FEBRUARY is the world’s love month and in the Philippines it is the “Arts Month”. St. Scholastica’s Academy had its Junior Prom 2020 at the Grand Ballroom of Sugarland Hotel anchored on the theme “A Night of Elegance, Heritage and Culture” on February 29.
The promenade participants were in their modern Filipiniana and Barong Tagalog. Everyone was a prince and a princess during the regal dance at the ballroom. Yours truly was one of the judges who would identify the Prom King and the Prom Queen among the 230 participants.
The hard task was shared by Riah Angelica Celestial De Ocampo (Lin-ay sang Silay 2012) and Raymund Alunan (culture and arts virtuoso of the provincial tourism office). The criteria include suitability of the attire, beauty of the face and figure, relevance of the attire to the theme, poise-grace-carriage, personality and sense of attractiveness, and the over-all impact.
At the end of the ordeal, we identified the King and the Queen: Enzo Dadivas and Rica Respicio. The main hosts were Ryan and Melay Gamboa of Silay with Jegger Anjao’s rondalla providing the music. The dance choreographer was Coycoy Gumia with the assistance of his dance troupe.
Raised eyebrows were asking, “What is a Filipiniana?” Several meanings and interpretations could be given but we can always go down to our history lane. We would safely say that ‘Filipiniana’ could be a blanket term that would cover the varied styles of Filipina dress in a span of long years.
As a colony of Spain, our ancestors were made to follow a patriarchal form of ethics that influenced the ‘mujeres’ (women) to cover up modestly. That gave birth to the thick ‘baro’t saya’ a blouse with long narrow sleeves, a large cape-like ‘panuelo’ (handkerchief) and a wide floor-length ‘saya’ (skirt).
The Maria Clara gown (based on Rizal’s character in the “Noli”) is the aristocratic version of the ‘baro’t saya’. It is traditionally made of ‘pina’. Like the ‘baro’t saya’, it is traditionally composed of four parts: a blouse (baro or camisa), a long skirt (saya), a kerchief worn over the shoulders (panuelo, fichu, or alampay) and a short rectangular cloth worn over the skirt (tapis or patadyong).
The original ‘baro’t saya transformed into the Maria Clara gown which metamorphosed into the ‘traje de mestiza’. At the end of the 19th century, Spain’s dominance declined and the Americans took over bringing in their Hollywood taste in fashion and that ended with ‘Traje de Mestiza’.
‘Traje’ is Spanish for dress, while ‘mestiza’ denotes a woman of mixed heritage. Designers came up with refined Maria Clara. There went shapely and modern silhouette that retains its detailed embroidery. The ‘camisa’ became a clinging bodice and the ‘saya’ looked more exaggerated.
At the start of the 19th century, the ‘terno’ came into the Philippine fashion circle. ‘Terno’ is a Spanish word that means ‘to match’. It alludes the matching of blouse and skirt, joined at the waist to form a one-piece creation, with both bodice and skirt made of the same material.
The ‘terno’ is very much in fashion now. FL Imelda Marcos made it very fashionable during her time. Just like what happened during the prom night, the best Filipinianas were there proudly displayed with the latest in trends of Barong Tagalog. They were the cream of ‘rigodon de honor’.
Our Philippine gowns (vestidos largo) and Barong Tagalog known as ‘indio’s’ suit under the Spanish colonizers are now masterpieces and classic national treasure. Filipinos don’t just make ‘these clothes’. These ‘clothes’ make us Filipinos.*