The clothing style and fashion sense of the Philippines in the modern-day era have been influenced by the indigenous peoples, the Spaniards, and the Americans, as evidenced by the chronology of events that occurred in Philippine history.
History Pre-colonial period During the pre-colonial period of the Philippines, men and women in most ethnic groups wore a simple collar-less shirt or jacket with close-fitting sleeves known as the baro (Tagalog for "shirt" or "clothing", with cognates like barú, badu, bado, or bayú in other Philippine languages; and baju in Malaysia and Indonesia). These were made from rough linen-like cloth woven from native abacá fiber, or from imported fabrics woven from silk, cotton, and kapok, among others. The design of the original baro was influenced by trade and contact with neighboring regions. These influences include the Malay and Javanese baju, and the South Asian kurta.
Among Tagalog men, the baro were commonly paired with loose trousers known as salawal (also spelled salaual) or a rectangular wraparound cloth known as tapis. The salawal were loose knee-length or shin-length trousers adapted from the Persian sirwal (probably via Malays). Similar trousers are still worn by various indigenous groups in Mindanao today, such as the Bagobo saruar, the Blaan salwal, and the Maranao saroar; though these are usually more tight-fitting than the salawal.
The tapis (also known as patadyong or malong in other Philippine ethnic groups, among other names) is a native tubular or rectangular wraparound cloth that covers the wearer from the waist down. It is worn by both men and women.
The baro usually extend to just slightly below the waist. However, in the Visayas, aside from similar shirts or tunics (known as badu, bado, or báyò in Cebuano, Waray, and Hiligaynon, respectively), men also wore colorful robe-like and coat-like variants that could extend to well below the knees (known as the marlota and baquero in Spanish, respectively). These were sometimes belted at the waist. Among Tagalogs, red dyes and gold trimmings were indicative of being a member of nobility (maginoo) or the warrior caste (maharlika).
These clothing were usually colorful with specific patterns and ornamentation (like beadwork) specific to different ethnic groups.
Another common item of clothing is the loincloth generally known as the bahag. They could be made from barkcloth or from woven textiles, with the colors and quality often indicative of the status of the wearer. They functioned as the most basic covering for modesty and were worn as everyday casual lower garments. Among the heavily tattooed Visayans, it was also common for nobility to wear bahag specifically so they can show off leg tattoos that indicate rank and prestige.
Coastal lowlander groups like the Tagalogs and Visayans, also bound their foreheads and temples with long, narrow strips of cloth called putong. Necks were covered with gold necklaces, and wrists with golden armlets called calombigas – these had intricate patterns. Others would wear precious stones.History of the Barong Tagalog by My Barong 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. Commoners wore pudong of rough abaca cloth wrapped around only a few turns so that it was more of a headband than a turban and was therefore called pudong-pudong – as the crowns and diadems on Christian images were later called. A red pudong was called magalong, and was the insignia of braves who had killed an enemy.
Another common pre-colonial headdress worn that can be worn over the head kerchiefs is the salakot (with various names in different ethnic groups). These were lightweight headgear worn as protection from the sun and rain. They were usually cone or dome-shaped, and can range in size from having very wide brims to being almost helmet-like. They were made from various materials including bamboo, rattan, nito ferns, and bottle gourd. They could also be cloth-covered or lacquered for waterproofing. The salakot is held in place by an inner headband and a chinstrap. The tip of the crown commonly has a spiked or knobbed finial made of metal or wood.
The earliest recorded mention of a salakot was in 1521 when Antonio Pigafetta of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition described a "queen who wore a large hat of palm leaves in the manner of parasol, with a crown about it of the same leaves like the tiara of the pope; and she never goes any place without such one."
Women in the pre-colonial Philippines also commonly wore traditional shawls known as the
alampay, which later evolved to become the pañuelo during the Spanish colonial period.
Spanish period
Early records of clothing in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era from the 16th to the 18th centuries were limited, thus the exact evolution of the precolonial baro to the modern barong tagalog and baro't saya can not be established with precision. Based on illustrations and written accounts, however, baro were still largely only worn by commoners during this period. They were mostly identical to precolonial baro and were made from opaque linen-like abacá textiles, and thus lacked the collars, buttons, and embroidery of later baro styles. The couturier Jose "Pitoy" Moreno has hypothesized that this transitional style of shirt was the camisa de chino of later centuries, which makes it a precursor to the barong tagalog. Depictions of members of the principalia upper classes (including natives and mestizos) in the 18th century showed that they invariably wore European-style clothing.
