Pińa -seda at the National Museum of Anthropology

At the Museum of Anthropology in Manila, there is an ongoing feature on the pińa-seda. "Pińa (Spanish, pineapple) cloth is considered the finest and the queen of Philippine textiles while seda (Spanish, silk) is undeniably the smoothest woven fabric in the world. Pińa combined with seda indeed exudes elegance as fine and delicate as pineapple and as smooth and luxurious as silk." -lifted from the exhibit narrative

Featured are fabrics, finished products on display and a session on embroidery making.

Pińa and seda were exclusively worn and associated with the urban elite during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines.

Popularly used for weddings, pińa-based cloths’ heritage dated back in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization. It was said that the art of ornamenting fabric must have come from China with Spaniards enhancing the skills of the natives to produce fabrics for making church linens and vestments for priests and saints.

Associated with nobility, notable trivias are: a pińa handkerchief presented to Princess Alexandra of Denmark on her marriage to Prince Edward of Wales in 1863, is now part of the Victoria and Albert Museum pińa collection. In 1947, a set of embroidered pińa cloth table napkins, doyly’s and table runner was also sent to then Princess Elizabeth and now Queen of the United Kingdom as wedding gift of the National Federation of Women’s Club of the Philippines.

Embroidery on the cloth is a complex process. When you see one wearing a barong or a baro at saya, you are seeing a creationwith a history. Worn right makes one look regal and dignified.