Suits and traditional Filipino dresses are the iconic looks of the mid-twentieth century in Filipino American history in Watsonville. Beyond their aesthetics, these costumes represent the wearers’ stories of migration and adaptation to their new lives in the United States. Dapper at Maganda: Dressing to Belong analyzes mid-twentieth-century Filipino American fashion as it intersects with notions of belonging, cultural knowledge, and gendered roles. 

Included in this exhibit are representations of women and men’s fashion displayed through both professional studio and amateur photographs. This exhibit features pieces from the Irao-de Los Reyes and Ibao, Alminiana, Bosque, Millares, and Sulay collections. 

The terno dress was emblematic of the migration of many Filipinas in the 1950s through 1960s. It was a look associated with community, culture, and connections to the Philippines. The terno, currently considered the national dress of the Philippines, was associated with sophistication and was worn by women in Philippine politics and the wealthy elite. The tie between ternos and politics didn't just occur in the Philippines but was also seen in Watsonville, as well. The photographs featured in Dapper at Maganda show how the terno dress was a mainstay for women at Filipino events. These events were not just a venue for women to share their culture but also an opportunity to interact with local politicians. From the annual Fourth of July parade to events hosted by the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville, events were not complete without the terno. 

In an interview with Joanne de los Reyes-Hilario, she explained that the dresses became a way to connect to the Philippines. The women who regularly attended community events had dresses shipped from the Philippines. When that was not financially feasible, the material was still brought directly from the islands to be made into terno dresses in the United States. The migration of their dresses ensured the migration of their cultures. Women’s fashion reflected the parts of the Philippines they tried to maintain in their new lives. 

With women's fashion we see the way that the trends back in the Philippines migrated. With men’s fashion, on the other hand, we see them to adapt to an Americana look.The suits worn by the manong of this time had a flare reminiscent of the men of Hollywood. Mina Roces argues in “‘These Guys Came Out Looking Like Movie Stars’: Filipino Dress and Consumers Practices in the United States 1920-1930” that initially, men of color adopted this look to imitate Hollywood stars but later transformed it to form their own identities. The men in the photographs featured in Dapper at Maganda can be seen “rejecting their working class selves” in order to communicate to others success in their new lives (Roces 2016, 561). Indeed, these photographs—from the casual to the staged—have an air of extravagance. In some photographs, cars further emphasize this extravagance as dapper manong pose by their shared vehicles.These photographs were frequently sent back to the Philippines to show the material success that manong were achieving in the United States. Men’s fashion represented an ability to adapt and excel in their new lives.

The clothes that we see the manong and manang of Watsonville wear communicate a larger story of their migration and the ways in which they created their new lives in the United States. Each piece conveys a different aspect of their lives from the ways they integrated themselves into the larger Watsonville community to how they retained their sense of Filipino identity.