Barot Saya [Female]

  

  

Baro't saya is the unofficial national dress of the Philippines and is worn by women. The name is a contraction of the Tagalog words baro at saya, meaning "dress (blouse) and skirt".

 

 

 

This indigenous mode of dressing of the natives of the Philippines was influenced during the Spanish Colonization of the archipelago. The half-naked style consisting of only the saya (long wrap-around) or tapis (knee-length wrap-around) covering the lower half of the body with bare upper torso, was gradually covered with a short-sleeved, collarless blouse called "baro", the Philippine cognate of the Malay "baju". Early Pre-colonial clothing of groups such as the Tagalog included both baro and saya in matching colors, which was exclusively worn by the women of upper-caste families.^[1]

 

Under the Spanish colonization, the basic outfit had evolved into a many-layered ensemble of the: kimona or inner shirt; the baro outershirt with its usually gauzy materials, fine embroidery and wide sleeves; the pañuelo or piano shawl, starched to achieve a raised look; the naguas or petticoat (in the song "Paruparong Bukid," for example, naguas de ojetes refers to petticoats decorated with eyelet patterns which are visible underneath the saya); the saya proper, laid over the starched petticoat and bunched at the back to mirror the polonaise which was in fashion during that period, sometimes fashionably as de cola or with a finely embroidered train; and the tapis, a wrap covering the upper half of the saya.

 

 

 

 

                                    

 

 

               Barong Tagalog [Male]

 

                                                                                                          

The Barong Tagalog is an embroidered upper garment which is known for being the Philippine national attire for men. Properly referred to as baro na Tagalog (in English: “Tagalog dress”), this costume has a rich cultural tradition of more than four centuries, evolving to redefine its appearance and purpose.

 

 

The Barong Tagalog gained its popularity and respect in the 1950s when President Ramon Magsaysay chose to wear this garment in all his official and personal affairs, including his inauguration as President. President Ferdinand E. Marcos regime, who, in Batac Museum in Ilocos Norte exhibited his very first Barong Tagalog which he had obtained in 1949, issued a decree proclaiming the “Barong Tagalog Week” (June 5 to 11) and officially designating the said dress as the “national costume” of Filipino men in 1975.