World Class Barong, A Peasant Shirt?
pinoyambisyoso.com | Sep 10, 2007 | Comments 12
World Class Barong, A Peasant Shirt.
Press release was made during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Sydney, Australia called the Filipino’s national costume for men as a “peasant shirt.”
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, a delegate to the summit said, “It’s very important that the clarification be made. I’m not sure about the origin personally but at the moment it’s is practically the people in high society and government, this national costume is being used by heads of state.”
What is Barong?
A 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. It is a common wedding and formal attire for Filipino men. The term “Barong Tagalog” literally means “Tagalog dress” (i.e., baro ng Tagalog or dress of the Tagalog) in the Filipino language.
It was popularized as formal wear by Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, who wore it to most official and personal affairs, including his inauguration as president. The barong was officially made the national costume by a decree from President Ferdinand Marcos in 1975.
This Filipino tradition dates back to the Spanish Colonial era. The most common theory about its origins is that the Spaniards made Filipinos wear barongs untucked to distinguish them from the ruling class. Also, barongs were usually made of thin fabric–almost transparent or transluscent–and with no pockets, so that the Spaniards could see that the wearer was not bearing any weapon under the garment. (source: wikipedia.org)
Barong is one of the World Class popular garments of the Philippines and being used by other Nationalities. It’s unfair to be called as a Peasant Shirt.
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I’m Brylle… Naghahanap po ako ng design para sa aming singing group.,, can you show to us your designs? baka pwede kaming umorder.
Ambo,
I want a barong! hahahaha!!!!
reyna elena’s last blog post..Charice Pempengco just made us all Pinoys sooo proud!
Last December 13, Quentin Tarantino, the cutting edge director of “comedic-violent” films, once again generated controversy by wearing the Filipino “Barong Tagalog” during the 65th Annual Golden Globe Awards Night.
The novel sartorial appearance generated equivocal comments. The LA crowd, seeing the “Barong” for the first time, thought the director looked too casual in his “tie-less” get-up. While Pinoys world-wide applauded Quentin for giving their native dress international exposure.
According to http://www.tesoros.ph Quentin was gifted with a ‘TESORO’S” barong by the National Commission of Culture and the Arts Executive Director Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez and by the Film Development Council of the Philippines vice-Chair Christine Dayrit. The Director was presented the 24 hour executed, custom-made barong for his courtesy call to the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Tesoro’s must have done such a good job as Quentin saw it fit to wear the barong again and in front of an international media event at that.
Quentin’s patronage of the barong will endear him in the hearts of the movie going Pinoy (Filipino) public for many years to come.
Kiko, yes i saw him too. Galing di ba?
I was watching the tv the other night here in Dublin and I saw Quentin Tarantino being interviewed in an irish talk show wearing Barong Tagalog.
Di ba galing siya sa ‘pinas? Kitam? pati siya proud isuot ang national costume natin.
Reyna Elena, Kengkay Thanks for the comments. Ate kengks, proud ako sa hubby mo talaga, bukod sa arinola at tabo *lols*, e anjan ang barong tagalog.
basta ako, my hubby have four barongs here sa alemanya. at proud sya kapag suot nya yon. sikat sya
those are really nice! in one of my school functions, a dinner-dance (here in the US), I wore a barong tagalog that i bought at MegaMall when I was home. It was a hit amongst my classmates! hehehe! of course I loved the attention! bwahahah!
i dont want to comment about the so-called panlalait coz i havent read the press release yet. Maybe it wasnt done in bad taste. I don’t know. I still have to see the PR.
But I love wearing barongs. I’m comfortable wearing them. I have two pretty, pretty barongs in my closet. Hehehe.
P.I.N.O.Y I appreciate your comment on this topic. Please continue your visit on this blog.
“This Filipino tradition dates back to the Spanish Colonial era. The most common theory about its origins is that the Spaniards made Filipinos wear barongs untucked to distinguish them from the ruling class. Also, barongs were usually made of thin fabric–almost transparent or transluscent–and with no pockets, so that the Spaniards could see that the wearer was not bearing any weapon under the garment.”
The above article is interesting. We’ve all been thought that Barong was our national costume when we were young and I just took it in. It’s nice to find out from wiki a bit more about it’s origin. Thanks for highlighting that. It made me think a bit more if our ancestors really wanted this as our national costume.
hayun nakita ko na… he he.. kanina walang lumabas eh..
tulad nga nung sinabi ko, yung huli kong suot ng baring eh noong sinayaw ko mami ko… dami kong fans non,
pagbaba ko ng stage ang sabi nila,,, “marunong ka palang sumayaw”
sabi ko naman..
wait till you see me naked..