Silk Trousers with Red Tie

Silk trousers with wide legs, decorated with white embroidery around the side pockets and the lower part. Bottom embroidery patterns feature top and bottom registers with floral medallions alternating with smaller hexagonal forms crowned with triple and single flowers, respectively. The patterns are larger on top and smaller below. A narrow band with alternating floral and diagonal leaf forms separates the two main registers. The bottom edge is trimmed with white lace. The silk damask fabric is probably imported from China. Nineteenth-century paintings portray male officials in Manila with titles such as principales and gobernadorcillos wearing these dark blue trousers. (Florina H. Capistrano-Baker)

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