#terno

we're not going to talk much about men's fashion because although the history of the barong tagalog can be pretty interesting, the Look Itself is not.

let’s move on to women’s attire:

the filipiniana has had many different versions, ranging from the Maria Clara (named after the heroine from Noli Mi Tangere, the novel of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal), to the more relaxed traje de mestiza (which was popularized during the American acquisition of the PH), and the terno, which paved the way for how the modern filipiniana looks like now.

you can see them below in the order of mention, from left to right:

my favorite Filipino designer is Ramón Valera (August 31, 1912 – May 25, 1972), who did some really architectural takes on the modern Filipininia style:

as seen above: Barbara Perez in a Ramon Valera wedding gown. Sampaguita buds (a small white flower) decorate the coronet and cascade toward the hem. the wedding gown of my (delusional) dreams.........

as seen above: A Ramon Valera black gazar evening gown, or `Terno', Philippines, late 1950s, with `butterfly' sleeves, pleated overskirt forming a puff-ball swag-effect to the back, culminating in large silk roses with appliqued foliage in shades of green

but now let's move on to indigenous clothing before we eventually circle back to modern clothing...

i'm most familiar with the Bagobo tribe because of the area I live in, but the Philippines is home to 110 to 175+ distinct ethnolinguistic groups.

why are there so many? well, let's say that you have two mountains that are beside each other, but divided by a river... the tribes on both mountains would end up speaking variations of the same dialect, have variations in their mythologies, and have different sets of cultural norms. this diversity is even more pronounced in the region of Mindanao, which is the southernmost part of the country and the least colonized by the Spanish.

the biggest tribes are the Badjao, Ati, Igorot, Aetas, Tagbanwa, Pala'wan, Molbog, Batak, Manobo, Talaandig, Higaonon, Bagobo, Mandaya, Mansaka, Tagakaulo, Kalagan, Subanon, Mamanwa, B'laan, Teduray and T'boli and the.... okay you get the point.

here are some examples of indigenous clothing/pre-colonial clothing, with some additional info in the image description:

on my (shopping) adventures, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to talk with some local artisans about how they weave and do their beadwork. the attention to detail is absolutely incredible. In the case of the Bagobo, they don’t use stencils or any form of guide for their beadwork. T’nalak fabric, woven by the dreamweavers of the T’boli tribe, also don’t have any such guides for their patterns.

here's a picture of a jacket that i own:

these jackets are usually made of cotton, and nowadays its usually cheaper for the indigenous artisans to buy pre-dyed cotton instead of dyeing it themselves. they traditionally have no lining, and it is hand stitched in its entirety, with no stencils, no marks on the cloth to serve as a guide.

now, there are many modern filipino designers that take elements from traditional and indigenous clothing and incorporate them in their designs. there is a steady increase in truly talented filipino designers, and its always fun to catch up on TernoCon and Vogue Philippines, which always displays amazing talent and puts culture in the forefront.

Here's some pics of where the modern Filipiniana is now, from editorial looks, to celebrity looks, to the more casual looks:

there's some other really good local brands like Kultura (although I find them really expensive), Kaayo, Niño Franco, Aranaz, Halo-Halo, Filip + Inna, and many more... though tbh I buy a lot of my more modern pieces from the local shops here, since some brands have the tendency to act as a middle man between the local artisans and the consumers (that is a whole other topic and I don't have the time to get into that rn)