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History of Philippine Fashion

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Introduction For several centuries, during the colonial period, the Philippines has been severely immersed in foreign influences particularly by Spain, Japan and America. Consequently their culture, lifestyle, customs and fashion sense has been mainly defined by influences from these countries as well. However, before the colonization, Philippines has yet to establish its own identity; thus what became the Philippines’ foundation for instituting their nationalistic character was basically colonially inspired. Through the teachings and traditions shared by the colonizers to the country, the Philippines grew to be a very “foreign” country. The Filipino people however did try to determine their own Filipino character but not without …show more content…

Nowadays, the barong has now been modernized with the polo barong, “gusot-mayaman” (”gusot” means “wrinkled” and “mayaman” means “wealthy”), linen barongs and shirt-jack barongs. The baro’t saya is the national dress and is worn by women. This is characterized by having a huge pañuelo or shawl around the shoulders, and the terno, having the butterfly sleeves popularized by former First Lady Imelda Marcos. As the years passed, the influence of the West and the influence of the East on local fashion has made Filipino fashion an eclectic one. Some of the popular Filipino fashion designers we have today include Mich Dulce, Rafe Totengco, and Monique Lhuillier. Looking at its fashion in recent times, it is noticeable that the Philippines has no single fashion style, because the Filipinos as a people have never really developed their own identity. Being colonized by Spaniards for over 300 years, the culture has been heavily influenced and, consequently, both dominated and saturated. This influence is evident in almost every aspect of life – the language, lifestyle, behaviour, clothing, and food. Despite the proclamation of independence from the Spaniards, the Philippines were and still are dominated by Western culture, particularly the American culture. Ruling out the colonization, the Philippines has already had outside influence from its neighbouring countries (China, India) and even Arab influences due to trade. Therefore, even before

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