President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address last Monday at the Batasan, and as expected, most of the attending politicians, government officials, and their spouses turned up in the now-customary high fashion style that marks that event.
Many of the traditional politicians wore costly designer dresses. Senator Nancy Binay arrived in a tasteful embroidered Randy Ortiz gown that was a major step up from the kitschy SONA gowns she had worn before. The same designer made Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez’s semi-serpentine column gown.
Among the trapos, the biggest statement was made by Imee Marcos in a yellow and red gown by newly-popular designer Mak Tumang, designer of Catriona Gray’s Miss Universe competition gowns. Red is the Duterte color; Marcos ran for the Senate under that family’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Eyebrows rose at Marcos’ use of the color yellow, as it is associated with their political rivals, the Aquino family, and the current opposition, dubbed ‘dilawan’.
Marcos said she chose her dress because she’s had enough of political bickering (“Sawang-sawa na ako sa bangayan sa pulitika”). In effect, Marcos is claiming back the color yellow from its exclusive use by the Aquinos, and by the end of the day, it was just another color.
The strangest outfit was worn by outgoing House Speaker Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who wore an ugly, ill-fitting, one-shoulder orange and tomato red gown with tacky dimensional flowers.
Semiotically, it said either, “I’m so done I don’t care anymore” or “I’m so wealthy and powerful I don’t care anymore.” As a horseowner friend used to say, a truly rich person can wear a white tee and tsinelas and still be fawned on for the money in their wallet. Or maybe the dress was made for her by someone she loved or didn’t want to offend? In any case, it was a departure from her usual conservative gowns.
Progressive party-list representatives used the occasion to make statements about social issues. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate’s “fashion protest” barong Tagalog sported hand-painted figures that called attention to sovereignty and China-bullying issues.
Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago’s baro’t saya was enlivened by a sash also painted with protest art. She came with two guests; one’s sash read “Stop the Killings” and the other’s had art related to that issue. Both sashes were confiscated by security.
Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas carried a Dead Balagtas-designed fan with the words “Serbisyo sa Tao, Huwag Gawing Negosyo,” protesting water privatization, and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro had a fan reading “#TuparinAngPangako Salary Increase Now!” referring to the clamor for Duterte to fulfill his promise of raising teachers’ and government workers’ salaries.
Some might condescendingly call fashion “shallow” as a vehicle for political communication. They would be wrong. As author and semiotics professor Umberto Eco said, “the whole of culture must be studied as a semiotic phenomenon,” meaning cultural phenomena may be studied as communication. (A simple definition of semiotics is “the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communication.”)
Fashion is an act of protest because through external adornment, one can express a personal or political statement. Clothing clings to the body and may be identified as part of the self, thus making it a perfect vehicle to present one’s beliefs or take a stand on them. One need not say anything when clad in a garment that is an obvious symbol of their advocacy.
Taking it further, being undressed is also a political expression, as when five supermodels including Tatjana Patitz and Naomi Campbell posed nude for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in 1994. “We’d rather go naked than wear fur,” read the tagline on their poster.
Everything has meaning. The expensive gowns mean “I can afford it and I don’t care what you think,” even though the President himself has said that he prefers simple attire at the SONAs. The hand-painted clothes and accessories carry actual messages that inform, persuade, move to action. The use of indigenous fabrics and shoes from Marikina shows a willingness to back Filipino makers and support local industries. The President’s own rumpled barong conveys a disdain for appearances and a sense of hardline individualism— “This is me— take it or leave it.”
The SONA fashion show is a chance to see and know more about our lawmakers and government officials. It’s a chance to find out what their values are, what they uphold and defend, what they think is important—all without their saying a word.
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“Clothes make the man,” so the saying goes, and it doesn’t just mean dressing well or appropriately. It also means your fashion is an extension of your inner self. /FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO