global-musings:

A man participates in a hair exhibition during the 8th annual Afro hairstyle contest in Cali, Colombia. An event that is held during the month of may which aims to highlight the traditions, culture and history of Afro Colombians.

gaelgarcia:

Yalitza Aparicio for Vogue Mexico // December 2018.

dapart:

Part 1 of 3. Part 1 is Female Fashion in
Mesoamerica. 

Unfortunately
since some have been stealing and even selling my work I have to watermark my
images now and post in low resolution. But I will soon have these on patreon to
view full size or to buy as poster prints.

On
to the set. I have broken it down into basic garment type. A couple things I
should mention are that the examples here are used only as an example of the
garment being displayed. It does not mean that the specific culture showing it
here was the only one to wear it. Many of these garments have regional,
ethnic and temporal varieties, however some are indeed specific to certain
cultures which I will mention. I tried to show a variety of cultures and time
periods simply to highlight different uses of the garments. Notable civilizations
like the Mexica or Olmec for example are not shown here but that doesn’t mean
they didn’t have skirts for example.

Skirt

The first is the basic skirt. Based
on a Classic period figurine of Colima (part of the West Mexican people’s of
Mesoamerica). She wears a wrap around skirt held by a belt or sash at the hip.
The skirt was among the most basic garments for women, and worn virtually by
all people’s. It is worn here as the only garment as was the case in many
places and time periods. But in colder climates or certain contexts it was
usually worn with another garment. Skirts were made of a single rectangle of
cloth. They were made with cotton, maguey or vegetal fibers and worn plain, or
with designs and colors and sometimes embroidered with stones or feathers. The
Chichimeca made their skirts with animal skins.

Next is a Preclassic Tlatilco
woman wearing a type of skirt with grass or reed possibly. These were very
short, just barely covering the groin or part of it. These are unique to the
Preclassic period though not unique to Tlatilco culture in Central Mexico as it
appears in El Salvador’s late Preclassic Bolinas tradition. Nevertheless it
does not appear to be that common even in the Preclassic.

This next one is a hypothetical
Precolumbian style based on more modern ways of wearing the skirt. This way of
wearing the skirt is unique to the Amuzgo women. It was worn similar to a male
cape only with nothing else worn. Nowadays it is worn with straps resembling a spaghetti
strap dress. While no Amuzgo art shows this unique way of wearing the skirt in
Precolumbian times, it is included as a possibility if it was worn in such a
way.

The next examples show different ways
of wearing the skirt. The first example shows a wrap around Mexica skirt held
together with a white sash. Other ways of holding up the skirt included making
a tie or fold in a similar way one wraps a towel around the body today. A
Mexica example also shows something like a rope belt. The next example shows a
short skirt above the knees worn by the P’urepecha. Skirts of this length are
exceedingly rare outside of the P’urepecha and perhaps some Preclassic types.
The next example shows a skirt sown together rather than wrapped around.

Hip Cloth

The hip cloth seen here is worn
by a Maya woman in the Postclassic period seen in the Dresden codex. This
garment was worn over the skirt and held by a belt. Sometimes they were folded
rectangular clothes into a triangle shape and then wrapped over the body. Some
versions show two, one in front and back creating an apron like look over the
skirt. It was probably made of cotton or maguey fibers.

Head Cloth

 

The head cloth was a rectangular
fabric worn over the head and wrapped over the body. This example is a
Postclassic Maya type, based on descriptions at the time from Europeans. It was
usually worn when not at home, such as going into the market or traveling in
place of an upper body garment. Some Classic period Maya women are seen wearing
this over their hair or headdress and it is seen still worn by Mixtec women in
Oaxaca’s Jamiltepec District, particularly in Pinotepa Nacional. It was
probably made of cotton or maguey fibers.

Huipil

The origins of the Huipil are
still unknown but some speculate it came from the South, perhaps South America.
It is a sleeveless blouse, and worn by many people throughout Mesoamerica as an
upper body garment. This first example shows a short-medium length huipil worn
by a woman from Veracruz in the Classic period as seen in a mural. The unique
cut on the hem however seems unique to them. Like the skirt this could be made
of cotton, maguey or vegetal fiber or animals skins for the Chichimeca. And it
can be plain, or with decorations and embroideries like feathers, stones or cords
like this example has.

