One of the good things about Canada is that I can wear funky ethnic
outfits. I invariably get complimented whether I'm at a geek
get-together or a fashion boutique. I stand out in a crowd. It gives
people something to talk to me about, which has led to quite a few
interesting conversations. This is great when I'm among strangers, as
I don't have to chat people up – people come to me!

My favorite ethnic outfit is the malong, a tubular piece of cloth
frequently embellished with batik designs or embroidery. I love it for
its versatility. Not only can it go from casual to formal and back
again, but I can also make it a skirt or a dress or a bag with just
the strategic repositioning of safety pins.

This malong:

1. Slip into the malong's tube and hold it so that the extra part is to your right.
2. Loop the extra part behind and over your right arm.
3. Fasten the part to both sides of the tube using a safety pin.
4. Pin the fold to the opposite side.

Granted, I'm making things up as I go along. I don't even have the
vocabulary to describe what I'm doing. <laugh> I'll just have to
record a video sometime.

I've seen only one other person wear a malong regularly, and she was
one of the hippest dressers in Ateneo de Manila University. I have
three full malongs and two skirt-type malongs, which could probably
double as short dresses in a pinch. I want more!

Promoting traditional Filipino costumes is one of my little crusades.
I think we don't give our culture enough credit, and we don't have
nearly as much fun wearing traditional outfits as we could. I love
wearing my terno, and wish I had a more casual version that I could
wear during summer. I'd wear a Maria Clara if I had one, full skirt
and all. I would love to wear the Ifugao belt with the cute pompoms
and the tapis with intricate weaving. And I want to discover all the
other costumes that have sprung out of the multifaceted culture of an
archipelago.

I'd also love to have suits with ethnic accents, whether it's in terms
of materials (I miss my barong dress!) or embellishments such as
weaving or embroidery. Does anyone know a fashion designer in touch
with the Filipina soul? I can't afford an entire wardrobe of
custom-made suits, but I don't mind slowly accumulating pieces of
quality. (Very slowly, given my graduate student budget!) I want to
promote Philippine culture, and this will be a lifelong endeavor.

I'm Filipina, and I want people to know it. I want people to think of
Filipinas as not just domestic helpers or nurses or potential wives. I
want them to think of Philippine culture as not just Western-aping
blandness but rather something richly textured. My body is my
billboard, and I want to be a walking advertisement for what is
beautiful about my home.

• Previous malong entry
• Wikipedia: Malong
• People who linked here: Filipino Librarian

Photo taken by Matthew Burpee

I have no problems turning up at a high-tech geek get-together about Enterprise 2.0 wearing a ruffled blouse and a flowing skirt.

And I got there on a skateboard, too. ;)

I love wearing ethnic clothes. Traditional outfits are hip enough to
pass off as casual but dignified enough to go formal, possible with a
little creative re-pinning. I love wearing batik-dyed or embroidered
malongs, the simple tubular skirts that can be turned into dresses and
sashes and sleeping bags depending on need. I love wearing my
butterfly-sleeved terno and wish I had one that looked less formal.
The gold-threaded cream blouse makes it too dressy, but I wear it
anyway!

Of all the costumes I wear—from hacked computer T-shirts to flowing
skirts to jeans and a tee—I like the traditional ones the most.

Thanks, Mom, for sending me two more malongs and a few black tops!
Thanks to Pavel and Emily for bringing them from the Philippines!
I want more outfits…

Henceforth, all of my dressy clothes will be either white or black –
something I can either bleach or dye the heck out of just in case it
gets stained. Either that, or they should be cheap but wonderful. =)

I simply can't resist wordplay when it comes to hacking T-shirts. The
bright orange T-shirt I bought at the Wireless Toronto anniversary
party has, now, well, wires – or laces, at least. It laces up the back
with strips cut from the T-shirt. (I didn't have spare CAT5 lying
around…) Like most shirts, the armholes were way too big, so I cut a
panel down the back and used that as a bandeau under the rest of the
shirt. The panel was just a _bit_ too short, so I laced that one up in
front, too.

Yes, yes, a picture's worth a thousand words, but I seem to have left
the cable for my camera at the lab. That said, I have a totally
small-time studio now: one warm light (from Ikea), a plastic tripod
($3 at Active Surplus), and a camera set to manual + timer…

If I had a remote and a full-length mirror, that would be even cooler.
That way, I could trigger the timer while making sure I'm in frame.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun making the shirt. I'm thinking of making
short vidcasts showing my different hacked-up computer shirts and
talking a little bit about the events/technologies behind them. =) (If
only to show everyone that yes, you can be a geek _and_ still have fun
being a girl!)

I gave a talk at IBM on a few cool technologies that interns should
know about: blogging, social bookmarking, and the corporate directory.
I dressed up a little for it. I changed as soon as I got home, of
course, trading the pinstripe blazer and skirt for a thoroughly pink
and frilly outfit consisting of a T-shirt, a miniskirt (hello,
Kathy!), pink socks trimmed with lace, and red shoes.

Sometimes you just have to let loose. =)

It's a good thing that the campus bookstore had a sale on clothing and
other school items, as I needed to pick up a few things. I don't mind
advertising things I like, and the university has been very good to
me. Besides, it's a great way to start conversation at the CHI
conference I'm going to next week.

I splurged on a pink-and-white zip-up hoodie with “University of
Toronto” written across the zippered front. It was expensive, but I'll
get more wear out of it than out of the T-shirts, at least while I'm
in a temperate country.

And I picked up a corduroy miniskirt, too! Why does U of T have small
corduroy miniskirts with the school name on them?

We really should have cute IML T-shirts. I'd wear an IML baby-tee. The
Google shirt I'm wearing right now fits quite nicely.

Anyway, I have to plan my backpack for next week's trip. I'm bringing
cookies. When I went to Cambridge, I made it through a week with my
backpack, but I ended up leaving my plastic containers behind. Maybe I
can just wrap up the plastic containers nicely and give them a tin
each. David and Jonathan are Cool People, and definitely deserve
cookies. =)

I _might_ bring the red malong if I have space. It's very versatile,
and I'd love to wear it at least once just to bring a little flavor to
the conference.