The Origin of Barong Tagalog

BARONG TAGALOG



June 12 – the Philippine Independence Day is once more commemorated.


Philippine Embassies around the globe mark this day. OFWS once more dig into their luggage and search for their ‘barongs.’
The barong with all the intricate embroideries is a sight to behold.

The present-day Barong Tagalog

The barong Tagalog (or simply barong) is an embroidered formal garment of the Philippines. It is very lightweight and worn untucked (similar to a coat/dress shirt), over an undershirt. In Filipino culture it is a common wedding and formal attire, mostly for men but also for women. The term "barong Tagalog" literally means "a Tagalog dress" in the Tagalog language, however, the "Tagalog" in the garment's name refers to the Tagalog region, not the region's language of the same name.


The barong was popularized as formal wear by Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, who wore it to most official and personal affairs, including his inauguration as president.


Filipinos don their finest formal barongs in a variety of fabrics.


Piña fabric - is hand-loomed from pineapple leaf fibers. And because Piña weavers in the Philippines are dwindling, its scarcity makes the delicate Piña cloth expensive and is thus used for very formal events.


Jusi fabric - is mechanically woven and was once made from abacca or banana silk.


Banana fabric - is another sheer fabric used in formal occasions. Made and hand woven from banana fiber, it usually comes with geometric design details. This fabric hails from the Visayas island of Negros


The term "Barong Tagalog" is used almost exclusively to refer to the formal version of the barong; however, less formal variations of this national costume also exist.


• Polo barong refers to a short-sleeved version of the barong, often made with linen, ramie or cotton. This is the least formal version of the barong, often used as office wear (akin to the suit and tie).


• "Gusot-Mayaman" ("gusot" means "wrinkled" and "mayaman" means "wealthy") and Linen barongs are barongs that are not constructed with piña, jusi, or similarly delicate fabrics are generally considered less formal than the barong Tagalog. Both "gusot-mayaman" and linen barongs are used for everyday office wear.


• Shirt-jack barong are cut in shirt-jack style usually in poly-cotton, linen-cotton and gusot-mayaman fabrics. Popularized by politicians and government officials and worn during campaigns or out-in-the-field assignments. This barong style gives the wearer a more casual look yet lends a more dressed-up appearance from the usual street worn casual wear.

ORIGIN OF BARONG TAGALOG
As a Filipino, it would be nice to know the evolution of our national dress – from being a ‘peasant’s dress’ to its present position as the National Dress.

A long time before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines, the Tagalog people on Luzon island already wore a dress that can be seen as the origin of the Barong Tagalog. The dress reached slightly below the waist, was colourless and had an opening in front.




The Barong - as a peasant's attire

During the Spanish occupation of the Philippines (over 300 years from 1561-1889) the barong tagalog was required by the Spanish government for Filipinos who they called Indios to be worn at most times to show the difference between the rich and the poor. The poor who serve the rich must always be in uniform.



Take their chauffeurs, maids, and employees as examples. They are in uniform to immediately distinguish them from the employers. When the Spaniards colonized the Filipinos, they had to make it abundantly clear who the boss was through the imposition of a dress code.
Men were not allowed to tuck in their shirt tails. That was the mark of his inferior status. Supposedly, the indio was prohibited from tucking in his shirt, to designate his low rank and to tell him apart from the 'mestizaje and insulares'.
Second, the rulers required that the baro of the indio be made of flimsy material so that he could not conceal weapons on his person that could be used against the masters.
Third, as a precaution on thievery, pockets are not allowed on the shirt.

By the turn of the century a new middle class began to emerge among the Filipinos. These were known as the ‘principalia. ‘ They have mastered Spanish laws and were able to obtain title to lands. They became successful in business and agriculture and sent their sons to be educated abroad. They were privileged to build their houses in the ‘poblacion’ around the plaza near the seats of power.
Only a member of the ‘principalia’ could be addressed by the title ‘DON’, and only they, were allowed to vote. They had all the trappings of power and status, but for one undeniable fact: they still had to wear their shirt-tails out, if only to remind them that they were still ‘Indios.’


What the Spanish authorities did not smother out was the Filipino's will power and determination to psychologically conquer their colonial masters, through improvisation and reinterpretation.


The Filipino's stylistic ‘bongga’ (flashy dresser) was a reaction against the overt discrimination and insensitive oppression of the Spaniards.
For example, Filipinos were forbidden to use imported silk and fabrics for their Barong, so they ingeniously used pineapple leaves to weave the "piña jusi" cloth of the barong, turning the outfit into such a delicate material, of luminous silky rich mixture much finer than silk. And to add insult to injury, they hand- embroidered the front with such exquisite abandon: Calado and hand-work all over.
Palgrave, the ethnographer noted, "The capitan's shirt was the native barong, of fine and delicate fiber, embroidered and frilled; it was light and cool and not tucked in the trousers". (Corpuz, 74)
The Barong Tagalog gained its power, prestige, and status when President Quezon, the first Filipino president, declared it the National dress. The status of the lowly inferior Barong thus became another symbol of Filipinos' resistance to colonization.


After World War II, Philippine presidents began wearing the Barong Tagalog at their installation into office and on every formal state occasion. The barong was popularized as formal wear by Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, who wore it to most official and personal affairs, including his inauguration as president.


In contemporary times the Barong Tagalog is the power dress. As an "abogado de campanilla", you cannot afford not to wear the Barong Tagalog when arguing a case in the Philippine courts.

Today, every visitor and foreign dignitary invited to a Malacañang Palace state function must, by necessity, and dictated by protocol, be dressed to the nines in a Barong Tagalog. The invitations specifically say come in "Barong" instead of the traditional "Coat and Tie".

Thus, every one invited to dinner at the Presidential Palace and in many Filipino homes will unknowingly and unwittingly have to experience directly, what it feels like to have to wear his shirt tails out, to suffer the indignity of having the material of his barong transparent so that he can not conceal any weapon; and horrors, to be accused directly of incipient thievery by having no pockets in his barong to put in the silver.

So, when El Señor Embajador Español is invited to a state dinner, you can savor the thought, "Ah, what sweet revenge!"

Postcript: Although historians disagree to this 'legend' the above version  persists.
Sociologists have argued against this theory, however, pointing out that untucked wear was very common in pre-colonial south-east- and south-Asian countries, and that the use of thin, translucent fabric developed naturally given the heat and humidity of the Philippines. Historians, likewise, have noted the absence of a citation to the specific law where the Spaniards supposedly prohibited the natives from tucking in their shirts. They also note that natives during the Spanish era wore their shirts tucked at times.
Some parts courtesy of WIKIPEDIA.