AN INSIGHT ABOUT THE NATIONAL COSTUME USED BY OUR CANDIDATES IN THEIR INTERNATIONAL PAGEANT

By Alejandro Bustillos

1. Aileen “Leng” Damiles - represented our country in 1996 in the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant. In the national costume presentation, Aileen sported an Igorot costume with matching layers of pots.  The costume was derived from the Kalinga “banga” dance (The Pot Dance). Igorot maidens go to the river and prepare for a marriage ceremony. They display not only their grace and agility, but also their stamina and strength as they go about their daily task of fetching water and balancing the banga, claypots full of water, on their heads. Miss Damiles’ costume tries to be culturally correct and represented the Kalinga’s of the Cordilleras.
   
   

   
   
   
2. Maricar Balagtas’ represented the Philippines in the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant 2004 in  Quito, Ecuador. She wore a costume that became a controversial topic among pageant gurus and newbies. Some liked it and some abhorred it.  It allegedly represented the Pintados of the Visayas. The Pintados ("painted") is a term applied to the inhabitants of the Visayas during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. The name was given to them because they painted their bodies with red clay--or, as some writers say, on account of their being tattooed. Both men and women wear their hair long and fastened in a knot on the crown of the head. The men tattoo their entire bodies with very beautiful figures, using small pieces of iron dipped in ink. This ink incorporates itself with the blood, and the marks are indelible. One can see a poor depiction of the pintados concept in the costume of Ms. Balagtas. In the original depiction (center photo), the Pintados are tattooed all over their bodies.  On the other hand, do you think the inspiration by Barraza is the Igorots? Igorot women in the past are tattooed especially in the upper torso. You can see the third picture of an Igorot maiden who is dancing the “Banga” and is supposed to be tattooed. Whether Barraza’s inspiration is the pintados of the Visayas or the Igorots of the Cordilleras, the presentation is basically a bastardized representation. The upper portion and would have been a fair representation of the tattooed ethnic women of the Philippines but when he included a skirt adorned with flowers, it had become a hodge-podge creation of a designer who is poorly guided with Philippine culture.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Charlene Gonzales’ costume in 1994 at the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant in the Philippines is ethnic inspired. It is very similar to those costumes paraded during the Kaamulan Festival in Bukidnon. The costume is culturally correct and universal in appeal. It is no wonder it won as the best in national costume during the pageant. Now let us see, Nina Ricci Alagao’s national costume during the Miss Universe competition in Cyprus.  The costume’s cut is ethnically inspired. Instead of a headdress like that of Charlene, the designer used the “salakot” as the headdress. But my goodness, the headdress looked like lampshade. It is poor copy and concept of a costume as you can see from the right hand side picture.  Instead of being a national costume, it became a carnival costume...
   
   
   
   
   
4. Fiesta Carnival Motiff – Obviously, despite the fact that a Mirriam and Carla Gay’s national costume is patterned after the terno, it was very obvious that they have the fiesta carnival imprint on them. On Mirriam’s costume, there is the intent to project the Reyna Emperatriz with her headdress. However, it deteriorated to the fiesta carnival category when peacock feathers were added as props and effects. It also reminded me of a terno made by a designer for Miss Israel during the Miss Universe 1994. Carla Gay’s pineapple costume has all the trappings of a carnival costume. It appears very appealing and engaging but it does not radiate the Filipino soul as one pageant writer underscored it.  Jewel Lobaton’s costume was unthinkably Filipino. It has all the festival feeling on. The headdress and the dress itself is very Latina in concept.  Teresa Licaros’ costume appears to be Maria Clara in concept. However, it added another feature that of the Mask reminiscent of the Masskara Festival of Bacolod City. The bouffant and colourful skirt added a festival ambiance to the costume.  Three of these costumes are of Barraza and Jewel Lobaton’s costume was made by a Filipino designer. Now, we can the result with a Latin country fashion designer conceptualizing a Filipino costume and a Filipino designer conceptualizing a Latin country costume. The result is similar to a carnival festival costume.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Karen Loren Agustin’s costume was a Maria Clara dress with the famous Manton de Manila.  The inspiration of course is Manton de Manila which is a dance in which an important prop called the manton, an ornately embellished silk shawl that was brought to Manila through the galleon trade. The dance is characterized by a strong Spanish influence. The women manipulate the shawl with grace and skill while the men play tambourines and execute zapateados. Barraza did well to create this costume probably because of its Spanish influence. However, the accessorizing such as the earring did not come true to form. However, at least it was a supposed to be a step towards the right direction.
   
   
   
   
   
6. The baro and saya combination sometimes called the “patadyong was shown during Abbygale Arenas time. It was authentically Filipino. A salakot (hat) was used to highlight the costume farther probably derived from the “Salakot” dance as seen from the right hand side picture. The type of fabric used for the “baro” was the sinamay and the checkered skirt is very common among folk dance performers in any Filipino fiesta. However, Abbygale’s costume was exaggeratedly decorated as the salakot was embellished with sea shells and even dangling at the sides of the salakot. Authentic but exaggerated.
   
   
   
   
   
7. The Maria Clara –Mestiza Dress Combination. Obviously, Zorayda Andam’s costume together with Lia Ramos, Gionna Cabrera and Pamela Bianca Manalo were Maria Clara –Mestiza dress inspired. Zorayda Andam’s costume was near perfect because it  portrays the gentility of the movements of the “Dalagang Filipina” during the time of Maria Clara. On the other hand, Lia Andres’ costume is but an overly designed Mestiza-inspired wedding gown.
   
   
   The costume of Gionna Cabrera has been accentuated with flowers and a big butterfly as a headdress. What with this butterfly? It is an ornament that is not authentically Filipino in character. Missing among these ensembles is the Philippine tiara more commonly known as the “payneta” that is used to adorn the heads of our Filipina maidens.  On the other hand, Pamela Bianca’s costume lacks coherence most especially at the skirt portion. Barraza’s concept of the Maria Clara-Mestiza dress combination is a hit and miss affair.
   
   
8. Venus’ costume was derived from the Manton de Manila, the tapis (skirt) and the terno itself.  Venus’ costume is almost true to form. It only lacks the “payneta” because it was replaced by a flower. Many comments on Venus costume however were on the use of the tapis and the choice of the cloth and color combination.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Jennifer Barrientos and Shamcey Supsup’s national costumes were both Maria Clara inspired. Both however had butterflies all over the costume. I get butterflies in my stomach whenever i see these costumes. It seems like Barraza has lost his creativity. The “baro” in Shamcey’s national costume is very much like Andam’s costume. It was made worst by the golden butterflies that were placed in the “saya” portion.  On the other hand, Jennifer’s “panuelo” was converted to a standing collar reminiscent of carnival queens with a flowing cloth she is handling embellished with butterflies. The manta de manila was changed with this hanging cloth...What a disastrous type of creativity.