If there was ever any doubt that the Philippine national dress has truly finally broken out of its costume status, one need only look around the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) new Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez or Black Box Theater grounds late last Saturday afternoon to know for sure. With the abundance of butterfly-sleeved guests fluttering about, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to think I had fallen into a time slip back into a sepia-tinted era when I should’ve ridden a kalesa to get there instead of a cab.

It was the final competition night for the third edition of Ternocon, the terno-making convention and competition organized by Bench and CCP, where the balintawak took center stage. The balintawak is the informal version of the terno meant to be worn with an alampay and a tapis in lieu of a pañuelo and a sobrefalda. Guests had been asked to come strictly in Filipiniana, and they didn’t disappoint.

Even before the show began, the theater grounds was already a kaleidoscope of color and excitement. Updating and reinventing the “country” terno to suit modern tastes, designers have proven that the traditional casual wear usually viewed as provincial can look fresh in contemporary times.