The Filipina Dress

One afternoon in a moment of idleness, I found myself talking about wedding clothes with Evan, a good friend with whom I talk to over the AOL instant messenger on a daily basis. I told him, while I adore dresses inspired by Liv Tyler's Arwen costumes from Lord of the Rings, it is far more likely that I will wear a Filipina dress to my wedding. The reasons I gave him are: 1) I will only be married once; 2) I have never worn a Filipina dress before; and 3) the Filipina dress, even in its modern forms, is beautiful and elegant. Evan is a foreigner and has no idea that we Filipinos even have a national costume.

The modern kimona, photo courtesy of MyBarong.net

So this got me googling to find some resources on the Filipina costume, and here are some of the things that I found:

Articles:

• "In a Manner of Dressing: At the Intersection of Clothing, Colonisation and Christianity," by Ava Vivian Gonzales


• "The terno in fighting form," from The Asian Journal Online


• "Women, Citizenship and the Politics of Dress in Twentieth-Century Philippines," by Mina Roces, Ph.D.

Images:

• The Baro't Saya, Balintawak style


• Leonor Rivera, childhood sweetheart of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, wearing the mestiza dress known as the Maria Clara, named after the heroine of Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere. It is said that the inspiration for the Maria Clara character was Leonor Rivera herself.


• The Traje de Mestiza, commonly worn during the American occupation of the Philippines


• The modern terno

Online shops selling made-to-order filipiniana:

• Baro at Saya.com


• Barongs R Us


• MyBarong.com

The Filipina dress is indeed beautiful, with a colorful history and an elegant form. There is more to learn about it, and I believe that I have even barely begun to scratch the surface. If ever the occasion arises, I would be honored to own and wear a full-length terno with its lovely butterfly sleeves.