Maria Clara gown

Common card · No. 333553

The María Clara gown, historically known as the traje de mestiza during the Spanish colonial era, is a type of traditional dress worn by women in the Philippines. It is an aristocratic version of the baro't saya. It takes its name from María Clara, the mestiza protagonist of the novel Noli Me Tángere, penned in 1887 by Filipino nationalist José Rizal. It is traditionally made out of piña, the same material used for the barong tagalog. A unified gown version of the dress with butterfly sleeves popularized in the first half of the 20th century by Philippine National Artist Ramon Valera is known as the terno, which also has a shorter casual and cocktail dress version known as the balintawak. The masculine equivalent of baro't saya is the barong tagalog. These traditional women's dresses in the Philippines are collectively known as Filipiniana dress. Along with the barong tagalog, they are also collectively known as "Filipiniana attire".

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