Silk Trousers with Cotton-backed band

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 alternating vegetal and diagonal double-wing forms that are larger on top and smaller below. A narrow band with oval patterns separates the two main registers, and the bottom edge is trimmed with white lace. The silk damask fabric, probably imported from China, is woven with leaf-like motifs. 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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