Traditional Clothing 13
A Research Paper
Traditional Clothing in the Philippines
Aguinaldo, Pia Marie
Birung, Joella Nikole
Dela Cruz, David Carlo
Jacela, Alyssa Reyel
Magabilin, Mariel
In partial fulfillment of the requirements in English II
November 22, 2013
Introduction
Thesis statement:Philippine clothing has an interesting evolution which reflects the beliefs, practices, and society of the country
Body
Traditional Clothing
There are cultural meanings to dresses of native Filipinos.
Barong Tagalog is the official attire of Filipino men from the northern part of the Philippines.
It manifests the mixture of influences from its sources.
Chinese has loose and long lines.
Indo-Malay has airy tropical look.
Hindu has elongated effect.
European has the ornamental restraint.
It is made out of pina (pineapple fibers), jusi (raw silk) or ramie (grass fibers).
Igorot is the tribal costume of Igorots, tribes in Cordillera Ranges.
Its simplicity reflects their way of life, cultures, and other practices.
Maria Clara Dress was named after the fictional character of the novels of the Philippine hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.
It reflects characteristics of Maria Clara such as religious, endowed with beauty and charm, and demure and self-effacing.
Malong is worn by Muslims that manifests the social economic status of the wearer.
Sarok, a headdress from Cebu, means 'to go to water' is used to travel by foot or boat.
Mestiza is a formal dress.
That is known for its butterfly sleeves, it is made of fabric, fine lace and embellished with embroideries.
It is popularized by the former first lady Imelda Marcos.
Kimona dress is originated in Visayas
It can be worn in casual and formal activities.
It is always worn with a patadyong as a skirt.
Muslim attire is worn by the muslims who live in the southern part of our country.
It features long skirts that is woven with metallic threads for women and shorter wrap-round skirts for the men.
Women also have scarves draped from the shoulder.
Muslim attire shows the mix of Arab, Malaysian, and Chinese influence in our country.
T'nalak weave is a traditional clothes in Mindanao made by T'boli people.
It is hand-woven and it is made from abaca fibers that is traditionally red, black and green.
Hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest.
It is particularly used by a muslim female.
They wear hijab to obey Allah's command to cover everything apart from your face and hand.
Bahag is the very first clothing of the Filipino men.
This was used in the pre-colonial period but still used by some people in Ifugao until now.
Bahag is usually made from bark or plain woven fabric.
Tapis was worn by Filipinas in the Early Spanish period.
is a thick rectangular rectangular piece of cloth that is wrapped around the waist over skirts made of sheer fabric.
It was worn with an opening in front and with colors that contrasted with the skirt.
Camisa de Chino is somewhat the same just like the Chinese's traditional clothe of men.
It has a collarless garment with long cuffless sleeves.
Long time ago, women wear heavily-starched, butterfly-sleeved "terno" and a matching long skirt on formal occasions.
Accessories
Accessories worn by Filipinos with gestures show their status and cultural importance.
Abaniko is a fan used by women together with Maria Clara Dress.
The placing of abaniko in the woman's face says something about her suitor. If the woman placed her abaniko on her right cheek, she answered YES; but if she placed it on her left cheek, she answered NO.
A necklace used by different tribes in the Philippines has a tooth pendant which represents their personality as a hunter.
Umbrella is only used by Muslims royalty, usually by a Muslim princess. They use umbrella because it makes a nice fashion statement.
Panglao is a hornbill headdress.
When a person is wearing this, it indicates that its owner is taken a human "head".
Suklang this headdress symbolizes a man's age, marital status, and village – and sometimes, whether he was a successful head hunter.
Transition of Clothing
As years go by, the clothing of Filipinos evolved in designs.
Maria Clara Dress actually originated from baro(blouse) and saya(skirt) that evolved in pairs that came up into a dress.
Terno is a Spanish word "to match" was evolved from Maria Clara. This dress pertains in matching a blouse and skirt forming one-piece creation of a homogenous material throughout.
Conclusion
Philippine clothing has an interesting evolution which reflects the beliefs, practices, and society of the country.
Abstract
Clothing is one of the basic needs of a person. We all need clothes in order to survive. It has many uses and one of these is to protect our skin from extreme temperatures like harsh cold and hotness. Clothes also make us feel comfortable in the way we want to wear it. But clothes are not just clothes it also has its story and origin. In the Philippines, traditional clothing has a meaning, importance and transitions. In this study we want you to know that Philippine clothing has an interesting evolution which reflects the faith, practices, and society of the country.
Traditional Clothing in the Philippines
Clothing in the Philippines takes a very vital role in Filipinos' cultures. It reflects different kinds of beliefs in the country. It also signifies the peculiarity of its people from others. The Philippines was known because of its colonizers. Due to that, cultures and traditions from different nations of its colonizers blended and influenced the customs of the pearl of the orient. Although influenced by colonizers, Filipinos are still creative in making their own dress, you can see it not only in dress itself but in the way they pair it in different kinds of accessories. Yet why do Filipinos give importance to their clothing? What are these beliefs that reflect their clothing?
