Clothing in Mexico, 1917
Dress in Mexico appears to be just as dependent on fashion among the higher classes as European costume. The fashions of New York and Paris have for almost a generation…
From: 1917 C.E. To: 1917 C.E.
Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Mexico of the Mexicans by Lewis Spence.
Dress in Mexico appears to be just as dependent on fashion among the higher classes as European costume. The fashions of New York and Paris have for almost a generation been adopted by the upper classes, and national garments formerly worn by all grades are now being abandoned to the peon. But here and there a remnant of the picturesque remains.
The costume worn by ladies in the street is frequently black, while for headgear they sometimes wear a thin veil or mantilla. Some classes of Mexican women unwittingly hasten the ravages of time by using cosmetics too freely, which spoils their complexions and tends to a premature appearance. The poorer women also wear an article of apparel called a rebozo, a kind of thin cotton shawl, usually sombre in colour. It is about three yards long by three-quarters of a yard wide, and it is worn draped gracefully round the head and shoulders.
The men of the peon class, in contrast to European custom, are, as a whole, much more gorgeously attired than their women-folk, and affect showy and brilliant garments. An article of headgear which they are fond of decorating is the sombrero. This is a wide-brimmed felt hat, usually light grey or white, which, for decorative purposes, is faced with silver lace, and bands of silver are twined round the foot of the crown, the whole being occasionally completed with a silver fringe.
The zarape is a garment at one time popular with Mexican men in all grades of society, but it is now sharing the fate of the rebozo, and is worn mostly by labourers and the lower classes. It consists of a thick shawl, which may sometimes be gaily striped, or, in the more costly varieties, decorated with gold and silver, though others are beautifully embroidered. The zarape is often red in colour and, when made in cheaper materials, costs from $2 to $5, but in richer cloths it may reach the price of $5,000.
When on horseback, the Mexican is brilliant in his charro costume, which is of deerskin, his trousers being sewn with silver or brass buttons, which are placed close together up the side-seam of the leg; and these garments are also frequently ornamented by fancy facings on the back and legs. In rough country, trousers, called chaperreras, are worn over the others, and this picturesque dress is finished with a heavy beaver-felt hat with a deep crown.
The dress of a Mexican country gentleman is not unlike the riding costume described above, with the exception that a ruffled shirt is sometimes worn, and the jacket is made of black cloth trimmed with rows of buttons, or ornamented with fur and costly silver or gold embroidery. This coat is fastened with a tab of cloth held by two buttons. The sombrero is usually elaborately decorated and sewn with the owner's monogram.
The holiday dress of the superior Indian is of a brilliant hue, that of the male being the more gaudy. The man wears a pair of crimson trousers edged with cream-coloured lace, which reach to a few inches to above his bare ankles. For his upper garment he wears a yellow tunic striped with orange, round which is worn a blue belt. Over his shoulders is a species of zarape made of patterned cotton tied at the neck with blue ribbon. The colours mentioned are, of course, subject to variation.
The Indian woman affects quieter apparel than that worn by her husband. Her brown skirt is full and reaches to above her ankles, while it has a narrow edging of green and blue. Her upper garment is a long white tunic trimmed at the foot and waist with green and blue respectively, over which is thrown a transparent garment trimmed with a narrow red strip at the sleeves, foot, and down the front. The entire transparent tunic is completed with graceful points of cream lace, and the whole reaches to her knees. The colours mentioned are characteristic, but are variable according to the taste of the wearer.
The everyday dress of the labourer consists of a zarape, with a slit in the middle for the wearer's head to pass through: this garment is allowed to hang from the shoulders. Usually a white cotton blouse, shirt, and pantaloons are worn underneath, and the costume is completed with a brilliant sash and leathern sandals, while the familiar sombrero crowns all.
The peon woman wears an everyday dress which might be found among the lower classes in almost any European country. She attires herself in a fairly full skirt, a white tunic blouse over which she throws a rebozo—the enveloping shawl described above.
The livery of the Mexican coachman is rather incongruous when compared with the gorgeous equipages he attends, and consists of an ordinary tweed suit with a bowler or crush hat. Occasionally liveries are worn, but only very rarely. The house servant wears a suit of rough cotton, in shape not unlike a man's pyjama suit; while the female servant dresses, as a rule, like the peon women.
On certain festal days it is a custom for bodies of girls clothed in white to sing in unison on their way to church. The orthodox dress of an aldeana on such occasions is somewhat elaborate—a white muslin garment trimmed with lace, over a short parti-coloured petticoat; a sleeveless, bright-coloured, satin vest, open in front; a long, coloured sash and rebozo; and as many gold or silver ornaments as the wearer can afford to purchase.
A unique and beautiful dress was that designed and carried out by Señora E. Leon, of Aguascalientes. In the making of this exquisite gown, which is composed of drawn-work, she was assisted by 300 expert needlewomen. It consists of a short Zouave jacket, and a berthe with a full skirt and long train. No seams are to be seen in this marvellous piece of work, which is valued to the extent of $40,000 Mexican (about £4,000). Señora Leon must have had wonderful patience, as this dress, which was designed for a Mexican exhibit at a Paris exhibition, but unfortunately was not completed in time, took nine years to finish. When finished. it presented an appearance of costly lace, and gave a beautiful, filmy effect.
An amusing regulation was passed in Mexico some years ago to the effect that the Indians were to be compelled to wear trousers, as, desiring greater freedom of limb, they frequently appeared without them.
The holiday dress of the women of Tehuantepec is as distinct from other Mexican costumes as its wearers are renowned for their beauty of figure and carriage. Their headgear plays an important part, as it has a legend attached to it. It consists of a frilled piece of material called the uipil, and the story goes that it is symbolical of a baby's skirt. This baby was rescued by some of the people of Tehuantepec from drowning, and the head-dress is worn for luck, as the little foundling was supposed to have brought an abundance of good fortune to those who succoured it.
It is arranged in different ways; one fashion being to drape it round the head and shoulders, while the other style is to wear it right round the head and chin, almost like an Elizabethan ruff, or a Normandy peasant's festal bonnet. The remainder of the costume is composed of a short tunic-bodice and a voluminous skirt, sometimes of check material, while the neck and arms are left bare. For better occasions, they sometimes wear a lace tunic or species of shawl; while the costume, which is reminiscent of Aztec days, forms a pleasing whole.
Spence, Lewis. Mexico of the Mexicans. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917.
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