Filipiniana Chic

During the recent Francisfest celebration at the Makati Shangri-La ballroom, I was very impressed with Erica Concepcion’s white crystal beaded terno. Not only was it very becoming on a beautiful young lady who is a little more than two and a half decades old (a Generation-Y girl), she also wore our national dress with so much poise and elan.

When she mentioned that her terno was designed and made about 45 years ago by her grandmother, Doña Victoria Lopez Araneta (born 1907), I had to do a double take as the gown was in pristine condition and impeccably beautiful. The satin fabric looked almost as good as new after being stored for decades, with the pure crystal beads still intact — sparkling and twinkling like stars in a clear, evening sky.

It turned out that Lina Araneta Santiago had kept her mother’s ternos in their Malabon ancestral home and had them regularly aired twice yearly. This method paid off because the dresses retained their colors and shape throughout the years.

President Sergio Osmeña (second from right) and Victoria Araneta (third from right) with Lucas Lacson, Jorge Vargas and Julio Ledesma and two unidentified ladies during a prewar 1939 Kahirup ball in the Manila Hotel. Photo courtesy of LINA A. SANTIAGO

Ever the fashionista before this word was coined, Vic designed and beaded many of her ternos, Maria Claras, kimonas and other Filipiniana wear. They were sewn in the Araneta home by her house costurera, Simeona Pacheco or Aling Mio. Fabrics were bought locally in Central Market, Aguinaldo’s and Rustan’s as well as during her foreign travels. If she liked a pattern, she would make several of them in various fabrics as she wore many of them in her daily social and official functions.

But for super-special events, she would patronize Ramon Valera, New Yorker, and other top dressmakers in Manila as most of the fashionable women of her time were wont to do. Made-to-order ternos were the norm as buying off the rack was unheard of. 

In 2008, the Concepcion girls were invited by their tita Lina to choose from several racks of beautiful ternos that were 35 to 70 years old and numbered almost a hundred, many in extremely good condition. They were then distributed to the five granddaughters and nine great-granddaughters, who were the lucky recipients of this wonderful heritage.

Catherine Concepcion, Margarita Concepcion, Marie Young, Marissa Concepcion, Marivic Concepcion, Christina Young, Monica Concepcion, Liza Santos, Erica Concepcion and Michelle Reyes

As Erica mentioned, “That day ignited my ongoing passion for old-world things and especially for the vanishing Filipino terno that is such an inherent part of our Filipino tradition and culture.”

Lola Vic, as her grandchildren and great grandchildren fondly called her, was an amazing woman who belonged to an illustrious, patriotic clan and co-founded the Araneta and FEATI Universities. She also co-founded White Cross in 1936 with Mercedes Zobel McMicking and this haven was originally for children of tuberculosis-stricken parents, as the dreaded disease often meant death for the majority of patients in the mid-’30s. Today, it welcomes children of poor, unwed mothers, physically incapacitated parents, prisoners, as well as victims of rape and incest.

Together with her husband, Salvador Araneta, Victoria also established Republic Flour Mills (RFM), FEATI Bank and Trust Company and FEATI Airlines — the first post-war Philippine airline — among many other businesses. 

She was definitely a woman before her time and a Filipina to emulate. Because of her wonderful collection, she will also be remembered for her timeless taste in our national dress that will now be worn proudly by her female descendants in the 21st century.