Fashion and clothing in the Philippines
With a tropical climate (dry and rainy seasons), indigenous groups wore and to this day still wear colorful woven clothes, often with intricate beadwork and other ornam a type of a collarless shirt – which later became adorned with laces, trimmings, buttons, and a collar – was where from the barong tagalog evolved.
Some Filipinos wear T-shirts together with denim jeans (locally referred to as maong) trousers for men and skirts for women.
Early Filipinos – as well as the still extant tribal groups in the Philippines – wore colorful woven clothes, often with "intricate beadwork" and other ornaments.
[1] Earliest reference to the Baro was in the historical account describes that the Luzones wore a sleeve-doublet of rough cotton cloth called kanga, reaching slightly below the waist.
The doublets indicated the social status and badge of courage of a man; red was for the Chiefs and the bravest, while black and white were for the ordinary citizens.
The early pre-Philippines clothing of the indigenous groups such as the Tagalogs and Visayans included both the baro and saya made from silk in matching colours.
[2] The usual male headdress was the pudong, a turban; though in Panay, both men and women also wore a head cloth or bandana called saplung.
A red pudong was called magalong, and was the insignia of braves who had killed an enemy.When Humabon's queen went to hear mass during Magellan's visit, she was preceded by three girls carrying one of her hats.
[3] The Islamic kingdoms in Mindanao especially the Maranao people have a fashion article for the female called malong, which is a tubeskirt or a light blanket wrapped around the body.
More prestigious clothes, lihin-lihin, were added for public appearances and especially on formal occasions – blouses and tunics, loose smocks with sleeves, capes, or ankle-length robes.
When the Spaniards came and settled in the country, the fashion changed drastically as the Spanish culture influenced the succeeding centuries of Philippine history.
The Spanish dissolved the kingdoms and united the country, resulting in a mixture of cultures from different ethnic groups and Spanish culture.Throughout the 16th century up to the 18th century, women wore a Hispanicized version of the Baro't saya, composed of a bodice – called a camisa, often made in pineapple fiber or muslin – and a floor length skirt, while the men wore the barong tagalog, and, or suits.
Tapis designs may be plain, and is usually made of opaque fabrics such as muslin and the madras cloth, and also is used for the purposes of modesty as it keeps the lower torso from showing due to the thinness of the saya.
The men also continued to wear but a more intricate version barong tagalog, a collarless shirt originated from the ethnic cloth called canga.
Underneath the transparent barong tagalog is the Camisa de Chino a type of shirt, usually in white that said to have been originated from the Chinese.
Some Filipino women who had lived in United States and in Europe wore the western 1920s fashion with loose dresses and knee length skirt.
Men wore the Americana, the suit and coat worn in the West, mostly Americans (hence the name), replacing the traditional barong tagalog.
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.
During the mid-1940s, the clothing boutiques, tailoring shops, and dressmakers stopped operation as the final chapter of the World War II occurred in the Philippines.
The style was inspired by Christian Dior's "New Look" collection,[5] characterized by a below-mid-calf length, full-skirt, pointed bust, small waist, and rounded shoulder line.
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.
Men's fashion shifted towards a more youthful vibe, influenced by the rising Teenage culture seen in Hollywood and by various Teen-oriented Filipino films where they started wearing polos and pants, replacing the suit and coats.
Following the 1986 EDSA Revolution, Corazon Aquino favored western style power dressing and the simpler and more modest kimono in place of the terno.
Men's fashion had a shift as they started to wear brightly colored t-shirts or polo shirts and denim jeans for a casual look, throwing away the more formal look.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Jejemon style clothing consisting of oversized shirts with large prints and high crown hats became popular with teenagers.
While beauty trends include having emphasis on the lips, and contoured cheeks, nude color palettes were also prominent for make-up.
The men's traditional clothing consists of red loincloth called wanes with tribal patterns, tattoos which is a symbol for bravery, and colorful bead necklaces.
Throughout the 17th–18th century, this clothing also became popular to the upper and middle class Filipinos from other parts of the country, mostly urban areas such as Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental and many more.
Most Visayan lowland people wear the typical Kimona, a type of Baro't Saya blouse matching with a knee-length skirt.
[8] Notable Filipino fashion designers include Pitoy Moreno, Ito Curata, Inno Sotto, Rajo Laurel, Kermit Tesoro, Beatriz Tesoro, Christian Espiritu, Auggie Cordero, Monique Lhuillier, Ezra Santos, Mich Dulce, Francis Libiran, Oliver Tolentino, Josie Natori, and Michael Cinco.
