FASHION BEYOND TIME

SATURDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2011

The Evolution of Philippine Fashion

In the Philippines today, you can obviously see the evident change of the original pre-colonial fashion.
Before, they were ruled by Rajahs and chieftain and had a peaceful existence until the time they
became a colony of Spain. It was an upheaval time for the natives and only a fortunate few were able
to enjoy the fashion trend at its peak.

There was also a time in history when the Philippines were under the influence of the Americans.
Hence, you can see why Filipinos have a tendency to follow everything western from lifestyles and
music to fashions.

Pre-colonial Era

During this pre-colonial era historians have found out that the “Barong Tagalog” (dress of the Tagalog)
already existed. The earliest Baro or Baro ng Tagalog was worn by the natives of Ma-I (the Philippines
name before) just before they were colonized by the Spaniards.
The men wore a sleeve-doublet made of Canga (rough cotton) that reached slightly below the waist. It
is collarless with a front opening. Their loins were covered with a pane that hung between the legs and
mid-thigh. The women also wore a sleeve dress but shorter than the men. They also wear a pane
attached to the waist and reaching to the feet accented by a colourful belt. The materials used for their
dress is of fine line or Indian Muslin.
The Visayan men wore a jacket with a Moorish style rob, that reach down their feet and was embroidered
in beautiful colours. Tagalog and Visayan men bound their temples and forehead with a “putong” (a
narrow strips of clothe). They also wore gold jewellery and other accessories to beautify their bodies.

Spanish Period
When the Spaniards came to colonize the Philippines, they brought with them their own fashion, mostly
with a shirt and standing collar. They also introduce to the natives how to wear shoes and hats. However,
the sad thing was that only the rich and privileged people were able to enjoy wearing those items.
During this time, the “Barong Tagalog” was only used by the “illustrados” with a high collar, lace and
gems as accent to the “baro”. It was also worn with a sash high across their waist with a loose trousers
and slippers or shoes.
In addition, the Tagalog women started to modify their traditional dress (baro’t saya) into a more
conservative look with longer length of the skirt. The reason for this change in their dressing was to
respect the foreign priests. It was also said that the terno used to have seven layers just for the skirt
alone which was impractical for a tropical climate.

American Period
During the American regime, men were more favoured than women. They were given a chance to enjoy
free press and vote in preparation for self-government. There was a bias among gender which you could
see in the way they dressed. Men were given the freedom to wear western suit and jackets (Americana)
while women should wore the “terno” dress with butterfly sleeves and “panuelo” (Filipino national dress).
The women found it unfavourable because by that time they were already entering university life and
professional career. But, the different way of dressing of men and women was a symbol of power
struggle between the Americans (portrayed by the westernised dressing of the men) and the Filipinos
(portrayed by the traditional dressing of the women).

Modern
In the old times, the legs of women were always hidden behind a long dress. However, the 21st have
brought many changes to the Philippine fashion. The dresses and skirts have become shorter. The
blouses have no more sleeves and some even have backless designs. There are many variations that
you can find now, depending on the fashion trend of the moment. The fashion of the Filipinos tends to
be influence by the western people.
But there is one thing that remains constant throughout the years: the Barong Tagalog and the
Filipiniana terno – symbolize the Filipino tradition and culture. Although, you can see some alterations
and addition to the dresses but still the design concept and materials remain the same.

FASHION IN THE PREHISTORIC TIMES

September 1, 2014

The Neanderthal man survived from 200,000 B.C.E to 30,000 B.C.E. they were the first ones to make
clothing. Basically during that time the temperature kept on fluctuating dramatically but their compact
muscles used to conserve the heat. The Neanderthals learnt to make effective tools out of stones which
in turn they used for hunting animals like mammoths, bears, bulls etc. at some point, Neanderthals learnt
to use the thick fur from these animals to keep themselves warm. That is how clothing was discovered.
That is how the Neanderthals used to hunt down animals. And then they used the fur from these
animals to make coats.

Type of coat they probably made.

Archaeologists believe that after thse early humans started using the fur for clothing, they also made
some innovations. According to them they cut the fur into various shapes they liked making holes for the
head and after a point for arms too. They also may have used thin strips of fur to tie it about themselves,
perhaps in the way that belts are used today.
They used to tie thin strips of fur around themselves.

It is also important to note that the trend which the Neanderthals started 200,000 years ago is coming
back. Fur coats are becoming increasingly popular and are a hot trend among celebrities.
Miley Cyrus wearing a fur coat during one of her stage shows.

It is thought that the first assembled piece of clothing was the ‘Tunic’. It was made up of two pieces of
rectangular animal fur and was stitched together with a hole left for the head.
The prehistoric version of a tunic.

Modern day tunic.

The prehistoric tunic was nothing but ‘the ancestor of a SHIRT.’ From that tunic, the concept and ideation
of making a shirt was developed. Thank god the Neanderthals came up with the tunic!
The similarities between a shirt and the tunic can hardly be missed!

Needles were also an important discovery in the prehistoric times. Needles were made out of ‘slivers’ of
the animal bones. They were sharpened to a point at the end and an opening I.e. a loop was made on the
other end.

A prehistoric needle.
 Only fragments of very early clothing have survived so archeologists rely more on cave paintings and the
secondary sources are carved filigrees and such things to develop their pictures of very early fashion or
clothing.