Barong Tagalog

Barong Tagalog

July 9th, 2010 @ 10:42 am by Mrs. Pashmina
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Barong Tagalog : wedding catalina island cultural menswear Mybarong2 mybarong2

Image from Filipinas

When Filipino men get dressed up, they put on the traditional barong.

No…I didn’t say sarong! A barong is a shirt that falls just past the waist, worn untucked, with long sleeves, embroidery, and buttons along the front. It looks like a Western dress shirt at first but then you see it––it is transparent! (Guys do wear an undershirt…don’t worry!!)

It has been worn for the last four hundred years, ever since colonization by the Spaniards in the 1500s. The origins of it are a little bit fuzzy but they say the Spaniards made them wear them to differentiate the natives from the rulers. It was transparent so no weapons could be concealed, contained no pockets to deter thievery, and was untucked to show their savageness. So why in contemporary times do Filipinos wear this style shirt if it was meant to insult? It has been reclaimed by the people! Just as vernacular words do, so does the barong!! It is now the official dress of the Philippines. AND the style of dress for grooms.

When my groom and I went to the Philippines last year he got his very own. This wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do. We went to a marketplace that had a number of stands set up selling barongs. But my man is a bit bigger than the average Filipino. He is pushing 6’1” and at the time pushing 250 lbs. Most of the barongs were small sizes and when they did have his size they wanted to charge almost double saying that it was extra fabric! Yes it technically is more fabric––but really, double? But it is really nice. The embroidery on each is different and he and his friends had a great time picking his out.

So he has his! He could wear his for the wedding, the rehearsal dinner, or our brunch. It’s a direct import from his native land.

Here is a breakdown of the word ‘Barong Tagalog’:

Baro = Dress

Barong = Dress of

Barong Tagalog = Dress of the Tagalog

Will you or your groom wear any cultural dress for any parts of your wedding?

Tags: catalina-island, cultural, menswear |

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20 Responses to “Barong Tagalog”

Member

Swiss Miss to Bee (message) 1,004 posts, Bumble bee

Thanks for the history, I didn’t know it! Yup he’ll be wearing this for our 2′nd wedding. I debated wearing the women’s version for our rehearsal dinner, but I’m not in love with any that I’ve seen so far.

7/9/10 @ 11:06 am (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Joey (message) 1,031 posts, Bumble bee

Mr. Joey was going to make one but we had a hard time finding him one that would fit from the states. My Aunt brought him back a few but the XLs were like Mediums. Glad Mr. P was able have one made.

7/9/10 @ 11:11 am (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Sushi (message) 1,479 posts, Bumble bee

I wanted Mr. Sushi to wear one at our wedding, but he wasn’t having it.
I hope you post photos of your boy wearing his.

7/9/10 @ 11:15 am (reply)

Member

TheFutureMcBride (message) 4,479 posts, Honey bee

That’s awesome and like @Swiss Miss to Bee, I love the history lesson. McGroom wanted to wear a kilt, but I told him he does nothing Scottish except occassionally drink Scotch and that doesn’t justify a kilt. Sounds mean, but he wasn’t upset by it and it may have been one of his jokes.

7/9/10 @ 11:16 am (reply)

Member

irishcolleen143 (message) 87 posts, Worker bee

I’m so excited that you posted this!

My fiance is wearing a barong for the wedding — even if he isn’t Filipino. I’m half-Filipino and we are getting married in the Philippines, so he and his groomsmen will all be in barongs! I think they’ll look great!

7/9/10 @ 11:18 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Cardigan (message) 8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

That’s so interesting! I can’t wait to see Mr. Pashmina’s!

7/9/10 @ 11:18 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Hot Wings (message) 2,213 posts, Buzzing bee

I love the history lesson too! I’ll be wearing a traditional Vietnamese ao dai, but not the wedding version of it. I hope to see Mr. Pash in one at some point in the wedding festivities.

7/9/10 @ 11:26 am (reply)

Guest

Jessica

This is great! As a Filipina-American dating a tall white male (6′7″!) I’d love to see pictures of your man sportin’ a barong!

7/9/10 @ 12:38 pm (reply)

Member

jingle96 (message) 2,842 posts, Sugar bee

Our dads & “uncles” wore barongs for our beach wedding in Aruba! I love that we added a little bit of our culture to our BIG DAY!! But thats as far as we went, no veil or cord, or money dance!! I guess some tradiational stuff goes out the window when you have a DW in the carribbean!!

7/9/10 @ 1:52 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Sewing (message) 2,701 posts, Sugar bee

i always thought barongs looked super comfy..maybe because of the light fabric? I didn’t know the story behind it, thanks for sharing!

7/9/10 @ 2:23 pm (reply)

11.

Member

MissSocksBMJess (message) 36 posts, Newbee

If I get to have the casual wedding I want, then my bf will wear a guayabera, a traditional cuban dress shirt, very similar to the barong, except it has short sleeves and sort of a tuxedo kind of thing going on in the front. He has a ton my family gave him (we’re Cuban, he’s Chilean), and he loves them! I love the thin fabric. It looks elegant but casual at the same time!

7/9/10 @ 4:32 pm (reply)

12.

Guest

JuniperBee

My BF is filipino, and he hopes to wear one! I love them and think it’s the perfect nod towards his cultural background.

7/9/10 @ 6:11 pm (reply)

13.

Member

Aug2010bride (message) 52 posts, Worker bee

neat! You gotta post pictures…

Everyone is wearing a barong tagalog (fiance, primary and secondary sponsors, ring/coin bearer) for the wedding. We were lucky that my parents were visiting the PI for my cousin’s wedding, so she was able to get it made there.

I never knew the history of the barong. I always thought they were transparent cuz it’s hot there and the thinner fabric made them cooler.

7/9/10 @ 6:17 pm (reply)

14.

Member

Swiss Miss to Bee (message) 1,004 posts, Bumble bee

I love that we have so many Filipino (or at least part) weddings! Does anyone know of a place in the Philly/NJ area where one could go try them on (female ones.) And if you do wear a female one, what do you wear with it??

7/9/10 @ 6:21 pm (reply)

15.

Member

winter (message) 1,333 posts, Bumble bee

i love them i think that they look just as good as a collared white shirt but atleast these have tradition

7/10/10 @ 12:39 am (reply)

16.

Member

mrspaetz (message) 3,805 posts, Honey bee

i was at a Filipino wedding where nearly all the men turned up in Barong. Very nice!

7/10/10 @ 5:44 pm (reply)

17.

Guest

Pastachica

I tried to persuade my husband to wear one for our wedding, but he decided against it in the end. For some reason he took issue with the fact that it hangs outside the trousers. (Maybe he didn’t want to be seen as a “savage”!)

So we added some other Filipino elements instead, such as lechon (pig roast), mother-of-pearl parols (lanterns) and danced the Tinikling (with bamboo poles).

7/12/10 @ 5:26 am (reply)

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