Vogue editor Diana Vreeland once declared “Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events. You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes.” From the corset to the kimono and even the revival of the barong tagalog amongst young Filipinos in the diaspora, the shift in garments reflects the way society views its people, particularly its women. In the Philippines, such is the case of Filipiniana gowns, worn by women beginning in the Spanish colonial period, continuing to the various ways Filipino wedding traditions are re-interpreted today.Discover more about this symbolic Filipinx garment below. Filipiniana, Terno, or Baro’t Saya? Googling the term Filipiniana can be confusing. Its real meaning can be hard to pin down, but its actual history does reveal several forms: the baro’t saya, the terno, the Maria Clara, and the traje de mestiza. You could then say that Filipiniana is an umbrella term that spans different styles of Filipinx dress. Baro’t Saya Fernando Amorsolo Painting As Spain colonized what is now the Philippines, it transformed a mostly animistic set of kingdoms into one, Christian-majority society. It brought with it a more patriarchal form of ethics, influencing women to cover up more modestly. As such, the baro’t saya came to be: a loose ensemble composed of a baro, a fine fabric blouse fitted with butterfly sleeves, and a saya, an elaborate skirt made of plaid or striped cotton. This was inspired by costumes donned by statues of the Virgin Mary. Often, this was also layered with a kerchief-like shawl called the pañuelo, and an overskirt made of darker, thicker material known as the tapis, allegedly an assertion of native pride.With this turn of attire, showing off certain body parts such as the foot or ankles became taboo. Maria Clara Source Wikimedia Commons Through centuries of Spanish rule, the baro’t saya also evolved with ever-changing trends. In the 1890s, what emerged was the Maria Clara, named after the heroine of the novel