Baro't saya

{{Short description|Traditional woman's costume of the Philippines}} [[File:La Bulaquena by Juan Luna.jpg|thumb|upright|''La Bulaqueña'', an 1895 painting by Juan Luna of an upper class woman from Bulacan wearing a ''traje de mestiza''. The painting is sometimes referred to as the "''María Clara''" due to the woman's dress.]] The '''''baro't saya''''' or '''''baro at saya''''' (literally "blouse and skirt") is a traditional dress ensemble worn by women in the Philippines. It is a national dress of the Philippines and combines elements from both the precolonial native Filipino and colonial Spanish clothing styles.<ref name="Miranda">{{cite news |last1=Miranda |first1=Pauline |title=The terno is not our national dress—but it could be |url=https://nolisoli.ph/52455/terno-not-national-dress/ |access-date=19 February 2020 |work=NoliSoil |date=15 November 2018}}</ref> It traditionally consists of four parts: a blouse (''baro'' or ''camisa''), a long skirt (''saya'' or ''falda''), a kerchief worn over the shoulders (''pañuelo'', ''fichu'', or ''alampay''), and a short rectangular cloth worn over the skirt (the ''tapis'' or ''patadyong'').<ref name="vinta">{{cite web |title=The Filipiniana Dress: The Rebirth of the Terno |url=https://www.vintato.com/blog/2019/5/14/the-filipiniana-dress-the-rebirth-of-the-terno |website=Vinta Gallery |access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref>

The ''baro't saya'' has multiple variants, known under the collective term '''Filipiniana''', including the aristocratic '''''traje de mestiza''''' (also called the '''María Clara'''); the Visayan '''''kimona''''' with its short-sleeved or poncho-like embroidered blouse paired with a ''patadyong'' skirt; as well as the unified gown known as the '''''terno''''', and its casual and cocktail dress version, the '''''balintawak'''''.<ref name="Miranda"/> The masculine equivalent of the ''baro't saya'' is the ''barong tagalog''.<ref name="primer">{{cite news |title=A Guide to the Philippines' National Costume |url=https://primer.com.ph/tips-guides/2017/05/13/expats-guide-to-the-philippines-national-costume/ |access-date=19 February 2020 |work=Philippine Primer |date=13 May 2013}}</ref>

==Etymology== ''Baro't saya'' is a contraction of "''baro at saya''", literally meaning "blouse and skirt", from Tagalog ''baro'' ("shirt" or "clothing") and ''saya'' (from Spanish "skirt").<ref name="met">{{cite web |title=Ensemble: first quarter 20th century, Philippine |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/158138 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref>

==Description== The ''Baro't saya'' is an ensemble that traditionally consists of four parts: the blouse (''baro'' or ''camisa''), a long skirt (''saya'' or ''falda''), a kerchief worn over the shoulders (''pañuelo'', ''fichu'', or ''alampay''), and a short rectangular cloth worn over the skirt (the ''tapis'' or ''patadyong'').<ref name="vinta"/> ==History== ===Pre-colonial era=== [[File:Naturales 3.png|thumb|upright|Tagalog ''maginoo'' (nobility) wearing ''baro'' in the Boxer Codex (c.1590)|left]] Baro't saya evolved from two pieces of clothing worn by both men and women in the pre-colonial period of the Philippines: the ''baro'' (also ''barú'' or ''bayú'' in other Philippine languages), a simple collar-less shirt or jacket with close-fitting long sleeves;<ref name="coo"/> and the ''tapis'' (also called ''patadyong'' in the Visayas and Sulu Archipelago, and ''malong'' in Mindanao), a short rectangular or tube-like cloth worn wrapped around at waist or chest-height and secured with belts, braided material, or knotted over one shoulder. Women also usually wore bracelets over the ''baro''.<ref name="pfmftapis">{{cite web |title=Tapis |url=https://philippinefolklifemuseum.org/portfolio-items/tapis/ |website=Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation |access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref> These types of clothing still survive in non-Christianized groups in the Philippines.<ref name="coo"/>

