A few days ago, I had the great honor to witness the enthronement of a Sultan and his Bae A Labi (Queen) in the town of Lumbatan in Lanao del Sur. It was such a festive event, which I may or may not write about in the future, with Maranao children performing traditional dances for the Sultan and the Bae A Labi in their colorful costumes and with smiles on their faces.

In order to be one with the very welcoming, generous, and cheerful Maranaos, the female guests of the Sultan were also given traditional Maranao outfits to celebrate the enthronement. The outfit that was my size is the pink one (I tried a couple of outfits and the one that fit me was chosen). It is composed of an intricately embroidered long sleeve blouse, embroidered skirt, malong (tubular colorful overskirt), and combong (headscarf). The Maranao women dressed me up and covered my hair with the combong. They also taught me how to hold the malong properly (I hope I did a decent job doing it). I felt very feminine and elegant wearing the traditional Maranao outfit – feminine because I had to measure my steps properly so the malong would not touch the ground and my tight skirt would not be torn, and elegant because it was just precious.

Thank you, Mayor Allan Lao of Lumbatan and his kind and beautiful wife. Thank you to the Lao and Balt families for being the perfect hosts. 🙂

My outfit was made by H. Shenab U. Ramos. Her mobile number is (0930) 266-7030. She was so nice to me. 🙂 Thank you so much.

Embroidered long sleeve blouse

Embroidered long skirt

Malong (Tubular colorful overskirt)

Combong (Headscarf)

I wore a Maranao traditional outfit during an enthronement ceremony of a Sultan and his Bae A Labi in Lanao del Sur.

Watching the enthronement ceremonies with the Maranao children, some of whom danced for the guests.

In my embroidered outfit with the fields of Lumbatan in the background

These two malongs were given as gifts by the very generous Maranaos.