One memory that stayed with me as I grew older, was the sight of topless women going about their daily chores. This is because I have spent my first childhood years in the city and I was culture shocked when my parents decided to bring me home to the barrio. I never saw anyone naked before and so I stared unashamedly at them .
In those times, in our barrio Taloctoc, women - after getting married - were allowed not to wear any blouse or upper clothing (Yes, they were topless! and no one placed any malice in it.) I would stare straight up at a mother's bare breast, bouncing back and forth as she went around with her daily chores; and no one noticed. (At present, this is not being practised anymore as people became educated about fashion from the city and neighboring towns. Should we consider this as progress?)
During special occasions and fiestas , the native costume for women is a "tapis" which is a colorful, woven, wrap around material that is usually knotted at the waist or tied at the waist. The upper body is covered with a blouse which is from a woven material too, which is cut very simply to accommodate the arms and the neck.
For the male, the g-string is used and nothing more. It is a piece of long rectangular woven material too, that is tied around the man's waist down to his lower body covering his private parts.
They were simple "clothes" for simple people with simple joys and wants. I was not able to capture the bright colors of the Kalinga costume, but hopefully , in the future I will.
The Kalinga Man
As a youngster, he wakes up at the crack of dawn to feed the chicken and the pigs. Then he takes the carabao to pasture before going to school. As the youngster becomes a teenager, he goes to the forest to cut down trees with an axe. As he continues to do this chore, he starts to build those beautiful muscular arms of his. He gathers the fallen trees and makes a big pile. He bundles the pile with vines he collects from the forest, and then he swings the bundle over to his shoulder and carries it all the way home for mother to use to cook the family's supper. By doing this repeatedly, he builds and strengthens his beautiful muscles more.
(picture from me)
"The Kalinga Man and his daughter"
The Kalinga man seeks to better his life, so, he asks his parents if he's allowed to further his education in the city, away from his remote jungle home. His parents agree and send him away with a woven backpack to carry his things. He then enrolls at one of the country's most prestigious universities. He becomes educated in the ways of the modern civilization, and learns how to use and manipulate all kinds of electronic gadgets, including the camera. In order to supplement the money his parents sends him for school and living expenses, he works as a photographer for a local studio that provided him the camera to take pictures of foreigners who are touring his city.