Traditional Clothing
From different parts of the islands of the Philippines, practices distinct from one another and these reflect the Filipinos' way of clothing. These clothing depend on their way of life. In Luzon, the most common way of life is agriculture. Agriculture is believed to be a simple way of living. Hence, the builders of rice terraces in Banaue, the Ifugaos prefer to use a very simple type of garment. The male Ifugaos wear bahag which refers to the loincloth, is the very first clothing of the Filipino men. This was used in the pre-colonial period but still used by some people until now. Bahag is usually made from bark or plain woven fabric. Similar to this, Igorot is also a tribe in Cordillera Ranges. Their tribal costume is named after their tribal name itself, Igorot. Bahag and Igorot reflect the simplicity of the wearers' way of life, cultures, and other practices. As the season goes on, Philippines had its colonizers. And after being colonized by several countries, customs blended and influenced the nation. One of the products of this is the Barong Tagalog. It is a mixture of loose and long lines that came from Chinese, airy tropical look that came from Indo-Malay, elongated effect from the Hindus, and an ornamental restraint from Europeans. ("Pearl of the Orient," n.d.) Since the national language of the Philippines is also a mixture of different languages and dialects, Tagalog is one of these origins of language and became the national language of the Philippines years ago. For that cause, Barong Tagalog became the official attire of Filipino men from the northern part of the Philippines. Another product of colonization in the Philippines is the Maria Clara Dress. It is a dress worn by female Filipinos which started in a simple skirt (saya) and a simple blouse (baro).This was named after the fictional character of the novels of the country's national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. It reflects the characteristics of Maria Clara such as religious, endowed with beauty and charm, and demure and self-effacing. ("Pearl of the Orient," n.d.) The same with Luzon, Visayas has several customs that affect the clothes they wear. Some of these dresses are Kimona and Sarok. Kimona is one of the significant dresses which originated in Visayas. It is worn in casual and formal activities and is always worn with patadyong as a skirt. Sarok is a headdress that originated in Cebu. It means 'to go to water' and is used to travel by foot or boat. In Mindanao, there are also lots of customs that mark their clothing and another outcome of colonization in the country as well. One of the most famous attire here is the Muslim attire. It is worn by Muslims who live in this southern part of the country. The attire's features are long skirts that are the woven metallic threads for women and shorter wrap-round skirts for men. Muslim women also have scarves draped on the shoulder. Some of the features of Muslim attire are Malong and Hijab. Malong manifests the social class status of the wearer. Hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest of the wearer. Muslims wear this to obey Allah's command to cover everything apart from the face and hand. Another tribal costume in Mindanao is the T'nalak weave. It is made by T'boli people, another tribe in the Philippines. It is hand-woven and made from abaca fibers that are traditionally red, black and green. ("Philippine Traditional Clothing" , September 24, 2012) In the province of Aklan they made a cloth that soothes the way they live. Aklanon people are known as a good weavers of Piña, they made a traditional cloth that they named "Piña Cloth". Piña cloth is a lustrous transparent cloth of Philippine origin that is woven of silky pineapple fibers. In terms of fashion and clothing the Bajau people are very well known because of their weaving and needlework skills. One of the master piece of the Bajau is the badu sipak, it is a brightly colored satiny blouse for women used in weddings. Paired to this is the Kain mogah it is a long handwoven wrap-skirt with supplementary weft motifs. On the other side Bajau male wear badu, a radiant blouse that is usually green, with flared sleeves and cuffs of underblouse in contrasting hue as a wedding attire. ("Philippine Traditional Clothing" , September 24, 2012)
Filipino Accessories and Meanings
Accessories are being worn by Filipinos with gestures to show their status and cultural importance. Some of these accessories are Abaniko, necklace, umbrella, Panglao, and Suklang. Abaniko is a fan used by women together with Maria Clara Dress. The placing of Abaniko in the woman's face says something about her suitor. If the woman placed her Abaniko on her right cheek, her answer was YES; but if she placed it on her left cheek, her answer was NO. Necklace used by different tribes in the Philippines has a tooth pendant. This represents their personality as a hunter. Though there are different tribes in the country, their tribal necklace only vary in the style of the tooth. Selendang is one of the accessories used by the Bajau it is a scarf over the shoulders. Another accessory to be considered is the umbrella. Umbrella is used by royal. Muslim, usually by a Muslim princess. Panglao, on the other hand is used by Ilongot people, an ethnic tribe in the northern part of the Philippines. It is a hornbill headdress. It indicates that its owner is taken a human "head". Bontoc people has this "bachelor's hat" called falaka, it is a garment worn by men who lives in the highlands of Luzon. They are primarily located at Cordillera Administrative Region. Filipino is very well known as a great headgear maker. Another example of headgear is the kain dastar it is weaved by the Bajau and Iranun of Kota Belud. This headgear is worn by almost every indigenous group in Sabah. Lastly, Suklang is also a headdress that symbolizes man's age, marital status, and sometimes, whether he's a successful head hunter or not. Accessories like Mandapun, Sarempak, Galang, Subang, Keku and Ingkot are originated and made by the Bajau. It is made with fine gold and silver. (Philippine Traditional Clothing , September 24, 2012)
Transition of Filipino Clothing
Traditional dresses give its people a unique identity and showcase how creative and resourceful Filipinos are to come up with colorful and pleasurable dresses. Nonetheless, everything changes and tends to develop. So as the years go by, the clothing of Filipinos evolved in deigns. One of which is the Maria Clara Dress which originated from baro and saya that evolved in pairs that came up into a dress. Another one is the Terno which is a Spanich word which means "to match" that evolved from Maria Clara Dress. ( "Philippine Traditional Clothing , September 24, 2012) This dress pertains in matching a blouse and skirt forming one-piece creation of a homogenous material throughout. Barong Tagalog is also an example of evolution of clothing in the Philippines it is originated from the Piña cloth that aklanon weave.
Conclusion
Philippine clothing has an interesting evolution which reflects the beliefs, practices, and society of the country. Just like a kid growing up, Philippines develop through the seasons. On account of that, customs and traditions also progress as with its people's clothing and style. Nonetheless, even though Philippines develop, the traditional clothing and style of Filipinos will always carry its name with pride for it will always be a sign of their peculiarity among others.
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