Parikitan Fashion in Pahiyas

During the highlight of the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban just right after touring the houses in the pahiyas route, I saw a parade of beauties. These are gorgeous ladies who are genuinely Quezonian. Most of them were candidates to the Mutya ng Lucban.

I was stunned to see the first batch of beautiful women in their long gowns. Then another batch of ladies came in with their respective escorts. Some of the men wore barong Tagalog. The couples used a custom-made small umbrellas.

This time I was even more stunned because I saw them wearing unique gowns. These were made of indigenous materials such as bamboos, sawali, anahaw, local cloth, flower decors, abaca, banana fibers and coconut materials.

They actually have the Parikitan Competition as part of the celebration of the Pahiyas Festival which recognizes the art and designs by local couturiers. It was really impressive to highlight this kind of fashion.

Its also a way to promote the use of natural products. It was so amazing to note that Lucban advocates for a clean environment and they implement the use of paper bags in the market and they do not use straw in the bottled softdrinks. This is such a commendable advocacy.