This example is a large huipil,
covering most of the upper body, reaching the wrists and extending to the
knees. This is worn by a Tlaxcaltec woman of the Postclassic period. Similar long
huipils appear in Classic Maya art and among the Mexica and other Nahua peoples.
This particular examples has a little patch that is sown at the opening,
presumably to help hold the small opening in place and to prevent tearing.

Next is a huipil worn without
placing the arms through the armholes, just letting the garment sit over the
shoulders. This variety was also said to be worn by the Postclassic Maya
similar to the headcloth. Curiously, it also appears among the Mixtec, which
this example comes from based on the Codex Zouche Nuttall. Scholars debate
whether some depictions labeled quechquemitl (a garment I will talk about
later) are actually huipils worn in this manner. It is still worn in this way
in parts of Jamiltepec.

Lastly, we see different collar
openings for huipils. The Tlaxcaltec and Nahua varieties seem to favor a slit,
however other types could be square or curved openings. In most places the
huipil neckline   was just under the clavicle. However, the Maya
had a range of neckline lengths in the Classic period. Some were so low it
slung slightly under the breasts. These very low necklines seem to have been
favored by elite women as a fashion trend.

Quechquemitl

The quechquemitl was another
garment from the North, carried by the Chichimeca to Mesoamerica. It was worn
particularly in Veracruz and West Mexico, with varieties worn in places like
Teotihuacan during the Classic period. By the Late Postclassic it was seen in
the Maya region and even as far as Nicaragua. It is a garment that garment with
an opening in the center for the head, with two sides covered and two other
sides exposed. They can be made of one or two pieces of fabric. Typically the
covered parts where the chest and back while the arms and sides were exposed.
This example is worn by the Cholulan-Puebla area based on the Codex Borgia of
the Postclassic period. These were made with a variety of materials and
decorated like the aforementioned garments.

This is a quechquemitl worn sideways
by a P’urepecha woman. One of the points on the side is folded over to one side
creating a scarf-like look, also due to the quechquemitl being very short. This
style of folding over to one side seems unique to the P’urepecha.

The following are types of
quechquemitls and how they are worn. The first example is from Papantla,
Veracruz, worn by the Nahuas in modern day, it’s a hypothetical reconstruction
of how it would look in precolumbian times if it was worn in this manner. The
second example shows a quechquemitl constructed from two pieces of cloth. it’s
sowed at a perpendicular angle and the two sides are folded back to meet on the
opposite ends where they are sewn. The third example below is made from a
single rectangular piece that is folded in half and the two extreme ends are
sown. This method however created a little flap in the middle where the head
passes, which can be tucked in or folded out. The last example we see varying
lengths a quechquemitl can take

Rounded Quechquemitl

This is an type of quechquemitl
which has rounded  corners rather than
straight ones. This example comes from Tlaxcala in the Classic period. This
style gives off the impression of a more circular/curved look.

The second round quechquemitl
shows the same garment but worn sideways, with the points on the shoulders and
arms, leaving the torso and back exposed. Similar to the P’urepecha way except
it is not folded to one side only, simply shifted to the side. This style comes
from the Mixtec codex Zouche Nuttall. It is also a style seen among the Mazatec
of Oaxaca.

Quechquemitl-Cape

This is a type of quechquemitl
that is a bit of a fusion with a cape. It can be confused with a rounded
quechquemitl however due to the rounded appearance it gives if one raises their
arms. It is two rectangular pieces with a hole in the middle for the head, and
a large opening for the arms and torso on the bottom. In a way it can also be
thought of as a huipil without sleeve holes. This style appears among the
Classic Maya and was the prime garment of choice for women in Teotihuacan as
this example shows. Clavijero mentions Aztecs wearing such a garment over their
quechquemitl’s.

