Talk:Barong Tagalog

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I wondered whether the Spanish imposition of the Barong Tagalog on the Filipinos was folklore or not. A further condition regarding the Barong was, in the same untraceable source in which I originally read the contents of the article, that it should have no pockets. Not having pockets meant, to the colonial Spanish, that the Pinoys could not steal the silver.

An ironical twist to the tale is that all visitors to Malacañang (The presidential palace) are now required to wear the barong. Folklore? I've never been invited to the palace. But I wonder if George W. Bush has a barong in his closet. Shirt tails out (to show deference), thin material (he could thus not hide a WMD) and no pockets in which to hide GMA's silver?

An interesting thought! How much of this is truth and how much folklore?

Sean (Cape Town, ZA)

Source: An untraceable email. Hoping there is someone out there who can coroborate/refute.

There is a competing theory which disputes the official story about the barong. The alternate theory is that the barong is the Philippine adaptation of the guayabera, a shirt which is popular in Latin American communities. Harvzsf 06:54, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Well, it seems the some of the Spanish themselves believe the "official" theory. Soluziona, a Spanish company, reportedly prohibits its Filipino employees in the Philippines from wearing the Barong in the office, because of its colonial implications. --seav 14:26, 8 June 2006 (UTC)