The style of the central group.--The main differences between this style and that just described are that the latter is more loosely cut in the body and sleeves, is more profusely embroidered, and has a longitudinal cut in the cuffs for the admission of the hands. One finds, too, but only very occasionally, a type of jacket in which the sleeves are white and the body black.
The embroidery may be so profuse that it covers not only the lower halves of the sleeves and the back of the neck, but the whole front of the garment.
THE GIRDLE AND ITS PENDANTS
The girdle may be a mere braided cord of abaká fiber often mixed with strands of cotton yarn, but more commonly it is a series of braided cords of nito,14 or of human hair. The girdle is made by braiding the nito or the hair into circular cords, each about 45 centimeters in length and about 2 millimeters in width. Anywhere from 10 to 20 of these braids are fastened together by involving the ends in small pieces of cloth wrapped with cotton yarn of the preferential colors.
14Lygodium circinnatum sp.
To one end of this girdle is attached a numerous array of beads, shells, and charms. To the other is attached a braided abaká cord, also variegated with the proper colors, which enables the wearer to fasten and tighten the girdle. One frequently sees white seed beads in greater or less quantity strung on each cord of this form of belt.
The pendants are a very noticeable feature of the girdle. Hung from the right side they present to the eye anything but a pleasing effect. Bundles of white scented grass, about 5 centimeters long by 1 centimeter in diameter, that have dried to a semblance of hay, detract most from the appearance of the wearer. The whole mass of pendants is a tangle of divers objects, the quantity of which depends upon the good fortune of the wearer. The following are the objects that may be found among these pendants: Large hawk bells, seldom exceeding six in number and ordinarily not more than three; bunches of odorous grass, amounting sometimes to as much as eight in number; the red seed of the ma-gu-hai tree; small shells, especially cowry shells, picked up, it is said, in the forest; the pods of the ta-bí-gi tree, one or more, used for carrying incense15 for religious purposes; odoriferous seeds and roots16 cut up small and strung on abaká filaments with such beads as the wearer may not desire to use, because of their color or shape, for the ornamentation of other parts of his body.
15Called pa-lí-na. It is obtained by tapping the ma-gu-baí tree.