Trousers

Bagobo man’s trousers called saroár. Gussets in four pieces at crotch. Ikat on plain weave of abaca - brown/dark brown, red, and undyed. These colors would have come from the same dye source, the roots of Morinda Citrifolia, which produces a spectrum of red hues. Flattened, wrinkled, fraying at hems, torn – suggests that it was worn by one of the Bagobo men at Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. Beaded embroidery on hems of both legs in a design commonly found in Bagobo. According to art historian Lynda Angelica N. Reyes, this design is commonly found in Bagobo textiles to represent the crocodile as a charm to ward off evil. Some patchwork.