A variation of this garment was
worn by the Maya in the town of Chunchuchu during the Postclassic period. This
style was netted, presumably tied like a net. While it is unusual in that this
was made just with cords, it is not unprecedented, netted capes for instance
are seen among certain Mexica men.

Cape

While capes are typically seen
among male fashion, there did exist a female cape as well. This one is worn by
a Maya woman of the Classic period over her huipil and skirt. This example
appears to not be tied up and just ‘placed over her’. However in Mixtec and Cholulan-Pueblo
codices short capes are sometimes worn over quechquemitl’s or as a single upper
body garment. However these Postclassic capes are all short, unlike the Maya
one here which covers most of the body.

This short cape comes from the
codex Laud, of Cholulan-Pueblo origin. It is a ‘front cape’, that is the cape
covered the torso in front but left the back exposed where it was tied at the
neck. Due to its short size and being worn in front it gives an ‘apron’ like
appearance.

Wrap-Around Dress

The wrap-around dress was a
single piece of cloth wrapped around the body, under the arms, and tied or
secured at the front or near the armpit. This is the shorter style, where it’s
used more as an upper body garment accompanied by a skirt. This style is unique
to the Classic and Postclassic Maya.

This version of the wrap-around
dress functions as a single garment to cover the whole body wrapped under the
arms. Due to its length covering most of the body, a skirt wasn’t necessary to
wear with this underneath. This style is unique to the Classic Maya, and while
it may have been worn in the Postclassic by them as they had the shorter
variety, it is not seen in any depictions or mentioned in sources.

To conclude this part I’ll
mention that there are a few garments I will instead add to part 3, that would
have gone here, this includes ritual attire and unique kinds of weaving.

Sources:

-Acala, Jerónimo de. 1540. Relación
de Michoacán.

-Aguilar-Moreno,
Manuel. 2005. Handbook To Life In The Aztec World.

-Amaroli, Paul. 2017. Arqueología
de El Salvador.

-Anawalt, Patricia Rieff. 1986.
Indian Clothing Before Cortes.

-Anawalt,
Patricia Rieff. 2005. “Atuendos del México antiguo”, Arqueología Mexicana, edición especial, núm.
19, Raíces, México, pp. 10-19.  

-Benzoni,
Girolamo. 2017. History of the New World, trans. Jana Byars.

-Clavijero, Francisco, Javier.
Historia antigua de Mexico, 4 vol.

-Codex Borgia

-Codex Dresden

-Codex Kingsborough

-Codex
Laud

-Codex
Mendoza

-Codex
Zouche Nuttall

-Cordry
and Cordry. 1968. Mexican Indian Costumes.

-Herrera, A. 1726-30. Historia
General de los hechos de los Castillanos en las islas i tierra firme del mar océano
(5 vol)

-http://research.mayavase.com/kerrmaya.html

-Jose
Maria Asensio. 1898-1900. Relaciones de Yucatan (2 vol)

-Landa, Diego de. 1566. Relación
de las cosas de Yucatán.

-Lienzo
de Tlaxcala

-Mural of las Higueras

-Mural of Santa Rita Corozal

-Ponce, Fray Alonso. 1873. Relación
breve y verdadera de algunas cosas de las muchas que sucedieron al padre fray
Alonso Ponce en las provincias de la Nueva España siendo comisario general  de aquellas partes, escrita por dos religiosos
sus compañeros, 2 vol. Madrid.

-Sahagún,
Bernardo de. 1590. Florentine Codex, trans. Charles E. Dibble and Arthur J.O.
Anderson, in 3 parts, vol 1-13.

-Smith,
Michael E. 2003. The Aztecs 2nd edition.

-Soustelle,
Jacques. 1961. Daily Life of the Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest.

-Stone,
Andrea J. March, 2011. “Keeping abreast of the Maya – A study of the
female body in Maya art”, Ancient Mesoamerica Vol. 22, Issue 01, pp. 167 –
183.

-Stresser-Pean,
Claude. 2011. Des vêtements et des hommes. Une perspective historique du
vêtement indigène au Mexique. Le vêtement precortésien.

-Townsend, Richard and  Anawalt, Patricia Rieff (Editor). 1998.
Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past