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| Guijo comfortably and proudly paraded around in his barong all day long. |
Last weekend, we attended a cousin's wedding at Caleruega Church in Tagaytay (congratulations Gio and Melan!). We had to look for a suitable barong for Guijo, and finding one was quite pleasurable because Guijo was sooo cooperative. He was charming to the sales ladies assisting us, "modelling" the stuff he tried on, strutting about proudly with an impish grin. Originally, I wanted to get him a traditional barong made of jusi or piña fiber, so I checked out Tesoro's, but the smallest size available was still too big for Guijo. We checked out infant wear at department stores, but they were too "baptismal" in style and material, and were too small for Guijo. Fortunately, we checked out Kido Republic, a line of Filipino-inspired natural-wear for children, and found many options from their modern "barong-inspired line" which offers a kid-friendly and relaxed alternative to the formal and traditional barong.
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| Guijo, so well-behaved. He's pretty neat, the barong survived the day with no stains. |
The Kido "barong" differed from the regular adult barong in significant ways: it is not made of jusi or piña, which can be quite stiff for baby skin; rather, it is made of a nice, soft, natural fabric, which could presumably be a cotton-linen blend. While different in texture to the traditional barong, visually, the Kido version mimics the adult classic. It is similarly beige in tone, and has a semi-transparent/translucent look. The design at the front of the shirt is painted on, which makes it more comfortable for kids than traditional embroidery. Oliver picked out a "Chinese collar" style, instead of the traditional collar, so Guijo looked more current, and presko. We received a lot of compliments on his faux barong, many people found it adorable.
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| Guijo's faux baby barong (back view) visually matched his Lolo Walter's classic barong. |
Guijo gives me my daily excuse to gush. And when I saw him looking dapper in his baby barong, I found him so cute, I couldn't believe he was mine. I swear, I will cry at his wedding. I know that's many years away. But last week, at the wedding - I found myself relating not with the bride... but with the mother of the groom!!! I was watching my aunt, who is as dear to me as a second mother, my Mama Eva, and I watched her keep her composure, as she gave her son, her bunso, away. I held back tears. I had a sense of what she was feeling. How would I feel if it was my baby boy getting married?! I looked at Guijo, all dressed up and adorable in his baby barong, and I was ready to weep. My perfect little baby boy. This will most likely be the image I will replay in my head on his wedding day. Of him, in his first barong. No matter how tall he gets, how old he becomes, he will always be my baby. And his wedding day will be one of those days I would hope for, and dread at the same time.
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| Me, capturing Oliver capture the moment. If only we can keep them cute forever... |
Kido Republic is the children's line of Obra ni Juan (which also makes another line of Pinoy-wear called Hijo). I first found out about these brands from Carsi Cruz family who gave us their cool clothing as gifts. (Thanks Miriam and Gio, Monty and Molly, and Winnie). We liked the pieces we received, we looked up the clothing line and happily found comfy and cool Pinoy-style designs for our kids.
Here's a link to their Facebook page:
