Baro't Saya

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. 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'').

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''. The masculine equivalent of the ''baro't saya'' is the '' barong tagalog''.

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").

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'').

History

Pre-colonial era

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; 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''. These types of clothing still survive in non-Christianized groups in the Philippines.

Spanish colonial era

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.

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).

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.

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.

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''.

Gallery

File:Blouse MET 37.109.1.jpg, 19th-century ''camisa'' from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:La Yndia del Campo Tendedora by Justiniano Asuncion.jpg, ''"La Yndia del Campo Tendedora"'' by Justiniano Asuncion (c.1855)
File:La lavandera, de Miguel Zaragoza (Museo del Prado).jpg, ''La Lavandera'' by Miguel Zaragoza in the Museo del Prado (c.1875)
File:Una Mestiza by Juan Luna.jpg, ''Una Mestiza'' by Juan Luna depicting a woman in a ''baro't saya'' (c.1887)
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:Chinese mestizo costume.jpg, ''Baro't saya'' worn by a '' mestizo de sangley'' couple by Jean Mallat de Bassilan (c.1846)
File:2015 Richmond Filipino Festival (20229861080) - cropped.jpg, A dancer wearing a modern ''traje de mestiza'' at the 2015 Richmond Filipino Festival
File:Baro't saya dress.jpg, Filipina woman wearing ''baro't saya'' while working.

See also

* Fashion and clothing in the Philippines
* Barong tagalog
*Manila shawl
* Maria Clara gown
* China poblana

References

External links

*

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