Spit & polish in ramie
AMBASSADOR Alberto Encomienda nostalgically recalls how, as a neophyte foreign service officer just getting up in the world, he looked up to his boss Ambassador Manuel T. Yan, our former AFP chief of staff, who stood ramrod straight in his civilian suit. He would learn that the general had his suit done by R. M. Manlapat out of a bolt of cloth from the House of Ramie.
(Aside: The Philippine foreign service is the country’s first line of defense. And Encomienda remembers General Yan to quip: “There are now two generals in the Philippine foreign service: One has one four stars; and the other, one star.” To our knowledge, General Romulo never asked Yan to explain this conundrum.)
Encomienda took General Yan’s fashion sense to heart, both for its price and its utility; and he acquired the same haberdashery for his next posting. He would be surprised to be complimented by his next boss, Ambassador Narciso Ramos, at the Philippine Mission in New York, who said he looked a million and spit and polish in his Philippine ramie suit.
A third compliment confirming his acquired fashion sense was when Encomienda was walking to pick up his car at the garage in Queens, New York, and a workman on noticing his ramie suit hollered, “Hey, we have a taxpayer here!” *** Newbies may not understand what I mean – about looking a million at a fraction of the price – because they may not know of Philippine ramie.
According to Wikipedia: “Ramie is one of the oldest fibers cultivated for textiles. Commonly called China Grass, it is grown and used mainly in southern and eastern Asia (with some production in Brazil). It is one of the strongest natural fibers. It is similar to linen in absorbency, density, and microscopic appearance. One advantage ramie has over linen is that it is naturally bacteria- and mold-resistant.
“Ramie falls toward the mediumweight of linen. Its 60×60 thread count per inch gives a tighter weave than the more expensive linens, resulting in a higher-quality feeling fabric. All of the other linen-advantages (wicking, breathability, etc.) are also apparent. Verdict: The unevenness of fiber has a strong resemblance to linen, but at a fraction of the price. Moreover, it is softer with better dye ability. Because of its high absorbency, Ramie is comfortable to wear, especially during warm weather. “
*** I remember I used ramie for my ROTC uniform in the early 1960s. Ramie had erratic sales spurts in the early years – 2,000K (in 1961) rising to 1,388K (1985), and suddenly peaking to 20,621K (1986), before tapering to 18,366K (1987) and sliding down in succeeding years. The last available data shows it stagnant at 1,500K (2014).
The 1986 jump is interesting. Could it have been an Imeldific touch with Pitoy Moreno (or, more likely, sales to the Philippine Armed Forces)?
NEGATIVES: Like linen and cotton, ramie has poor resiliency and wrinkles easily. A little crease is fine, because it looked like expensive 100% cotton or linen. But if, like the detective Colombo aka Peter Falk, you looked like you slept in it, that’s a no-no. Perhaps the advent of wash n’ wear, Tetoron and other synthetics may have put a damper on ramie.
ENTER NEW TECHNOLOGY. Application of wrinkle-resistant finishes or blending with synthetic fibers can fix this problem in ramie; and Ambassador Encomienda wonders if we could still revive this product. Maybe someone should remind Ramon S. Ang that San Miguel Corporation still has the franchise on the House of Ramie. SMC can carry a corporate responsibility to resurrect ramie at plantations in Davao.
But, on second thought, perhaps there is no need to carry a burden with good intentions. With new technology to provide crease-proof ramie, the fabric could have a ready market of the Philippine Armed Forces (which PDu30 wants to double in size). If our soldiers were to march spit and polish in ramie uniforms, the fabric would be an overnight market leader.
POSTSCRIPT. Someone made the observation that PDu30 doesn’t seem to be very comfortable in a jusi barong with sleeves rolled three-quarters. Might he be more at ease and himself in a ramie Barong Tagalog? FEEDACK: