In a previous article, we discussed how
people from Bacolod took their fashion and style seriously. In the article, we mentioned the term
"pang-labas" or outdoor clothes.
In the Philippines, Filipina mothers teach their kids that there are three types of clothes:
Pang-labas, Pambahay, and
Pang-tulog. Translated, these are: outdoor clothes, house clothes and sleepwear. Pardon my translations, as I can't seem to find the right English equivalents for these.
These three types of clothes are for the kid to learn about hygiene and propriety in dressing. Also, to save on laundry.
Clothes worn outside of the house are thought to get dirtier faster, so most Filipinos will change their outdoor clothes once or even multiple times a day. In the Philippines, it's thought of as shameful to be caught wearing the same thing two days in a row.
Clothes worn inside the house tend to be worn for a few days a week, even up to a whole week, as long as they don't stink yet. It's thought that since you won't get exposed to pollution anyway, it's okay to keep wearing the same thing the whole week long.
Sleepwear is the same, as people don't really work up a sweat while they're catching their much-needed zzz's. Especially if they live in airconditioned rooms. However, those who are from the upscale strata of society tend to be more particular with their clothing, so it's likely that they'd change sleepwear daily. The middle class and the lower classes tend to repeat sleepwear until it gets sticky or stinky.
It's the same thing with shoes and footwear. Filipino moms will shoo you out the door whenever you wear your outdoor slippers inside the house. So there are slippers for wearing outdoors, there are slippers for wearing indoors. More OC (obsessive-compulsive) moms would demand that you wear still a different pair of slippers for your bedroom.
I've personally crossed the line a few times and gotten flak from my mom for it. I've worn outdoor slippers inside her newly-swept and wiped floor tiles and I got an earful of motherly ehem love. My dad is worse. He wears his chicken poop-perfumed shorts to bed and he gets kicked out to go take a bath.
My friend from Alijis also talked about her mom stressing over her father, who wears the same shoes in and out of their home. He only wears shoes; one of his quirks, but he wears the same pair both for going about town and even in their home. It drives her mom crazy.
Such is the obsessive-compulsive concept of hygiene of the Filipina mom.
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