===Spanish colonial era=== [[File:Ravenet-Mestizos.jpg|thumb|upright|''Mestizos de Manila'' by Juan Ravenet showing the checkered narrow ''pares'' ''saya'' of native women in the 18th century Philippines. Also note the European-style clothing of the men. (c.1792-1794)]] [[File:Fabián de la Rosa - Filipina.jpg|thumb|upright|''Filipina'', a 19th-century painting of a working-class woman in ''baro't saya'' by Fabián de la Rosa|left]] The Spanish clergy during the colonial period deemed the precolonial mode of dress as immodest for women and 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.<ref name="coo">{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Coo|first=Stéphanie Marie R.|date=2014|url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01126974/document |title=Clothing and the colonial culture of appearances in nineteenth century Spanish Philippines (1820-1896)|publisher=Université Nice Sophia Antipolis}}</ref><ref name="pfmf">{{cite web |title=Baro't Saya |url=https://philippinefolklifemuseum.org/portfolio-items/barot-saya/ |website=Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation |access-date=19 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="scott">{{cite book | last = Scott | first = William Henry | author-link = William Henry Scott (historian) | title = Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society | publisher = Ateneo de Manila University Press | year = 1994 | location = Quezon City | isbn = 971-550-135-4 }}</ref>

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).<ref name="coo"/>

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.<ref name="coo"/>

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.<ref name="coo"/>

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''.<ref name="coo"/>

==Gallery== <gallery mode="nolines" widths="200" heights="200"> File:Blouse MET 37.109.1.jpg|19th-century ''camisa'' from the Metropolitan Museum of Art File:Famous Lumban Laguna Maria Clara gownD.jpg File:Rep. Maria Clara Lobregat (8th Congress).jpg File:Una Mestiza by Juan Luna.jpg|''Una Mestiza'' by Juan Luna depicting a woman in a ''baro't saya'' (c.1887) File:La Yndia del Campo Tendedora by Justiniano Asuncion.jpg|''"La India del Campo Vendedora"'' by Justiniano Asuncion (c.1855) File:Filipina woman 1859.jpg File:La lavandera, de Miguel Zaragoza (Museo del Prado).jpg|''La Lavandera'' by Miguel Zaragoza in the Museo del Prado (c.1875) File:Chinese mestizo costume.jpg|''Baro't saya'' worn by a ''mestizo de sangley'' couple by Jean Mallat de Bassilan (c.1846) File:Severina Ocampo de Arroyo painting by Filipino painter Simon Flores y de la Rosa.png File:2015 Richmond Filipino Festival (20229861080) - cropped.jpg|A dancer wearing a modern ''traje de mestiza'' at the 2015 Richmond Filipino Festival File:NAVFAC Pacific Realty Specialist Embraces Filipino Culture During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (14215864736).jpg|Woman wearing a ''baro't saya'' during the 2007 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in Hawaii File:María Clara Ruiz (wife of José Padilla).jpg File:Baro't saya dress.jpg|Filipina woman wearing ''baro't saya'' while working. File:Tinikling folk dance.jpg|Visayan girl wearing baro't saya while performing Tinikling. File:Filipiniana Dress.jpg File:Catriona Gray - NCCA Ternong Terno.jpg File:WLF frobas (2).jpg File:Catriona Gray - NCCA Ternong Terno 05.jpg File:Maria Clara Gown.jpg File:A Governor's daughters Philippines late 1800's.jpg File:US Navy 100525-N-1906L-006 Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jade Zimmerman, right, leads a troupe of tinikling dancers from U.S. Naval Hospital Guam during an Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month celebration.jpg|Visayan Kimona File:Filipina girl wearing traditional Corpiño late 1800's to early 1900's.jpg|Traditional Corpiño which is the undergarment covering the torso, especially the chest, and is part of the whole Baro't Saya attire File:Filipina Embroiders, Late 19th or early 20th.jpg|Filipina embroiderers File:Sinulog Festival (2023) contingents in street dance 10.jpg|A modern ''traje de mestiza'' worn by a dancer in the 2023 Sinulog Festival of Cebu </gallery>

==References== {{reflist|40em}} ==External links== * {{commonscat-inline}} {{Symbols of the Philippines}} {{Folk costume}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barot saya}} Category:National symbols of the Philippines Category:Philippine clothing Category:Women in the Philippines Category:History of Asian clothing Category:Dresses