The name of the dress is an eponym to María Clara, the mestiza heroine of Filipino hero José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tangere (Latin for "Touch Me Not").

[3] Filipino art experts, historians, and researchers have four theories on the identity of the sitter in Luna's La Bulaqueña despite the lack of any photographs.

The two books suggested that the woman was one of the daughters of Doña Mariquita Sabas who lived in 2 Espeleta Street, Binondo, Manila, a place frequented by Luna and his brother Antonio for tertulia gatherings.

María Rodrigo Fernando supplier food and carried of messages to Katipuneros hiding in the fields outside her hometown.

Belén Ponferrada of the Malacañan Palace Museum agrees with the findings of the research regarding the woman's possible identity.