A party in Santa Cruz de Napo in Marinduque is illustrated in the book Luzon and Palawan by Alfred Marche. In this island, Marche found out that "whoever wants to move his ten fingers a little, lives there in clover. It is a real land of plenty." (Santa Cruz de Napo is an old name of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. In his journal the author erroneously spelled Napo as "Nano" or "Nabo").
In a recent work by Randy Gonzales published by Pineapple Industries, a look and break down how three men are dressed in Barong Tagalog in the illustration mentioned is featured here.
From Journey of the Barong Tagalog, Addendum Part 10.20: 19th Century French Artist Illustrations of Life in the Philippines:
Antoine-Alfred Marché (1844-1898) was a French naturalist,
explorer and collector of ethnological artifacts. He was employed by the French
government from 1879-1885. Marché visited the Philippines twice (1879-1881 and
1882-1884) and devoted many years to conducting naturalist studies there. He
spent much of his time caving, exploring burial sites and collecting
pre-Spanish artifacts on remote islands.
Based on this work, Marché published his travelogue titled
Luçon et Palaouan, Six Années de Voyages aux Philippines [Luzon and Palawan,
Six Years of Voyages in the Philippines] in various magazines with
illustrations and then as a book in 1887. Included with his travelogue was the
illustration featured here titled Fète à Santa Cruz de Nano [Party at Santa
Cruz de Nano], 1886.
In the first image, we see the full piece. A large room is
filled with people. In the center, a man and woman dance. To the left,
musicians play instruments along with some ladies looking on. To the right, a
group of men, women and children are seated and watching the dancers. In the
background, some men play and watch billiards. There are three men clearly
wearing barongs in this room.
In the second image, we see a musician playing a mandolin or bandurria and wearing a red Barong Tagalog, light brown pants and a putong (head wrap) on his head. He does not wear shoes.
In the third image, the man dancing also wears a red barong and light brown pants without shoes.
In the fourth image, a man seated at the table also wears a
red barong and light brown pants. But he wears a jacket on top of his Barong
Tagalog, black leather shoes, and he carries a cane in his right hand.
This last man is dressed as an elite man of power of the principalia class. This man is a municipal leader working in conjunction with and on behalf of the Spanish colonial government. Spanish edict specifically gave principales (members of this class) the privilege to wear jackets over their barongs to distinguish themselves and to show their class, status and power.
