A century of the Filipina's changing wardrobe fascinated the members of the Taipei International Women's Club at the monthly meeting yesterday. Myrna Es-pinosa, the gracious wife of Edgardo Espinosa, the managing director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, led some of the lady staff members at the MECO in presenting her personal wardrobe of traditional attires at the American Club in China.

The Filipina who likes to dress up finds a best friend in her seamstress. In the case of Myrna Espinosa, she relies on designer Roberto Torres to create gowns for her use on formal occasions. The reason is simple: he is an expert in drawing inspiration from the evolving national costume through the centuries.

Former Philippine first lady Imel-da Marcos popularized the Filipino terno with its butterfly sleeves. Espinosa showed a couple of such gowns, which sometimes masterfully copied fashion trends in Europe as seen in the skirts with different creative shapes and decorative accents.

Actually the fashionable Philippine costume as far back as the 16th century did not deviate from the baro (blouse) and saya (skirt) affair. The Filipina started out by taking to the look fashioned out of ordinary striped cotton. She shifted gradually to damask, taffeta and silk from China.

As seen during the fashion parade, gala attires often topped with a sheer fabric featured fine needlework. Beadwork was common and it suggested affluence.

Torres played with the panuelo or alampay, which resembled a stiff shawl, and the tapis, a piece of cloth wrapped stylishly around the hips, in his designs for Espinosa's wardrobe.

In the olden days, a woman gave away her place of origin by the way she wore the alampay. If she hailed from the Tagalog-speaking region, she wore it over her shoulders. The Visayan (a native of central Philippines) chose to wear it like a veil on her head. The Pam-panguena (a native of Pampanga province) even wound it around her head.

As the fashion show progressed, the audience saw how the sleeves changed and evolved. So did the skirt, which sometimes had an elegant train. The Maria Clara dress named after a main character in the famous Spanish era novel of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal appeared with Myrna Espinosa herself as model. The camisa top had long and flowing sleeves. The panuelo was pinned in place.

	Zamboanga-based Philippine designer Roberta Torres, Myrna Espinosa, Maria Rybicki, TIWC president, and another model fielded by the MECO, take a bow at the end of the fashion presentation at the American Club in China.
Myrna Espinosa, wife of Manila Economic and Cultural Office managing director Edgardo Espinosa, looks demure in a Maria Clara dress designed by Roberto Torres. The occasion was the monthly meeting of the Taipei International Women's Club yesterday	Gerocel Agravante-Siquian, MECO's tourism representative, tries ramp modeling for the first time. She wears an interesting terno.	Jocelyn Huang, who works at the MECO Labor Center, shows off an elegant creation from Espinosa's personal wardrobe.

The camisa costume designed for easy packing during travels took on dressy looks. Torres, a biology professor at the Western Mindanao State University by day, managed to effectively apply his Philippine costume research findings to a modern-day woman's formal wear.

Before the end of the morning program, TIWC members led by Maria Rybicki, the president, were spotted inquiring about the possibility of ordering Philippine ternos from Torres.

The two sides of the stage at the American Club in China were decorated with panels of tinalak weaving by the T'boli tribe.

Tesoro's, which specializes in the marketing of Philippine handicrafts, displayed fine samples of Philippine arts and crafts.

The day's program opened with an eye-opening presentation of the Philippines as tourist destination from A to Z. The colorful and exciting images which flashed before the group of more than 100 attending the TIWC monthly meeting gave them reason to rave: "Wow!"

The ongoing Philippine tourism campaign adopts WOW in its catch phrases and messages: warm over winter, wander over wrecks, walks over wildlife and wonderfully original waterways.

Philippine food delights like cassava cake, puto, coconut macaroon and even chicken adobo invited tasting on this special occasion.