LESSON 2

PE 111 - PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES TOWARDS HEALTH AND FITNESS 3 - DANCE

 PHILIPPINE COSTUME: FUSION OF HISTORY,
ARTISTRY AND IDENTITY
• Virginia R. Moreno in one of her acclaimed essays – reveals much about ourselves. The high
priestess of Philippine poetry claims that what we wear or do not wear conveys who we are as
individuals and as a people.

• Reflective as it is of a person’s real identity, costume does not only refer to clothes. The grand
dame of Philippine literature explains that the term encompasses make-up, coiffure, hats, combs,
crowns, rosary beads, eyeglasses, gold teeth plates, body painting, tattoos, false nails, leggings,
stockings, staffs and whips, cinctures, belts, jewelry, footwear and all kinds of props like veils,
flowers, coronets, scarves, gloves, key chains, handkerchiefs, fans, umbrellas, money or work
bags, cosmetic boxes, tobacco pouches, tools, baskets, books, knives to swords, animals and pets.
• Igorot
• T’boli
• “Pintados” of the Visayan tribe
• Manobo
• Panay Bukidnon
 PHILIPPINE COSTUME: FUSION OF HISTORY,
ARTISTRY AND IDENTITY
• The venerable lady writer maintains that our costume is definitely influenced by racial laws,
class, geography, flora and fauna, climate, tradition, superstition, religion, work, office,
schooling, war and peace, politics, diplomacy, economics, theater, literature, music and the
arts, games, technology, astrology, the cinema, pollution, various plagues and mysteries.
What we wear is dictated by natural, spiritual, cultural, political and economic realities.

• Philippine costume has evolved throughout the centuries. It may have gone through changes
in the different periods of our nation’s existence but it has preserved its distinctive elements
as a national symbol and treasure.
 THE PRE-COLONIAL ERA

• Long before foreign powers subjugated this sun-kissed and wind-swept archipelago, the natives
already had their own economic, political and cultural system which ranged from primitive
communalism in small and nomadic tribes to feudalism in big and confederated communities.

• There was already a vibrant interaction with traders and migrants from the Sri Vijaya confederacy of
Sumatra in the eighth century and from Java during the Majapahit rule in the thirteenth century. Arabs
from Muslim bastions in the so-called Indies also found their way into the archipelago. Chinese traders
likewise brought their merchandise, a contact which commenced in 1066 B.C. during the Chou
dynasty and which continued through the Tang, Sung and Ming dynasties from the seventh century to
the fifteenth century. Sea-faring natives likewise sailed to China bringing with them tropical goods.
 THE SPANISH ERA

• The arrival of foreign colonizers in 1521 signaled the beginning of a bitter-sweet encounter between the
West and the East, an encounter which led to the economic, political and cultural domination by the
sword and the cross. This complicated period in the lives of the natives is said to have created two sets
of costume traditions which shaped a hybrid dress sense – the tradition-inspired native costume and the
drastically-introduced lavish foreign one.

• Spanish missionaries who were ignorantly appalled by what they perceived as scandalous nudity of the
unselfconscious natives imposed sanctions such that ridiculous body coverings were added in spite of
the prevailing tropical climate in the Philippines. The military gear of the colonial forces and the clerical
vestments of religious missionaries comprised the two predominant dress themes during the period.
 THE SPANISH ERA

• Accustomed as they were to the two-season tropical climate, the subjugated natives preferred to
wear practical and functional clothes.

• Men wore the camisa, a collarless garment with long, cuffless sleeve which was usually made of
light and translucent materials like cotton, sinamay or piña cloth.

• Women garbed themselves in baro’t saya, a two-piece ensemble typically supplemented by the
tapis skirt of old and the kerchief called alampay. The baro was a loose, long-sleeved blouse made
of sheer fabrics while the saya was a wide, ankle-length skirt made of cotton or sinamay varieties
 THE SPANISH ERA

• The galleon trade between Manila and Acapulco from 1565 to 1815 did not only mark the dawning of
global mercantilism and commerce. Acapulco would receive premium goods from the East shipped by
trade wind-dependent galleons which also ferried some of the West’s finest wares to Manila. Silk and
dyes from Asian territories were traded for European wool, linen, carpets, porcelain and jewelry. Along
with new customs came the heavily-draped and somber-colored European attire preferred by Spanish
colonizers whose tastes and sensibilities went against the hot and humid environment of the conquered
isles.

• Galleons also carried a certain type of intricately-designed shawl, the Mantones de Manila, which were
made in China and exported to the Iberian Peninsula where aristocratic people bask in luxury and vanity.
 THE SPANISH ERA

• Philippine costume never lost its indigenous elements despite the Castilian’s ostentatious bias for
European attire. The camisa would later be transformed into the barong Tagalog, a nineteenth
century male attire with collar, cuffs, shirrs and pleats. The baro’t saya would later evolve into the
Maria Clara, a four-piece costume which includes the collarless waistlength, bell-sleeved camisa; the
bubble-shaped, floor-length saya; the stiff, neck-covering pañuelo; and the hip-hugging, knee-length
tapis.

• It is said that their sense of national pride inspired the heroic men and women of the 1896 Philippine
Revolution against Spain to cling to the indigenous costume amidst the highs and lows of the first
successful Asian struggle against foreign domination.
 THE AMERICAN ERA

• American invaders who bought the archipelago from Spain in 1898 introduced new trends in ordinary and
formal wear in the Philippines. Civilian officials would roam around in white tropical suits, close buttoned
safari helmet hats and white shoes. Other personnel involved in peace and order and health activities wore
plain khaki uniforms.

• Caught in the midst of the abrupt change from conservative feudal dominion to liberal capitalist domination
the women of the period opted to wear short-sleeved blouse and straighter, plainer skirt. The massive influx
of American and other foreign goods brought by ships made Manila Bay a busy commercial destination.
Local men and women became more aware of Western fashion fads. American stars had extensive influence
on the fashion taste and choice of urban dwellers and the new colonizers’ trusted minions in rural places.
The so-called screen gods and goddesses of Hollywood served as the locals’ ultimate fashion icons.
 THE PRESENT DAY CHALLENGE

• We who belong to the age of a fast-paced and borderless global society have no other choice
but to preserve and promote Philippine costume, a truly precious legacy of our glorious saga
as a people. This is the least that we can do as vanguards of Philippine culture, our simple
but meaningful offering to past and future generations.
OPEN FORUM