When the Spaniards came to colonize the Philippines, they brought with them their own fashion, mostly with a shirt and standing collar. They also introduce to the natives how to wear shoes and hats. However, the sad thing was that only the rich and privileged people were able to enjoy wearing those items. During this time, the “Barong Tagalog” was only used by the “illustrados” with a high collar, lace and gems as accent to the “baro”. It was also worn with a sash high across their waist with a loose trousers and slippers or shoes.
In addition, the Tagalog women started to modify their traditional dress (baro’t saya) into a more conservative look with longer length of the skirt. The reason for this change in their dressing was to respect the foreign priests. It was also said that the terno used to have seven layers just for the skirt alone which was impractical for a tropical climate.
Related Websites:
http://filipinocultured.blogspot.com/2007/10/filipino-fashion-during-spanish_13.html
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/Cynthia/costumes/terno.htm