Women's fashion
The pre-colonial tapis lower garments of women, on the other hand, were deemed immodest by the Spanish clergy early in the colonial period. They introduced the long skirt (known by the Spanish name saya or falda) to be worn under the tapis. In the Visayas, the patadyong was tolerated for longer, although it was eventually also replaced with the saya in the 19th century. This type of clothing is what became known as the baro't saya, with aristocratic versions of which also referred to as the traje de mestiza (also called the Maria Clara gown in modern times). By the late 18th century, the traditional everyday wear of women in the Philippines consisted of two basic pieces of clothing known as the pares ("pair"). This consisted of a saya reaching up to the ankles (usually checkered) and a collar-less baro or camisa (usually plain or striped). The name pares was more closely associated with the skirt, which unlike later saya were narrow and sheath-like, resembling precolonial tapis. They were secured at the waist by strings and had wide, flat pleats along the waistline held together by pins. The baro was more or less identical to precolonial baro, with long narrow sleeves. Like later ensembles, these two pieces of clothing were usually complemented by a tapis (which was now worn as an overskirt) and a kerchief around the shoulders known as the pañuelo, fichu, or alampay (made from the same opaque material as the skirts). The fabrics used for early sayas were usually native textiles (particularly textiles made by highlander Visayans in Panay). Later on in the 19th century, they began to use similar imported textiles, most notably the cambaya imported from India.
The narrow width of the 18th-century pares saya, however, made them impractical for everyday life. By the 1820s to 1840s, the saya was replaced by a billowy western-style skirt known as the saya a la mascota. For women of the upper classes (principalia), they were usually ankle-length; while for women in the lower classes, they usually reached down to mid-calf to facilitate freer movement while working. Knee-length versions were also allowed for young girls.
Designs and elements of the dress also later diverged sharply between the lower classes and the aristocratic Principalia classes from the mid-19th century onwards. The tapis for example, which was unique to Philippine women's attire, became much shorter between the 1840s to the 1860s. Due to this, they became more restricted to the native indios, while Spanish women and some mestizas avoided wearing it because of its resemblance to the delantal (aprons) worn by servants. This dichotomy was depicted in José Rizal's 1887 novel Noli Me Tángere where the mestiza protagonist María Clara wore a tapis and a baro't saya, while the pretentious Doña Consolación (a native married to a peninsular) wore European-style dresses without the tapis.
Men's fashion
The first barong tagalog precursor to gain favor among the local and mestizo elites was the barong mahaba (literally "long baro") which became prominent starting from the 1820s. These were much longer than the modern barong tagalog, reaching down to slightly above the knees. They were also commonly striped with bold colors like blue, red, or green. However, they already displayed hallmarks of the modern barong tagalog, including being made of sheer nipis material, embroidery, long sleeves, and a loose silhouette with slits on both sides. However, they lacked buttons. Early examples of barong mahaba usually had high-standing collars or even Elizabethan-style ruffs with narrow cravats. Barong mahaba were generally worn with colorful straight-cut trousers with stripes, checkers, or plaid-like patterns (generally made from imported cambaya, rayadillo, and guingón fabrics), top hats (sombrero de copa), and a type of embroidered velvet or leather slip-on shoes known as corchos. While barong mahaba were generally worn loose, they were sometimes fastened by silk strings through three openings around the waist, either over or under the shirt. The sheer fabric used by barong mahaba also necessitated the wearing of an undershirt, known as camisón or camiseta, which was also worn on its own by commoners.
By the 1840s, barong mahaba largely fell out of fashion. In this period, it evolved into the modern "classic" barong tagalog, being much shorter with less ostentatious folded collars, while still retaining the sheer fabric and other baro characteristics. They were also worn with smaller hats like bowler hats (sombrero hongo) or native buntal hats. They were initially paired with looser trousers, though they gradually assumed the dimensions of modern trousers by the end of the 19th century. The colors of the barong tagalog also became more muted and monochromatic, in contrast to the colorful barong mahaba ensembles of earlier decades. Barong tagalog ensembles from the mid-19th century onwards were usually combinations of black and white, blue and white, or all-white. Baro worn by commoners also favored darker colors like brown or blue, usually paired with white silk pants.
This type of barong tagalog were common among government workers and businessmen, who usually wore them underneath jackets (chaqueta). Sheer baro were also worn by natives and mestizos for fiestas, leisure activities like dancing, or for church. However, western-style suits became more popular among students of the burgeoning ilustrado educated class.
A notable variant of the barong tagalog during this period was the baro cerrada (literally "closed baro"). Its name is derived from its closed-neck collar. It was made from opaque material (which can be white or darker colors) and was paired with white pants. This style of baro remained popular up until the early 1900s.
Indios and mestizos, regardless of class, wore barong tagalog and European-style clothing depending on what they can afford and which were fashionable at the time. The wearing of barong tagalog did have racial connotations however, since most people of unmixed European descent (the insulares, criollos, and peninsulares) retained their own dress styles and largely ignored native fashions.
American era (1900s–1920s)