Malong

The malong is a traditional Filipino rectangular or tube-like wraparound

skirt bearing a variety of geometric or okir designs. The malong is
traditionally used as a garment by both men and women of the numerous
ethnic groups in the mainland Mindanao and parts of the Sulu Archipelago.
They are wrapped around at waist or chest-height and secured by tucked
ends, with belts of braided material or other pieces of cloth, or are knotted
over one shoulder. They were traditionally hand-woven, with the patterns
usually distinctive to a particular ethnic group. However, modern malong are
usually machine-made or even imported, with patterns that mimic the
traditional local designs.

Contents
Description
Uses A Maranao malong with a
Similar clothing langkit (decorative strip)
featuring geometric female
See also okir designs from the
References Honolulu Museum of Art

Description
Handwoven malongs are made by Maranao, Maguindanao, and T'boli
weavers on a backstrap loom. The pattern or style of the malong may
indicate the weaver's tribal origin, such as the Maranao malong landap.
Very rare malong designs and styles can indicate the village in which the
malong was made, for example, the extremely intricate malong rawatan
made only by a handful of Maranao weavers in Lanao del Sur, Mindanao.
Handwoven malongs, which are costly, are likely to be used only at social
functions, to display the social and economic status of the wearer. While
modern malongs are made of cotton and Lurex threads, some
contemporary handwoven malongs are made of inexpensive rayon thread,
to reduce the manufacturing cost to the weaver and ultimate cost to the
consumer. There are many grades of cotton thread, and the cost of a Two styles of wearing a malong
malong can also be reduced by using the lesser grades of cotton thread, or
by creating a loose or coarse weave.

Machine-made printed cotton malongs are made in Indonesia specifically for export to the Philippines, and
are commonly referred to as "batik" because the item is imported; those inexpensive machine-made malongs
are used for everyday purposes. The designs of traditional handwoven designs are used in imported cotton
from Thailand, allowing the purchaser to have a cotton machine-printed malong which, from a distance,
convincingly mimics the look of a much more expensive handwoven malong.
Uses
The malong can function as a skirt for both men and women, a turban,
Niqab, Hijab, a dress, a blanket, a sunshade, a bedsheet, a "dressing room", a
hammock, a prayer mat, and other purposes. A newborn is wrapped in a
malong, and as he grows this piece of cloth becomes a part of his daily life.
When he dies, he is once again wrapped in a malong. Among traditional
tribal peoples, the malong is used in everyday life. Even in areas where Dancers performing the
people wear Western-style clothing during the day, the malong is commonly kapa malong malong, a
used as sleepwear. The malong is also used in very big festivals, they wear traditional Maranao dance
this to show respect. Two are represented in the Ayala Museum Collection: featuring the uses of the
malong
The "malong a andon" on the left, and the "malong a landap" on the right.

Similar clothing
Similar wraparound skirts were also worn by other Filipino ethnic groups in the pre-colonial period, like the
identical Visayan and Tausug patadyong and the shorter Tagalog tapis. However, most of these later evolved
into a component of the baro't saya worn over a longer skirt (the saya or falda) due to Spanish influence.
Some of them survive among more isolated highlander groups like among the Ifugao people.[1][2]

The malong and other Philippine wraparound skirts are related to the sarong worn by peoples in other parts
of Maritime Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor, and Indonesia), as well as the barkcloth skirts
worn by other Austronesian peoples like the direct Polynesian cognate malo or lavalava.

See also
Patadyong
Tapis
Abacá
Batik
Inabel
Piña
T'nalak
Sarong
Lavalava
Longyi
Sinh (clothing)

References

1. "The Filipiniana Dress: The Rebirth of the Terno" (https://www.vintato.com/blog/2019/5/14/the-fi

lipiniana-dress-the-rebirth-of-the-terno). Vinta Gallery. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
2. Coo, Stéphanie Marie R. (2014). Clothing and the colonial culture of appearances in
nineteenth century Spanish Philippines (1820-1896) (https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-011269
74/document) (PhD). Université Nice Sophia Antipolis.
 From the Rainbow's Varied Hue: Textiles of the Southern Philippines. (1998). Edited by Roy W.
Hamilton. Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California at Los Angeles.

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This page was last edited on 16 March 2020, at 12:04 (UTC).

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