Native Dress

In most of Mexico's Indian lands, even in villages where the predominant language is native American, not Spanish, most people wear regular street clothing. In more conservative areas, often the men dress in street clothing, but the women attire themselves in traditional dress. Only in really isolated areas, usually deep in the mountains and especially in Chiapas, do both men and women dress in the old ways.

Though in mercados we often find stalls selling serapes and perhaps even some pretty, embroidered huipiles, conservative Indians tend to acquire their traditional dress outside mercados. Perhaps they buy from or barter with someone in their village who specializes in making the product, or maybe they or someone in their immediate families make their own.

If names like "serape" and "huipil" through you for a loop, you might be interested in the following list of useful Mexican-Spanish words:

ceñidor: traditional Indian belt or sash

enredo: a wide, seamless cut of cloth used by Indian women as a skirt

guayabera: in the Yucatán, a short, loose, pleated shirt

huipil: sleeveless cotton blouse worn by Indian women, often ornately embroidered

jáquima: cloak made of palm frond, used against rain

jorongo: sleeveless jacket worn by men

morral: squared bag with a shoulder strap

quexquémitl: poncholike article of women's clothing with a head opening, worn with the two long corners descending in front and back

rebozo: long shawl used to cover the head and shoulders of women, and often to carry a baby on the back

sarape: serape in English -- large, usually ornamented, rectangularly woven cloth without a head opening, worn draped over a shoulder

terno: a hand-embroidered dress typical of the Yucatán

You may be interested in reviewing Textile Traditions of Mesoamerica and the Andes : An Anthology