It was the last day of a four-session Fashion Embellishment course I recently signed up for at the Fashion Institute of the Philippines (FIP) in Makati. Fashion embellishments have been defined as “pretty features of a garment that serve as decorative details that make our clothing more appealing to the eyes.”

This is part of my “Empty Nester” phase involving a period where people start embarking on crafting their well-being through keeping fit, remaining healthy, and taking responsibility for ensuring, as far as is possible, that they remain in good shape and independent of other people. It has been encouraged that we (those finding themselves in this stage) 1.) develop a new skill (continued self-development), 2.) invest in self knowledge and autonomy (care of the self), and 3.) volunteer (giving back) to worthy causes.

So as part of continued self-development, I enrolled myself in a Fashion Embellishment course. I was previously self-taught and I was aware that, to level up, I needed to learn techniques. In line with investing in self-knowledge and autonomy, I knew that as I grew older I needed to remain independent, especially financially.
 

I was thinking of using the skills I already had to perhaps put my “side hustles” at the forefront of earning a living. After all, healthcare in this country is expensive! It would be good to have an emergency fund built on a fashion embellishment-based business to keep me a little more secure as I get older. 

As it has been pointed out, “adding embellishments can add value to an item” and as our FIP Fashion Embellishment instructor and designer Bernard Escalona told us, “Embellishment details can turn the price up for a garment from ₱100 to a ₱1,000.”

There are a number of fashion embellishment techniques, including embroidery, beadwork, applique, sequinning, batik, tie-dye, block printing, silkscreen, spray painting, and graffiti, just to name a few.

The history of fashion embellishment in the country can trace its roots to indigenous traditions with Filipino tribes reflecting their respective distinct clothing styles and embellishment techniques. Fabric usually made of abaca, cotton, and silk would be handwoven with the tribe’s own unique pattern, incorporating indigenous materials like seeds, shells, and feathers. 

During pre-historic times, textile embellishments not only served as decorative motifs but also reflected “social status, tribal, affiliations, and spiritual beliefs,” as they do to this day.
 

During the Spanish and American colonial periods, embroidery techniques such as cross-stitch, openwork (calado), beading, sequinning, and applique became popular. 

After World War II, embroidery became all the rage in the Filipino dress, seeing its glory fulfilled during the Marcos administration (1965-1986) when both the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his wife Imelda Romualdez Marcos showcased Filipino artistry by donning on beautifully embroidered Filipiniana attire at work.

Work on recovering, documenting, and storing PFEM and IRM related materials seem never ending as I have just finished crating another batch of materials for storage. As I was quickly sorting through the jumble of materials in collapsing cardboard boxes left untouched for decades, I came across quite a number of interesting historical documents, which I knew, if I let go, I would spend reading in their entirety at the cost of delaying the safe-keeping of materials further.

I must confess, however, that I could not resist. Amid junk mail and other ephemerally important literature, I came across what could just be my uncle’s last unpublished manuscript dated 1988 in his handwriting—letters to PFEM from then US President Ronald Reagan and other materials dating back to when they were in exile in Hawaii (1986-1989) until my uncle’s death in Sept. 28, 1989.

As I mentioned in a previous article, a confidante and friend of my uncle and aunt, Dr. Oleana Maramag, editor and author of books on PFEM and IRM, said that it wounded PFEM deeply “when American bureaucrats mounted a vicious anti-Marcos campaign... ”

PFEM then along with his family was kidnapped and brought to Hawaii by the Americans, instead of the original destination of Ilocos Norte—as he had instructed family members, friends, and loyalists to proceed to the north to regroup. Instead, all were surprised to hear the Marcos family had been flown to Hawaii instead.
 

Another Marcos confidante and chronicler Rita Gaddi-Baltazar described PFEM’s sentiment as to the actions of the American government against him as “deep disillusionment at the betrayal.” Baltazar wrote about one evening in Hawaii: “... He (PFEM) reached for his wallet and carefully searched for a piece of paper slightly larger than a calling card. Slowly, he held it out, and set it on the table in front of him, and run his palm across his face. Then he picked it up and handed it to me, and said, ‘This is all they gave me.’”

The card had his name and a number, and a stamp of the United States Immigration Bureau on a Parole visa. Rita expressed her anger seeing the card as a representation of, as then US President Ronald Regan wrote in a letter to PFEM in Hawaii, “the gratitude of the American people for the act of bravery and statesmanship in refusing to cause bloodshed among the Filipino people.” 

Rita explained that her anger was fueled by the fact that PFEM and his family were deceived into coming to America and that they were in Hawaii “against their will.” In addition, the Marcos family were forbidden to leave the US and they were slapped with hundreds of cases in US courts. Before Rita could add more, PFEM, according to Rita, said, “No vengeance, but justice. You will see. It may take a little while, but as they say, the wheels of justice may grind exceedingly slow, but they grind exceedingly well.”

Vindication for the Marcos family, to some extent, has been served with his son PBBM being voted into office as President of the Republic of the Philippines. Let’s just hope the Americans prove a better and more loyal ally to PBBM than they were to his father.