Interested in knowing what the people of Mexico wear? From the natives of the inlands to the modern men and women of large cities we give you information regarding the past and present of traditional Mexican clothing.
Ranking fourteenth on the largest countries of the world list, Mexico is spread over 200 million square kilometers. This massive expanse of land has an interesting history and a unique culture that is not to be found anywhere else. As far as Mexican clothing is concerned you will find that the trends have changed with changing times. Although Mexico has its own legacy of traditional clothing and celebration dresses and even costumes, today we find Mexicans to be taking a more modern approach when it comes to attire.
Modern Mexican Style
The improvement in means of mass communication and the general mass globalization has resulted in an intermingling of cultures. The United States being the major power in the world has managed to influence even the dressing styles of people all around the world.
The larger and more developed cities of Mexico are also subject to the Western trends in fashion. You will find the average person to be dressed in western style clothing with jeans and T shirts being the most popular form of attire. Once you travel inland away from the major cities we see a certain change in the way people dress.
Although jeans and T shirts are very common in the smaller towns as well they seem to be retaining a native touch especially with their choice of colors. The truly Mexican spirited people tend to go for earthy colors like brown and dark red and this can be seen amongst the people of smaller towns and communities. People also incorporate strong yellows and vivid greens into their clothes to get the Mexican feel.
Observing Traditions
When we observe the traditional Mexican clothing we find elements from European culture mixed with local traditions. Mexico has its own selection of favored fibers that they commonly use to make their traditional dresses. Cotton, agave, bark, wool and silk are amongst those fibers that have been used by the pre Hispanic civilizations that dwelled in the land. Wool and silk were particularly introduced by the Spanish much later.
In the good old days the Mexicans used to use elements from nature to bring color to their clothes. With the discovery of aniline dyes from Europe they gave up that practice and adopted the European dyeing technique. Traditional Mexican clothing comes in many varieties that are very easy to differentiate at a glance. Not only is the difference apparent in terms of the gender for which the clothes are made but even differences like social status and ethnic grouping are quite obvious. The native sense of style is also different from “Mestizo” clothing.
The traditional dress code for women consisted of a skirt accompanied by a tunic called huipil. They used a shoulder cape by the name of quechuemitl to cover their shoulders and a rezobo shawl to take over the head. The clothing for men bears likeliness to European style clothing. Trousers and shirts are common but with the native addition of the large blanket cape known as sarape. This attire is not complete without boots. As for the celebration dresses, you will find that the Mexicans have different costumes for special days in the year which are worn to complement the feel of the occasion.
