck and secured by a brooch. Some trendsetting ladies not wanting to be outdone by their European counterparts added a wide train at the back of their skirts which was bursting bright with tropical reds, blues, greens, yellows and browns.

This later paved the way the ever- popular Maria Clara Era. Maria Clara was the demure heroine of Jose Rizal's "Noli Me Tangere" she captured the beauty, embodiment and charm of Filipinas during that time period. The Maria Clara style is as follows: The skirt is made of liberty silk and the design was made by the wearer. The camisa was embroidered with intricate patterns and designs; it had wide sleeves and the folded panuelo worn close around the neck was a must. The bottom of the skirt was lined with black ribbon or ruffles of the same material as the skirt. In the beginning, this style involved a long train which made walking was difficult and so the train was shortened. Then came the "La Paloma" style, patterned after the shape of a dove's tail. After the La Paloma, the famous De Cola was born, and the train once again became longer. The long-trained skirt was again short lived and the style shifted back to a shortened skirt. The waist was thickly gathered, and the skirt was very wide and hung evenly on all sides. This style is known as the La Maskota or the Balintawak costume. The Balintawak is a traditional Filipino costume that has a shortened skirt, with puffy butterfly short sleeves, plaid textile, and low-cut bodice and at times plenty of ornate embroidery. It was worn during picnics and other jaunts into the countryside. The balintawak was deeply associated with Antipolo, a favorite summer destination for Manila dwellers. This costume was to epitomize Filipina gaiety, light- heartedness and her costuming sense of rural roots. The costume then transitioned into the La Campana or bell skirt - known for its short train and short skirt. This style was supplanted by a more artistic one called the De Abanico or fan skirt. This style features an ingenious insert of a different material shaped like a fan at the bottom part of the skirt. At the time the La Campana and De Abanico was in vogue. The material of the camisa was changed from the durable but heavy pina cloth to the flimsier and airy jusi cloth. The most elaborate camisa blouse was heavily embroidered with point or stuffed needlework. Patterns were usually a big bunch of fruits, flowers, butterflies or monograms and arranged on the front part of the sleeve. This was very popular among the rich ladies who can afford to purchase the silk and materials needed for the work. During the early 1900's came the Serpentina. The skirt was narrowed at the top but generously wide at the bottom, which was lined with stiff cloth made of abaca fiber.

The novelty of this style was the bottom part was separate from the top. The beauty of this style was its circular wide bottom ondulated in every step made by the wearer. The serpentina's camisa was made of sinamay.

This style also opened the door for the now popular terno – meaning the skirt and the camisa match together either in color, design, material or embroidery. The panuelos at this time were unusually big while the sleeves was made to stand stiff with an ingenious crease at the upper part. The Capa de Napoleon, was the next favorite trend. Its greatest innovation was the use of Iloilo rengue cloth woven from a mixture of jusi and pina fibers. The reintroduction of this cloth marked the arrival of the sinamay cloth. This material absorbed starch quite readily and made the camisa's stand up nice and smooth. Sometime during 1913, the whims of fashion dictated the wearing of the wide sash or paja around the waist. The sash was either of black silk cloth or any other color to match the dress worn.

Shortly after World War 1, a new style indicative of the era was marked with the Zeppelin style skirt. The long train made it necessary for the women to sling their trains over their arms, but it was too cumbersome, and this style was short lived. ◦ At the turn of the century with the Spanish and Spanish American war, the Filipinos asserted themselves through crystallizing their identity with costume. For four hundred years, Filipinas wore plain wrap-around skirts (saya) fashioned out of opaque plaid or striped cotton and sinamay varieties, and the baro (blouse) fashioned out of sheer lace fabrics.

◦ In the early 1900’s, the Philippines was acquired by the Americans from the Spaniards. From the Spanish colony, we moved into the American colonial era (1902-1946). This gave way to the “Americana” in the Philippines where Hollywood movies, musicals, magazines were introduced.

◦ Having a Hollywood inspiration, a stunning Filipino costume was created called the “Traje de Mestiza”. Traje is the Spanish word for dress. Mestizo came from the Latin word mixticius, meaning mixed. Roughly translated, traje de mestiza means mestiza dress. The arrival of the Americans marked another change to the Filipino fashion industry. The sewing machine was introduced and the endless possibilities of new stitches and use of different colored threads came into full swing at a much faster pace. Although it could never replace the old-style workmanship predominant years ago it opened another doorway to the ever changing Filipino fashion.

By the 1930s, young adult women and children finally abandoned the typical "Traje de Mestiza" as everyday wear and started to wear floral printed dresses with mid-calf length shirts. Though many women embraced the western ideals, the typical "Traje de Mestiza" was not fully gone.

In the 1930s, the Philippines was famous for its beauty pageants and carnivals that drew tourists from around the world and resulted in influencing the fashion and beauty standards of the Filipino women. The women wore more elaborate and intricate dresses. The "Traje de Mestiza" was still popular to the people through the 1930s. When 1940s came, the Philippines saw the breaking out of World War II resulting in the shortage of tailoring shops, clothing boutiques and dressmaking factories as the country was occupied by the Japanese Empire. The austerity era started when rations were implemented, and the women wore simpler clothing.

The terno gradually disappeared and stopped being manufactured. Only the older people wore their old terno dresses. Clothing boutiques only sold monochromatic dresses, mostly in dark tones. The shirtwaist dresses of the previous decade also became popular in the 1940s with a simpler look. 1950’s and 1960’s When the decade started in 1950, the country saw the rise of economy, once again giving opportunities for people to have more necessities and live in the normal life. When the 1960s entered, most of the styles from the late 1950s still remained; however, due to the rise of British pop culture that spread in United States and other parts of the world, fashion started to change. A new kind of dress invented by Mary Quant, called the miniskirt, mini dresses started to become popular and mod style fashions also emerged. Hair became very stylish as the hair were styled bigger and higher with the use of hairspray. By the mid-1960s, the hemlines rose, and the clothes loosened, influenced by the mod culture. In a nutshell this is the history of the Filipina fashion.

They consciously resisted the clothing sanctions imposed by their colonizers in the 15th century and wisely handled a crisis meant to repress their resources, identity and creativity.

They turned a situation meant to belittle and demoralize them into an opportunity that fans the flames of national pride and identity which burns brighter and stronger after each generation MARAMING SALAMT PO!