Mexican Clothing Overview of Mexican Clothes and Fashion
When talking about Mexican clothing, we must necessarily separate garments into three main groups:
- Modern clothes
- Traditional Mexican clothing
- Celebration dresses and costumes
In major cities, modern Mexican clothing do not differ very much from the clothes we use everyday. Thanks to the globalization, young Mexican people living in big cities trend to wear clothes like loud-colored cotton t-shirts, snickers and jeans. But this changes a lot when we get out of the main cities and look into smaller towns, where we can see modern clothes with a “native” feeling, which is shown mainly by the colors chosen.
People who live within those towns in Mexico seem to have a preference for earth-like colors, like brown or dark red, although it is not uncommon to find vivid greens and strong yellows as part of the clothes’ colors.
Traditional Mexican clothing combines native and European elements. The fibers of choice among the Mexicans are cotton, bark and agave (which were known and used by native Mexican pre-Hispanic civilizations to make their clothes), as well as wool and silk (introduced by the Spanish later).
In the past, Mexican clothing was dyed with natural components found in local plants, but as soon as aniline dyes were brought from Europe they became the first dying choice.
We can find traditional Mexican clothing in many varieties, and it can be distinguished by gender, by social status and by ethnic group. For instance, garments worn by women differ from those worn by men, and native clothing is different to “mestizo” clothing.
Typical women clothing includes a skirt, a “huipil” (a kind of sleeve-less tunic), a “quechquémitl” (a closed shoulder cape) and a “rebozo” (a kind of shawl).
Mexican clothing for men is mostly “European-like”, which means that both the trousers and the shirt are European garments, and possibly the only native addition to the men’s wardrobe is a large blanket cape, called “Sarape”. Men often wear Mexican boots too.
As for Mexican clothing used on celebrations, we can find a different costume for almost every special day of the year. National festivities are celebrated with typical clothes and accessories (including the famous Mexican Sombrero). Some special days like the Day of the Death are closely related to religion, and that can be seen on the costumes too. During theCarnival, the Mexican clothing of choice is the “Charro” suit, popularized by the famous musical ensembles known as the Mariachis.
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