Importance of the traditional costume in Guatemala

Indigenous clothing is undoubtedly the highest expression of artistic, mythical, and religious significance.
of the natives of Guatemala. In it we find a beautiful and interesting mixture of
Mayan and Spanish motifs, and styles based on original outfits
pre-Columbian combined with colonial and other recent innovations.

Therefore, the suit was important both for the Spanish encomenderos and for
the indigenous people. Nowadays, the authenticity of the costumes has declined due to development,
the ease of communication that allows for greater relationships between people, soon
interest that some indigenous people have in preserving their traditional dress, at the cost of the
materials used, and sometimes to the comfort or preference of putting on the huipil of one
village with the skirt of another.

Traditional garments are made on looms. The most expensive and coveted ones...
they are made on backstrap looms, also known as 'stick' or 'mecapal'.
made almost always by women, and their preparation can take from three to eight months,
especially in the case of huipiles and tzutes. Others are made by men in
floor looms, in less time. The most modern and cheapest are made in
industrial looms.

The vast majority of suits that appear to be hand-embroidered are actually

jobs in the loom with a technique known as 'brocade', in which threads of different
calibers, materials, and colors are taken to the original weave. In most cases
hand embroidery is reserved for finishing the openings of the neck and the
sleeves of the huipiles, and to adorn the seams of the skirts' fabrics,
huipiles, tzutes, etc.

In the preparation of the cuts for women's skirts, men's shirts, and
In perrajes, the technique known as jaspeada or ixat is quite common. With this technique,
before dyeing, the skeins of thread are tied with strings at certain distances, from
so that during the dyeing these parts of the thread remain uncolored. This produces a pattern.
of a single color, plus the natural color of the thread. If repeated several times, the resulting fabric will
with several colors in various drawings. Although the ixat fabric is quite common in
Guatemala, its elaboration is true art, which is generally not appreciated as it should be.
deserves.
Why do they call it a symbol of identity?
The suit is one of the differences that characterize the communities as it is a
main element of the Maya worldview as a symbol of cultural identity. The outfit of
The woman is made up of the following pieces: headdress, the güipil, the güipiles.
ceremonials, cutting, and shearing. The Güipil was traditionally woven by women.
using cotton thread as raw material, and they themselves handcrafted the
ornaments of their designs using figures from nature such as: birds, deer,
dogs, hills, and flowers.

Materials used

HUIPILES
In the great context of indigenous culture, weaving represents a connection to the Mayan civilization.
ancient. The skill of the weaver is displayed in the huipil and it is, so to speak, the element
ethnographic that differentiates the clothing of one village from another. The huipil is a garment similar to
a blouse that depicts ancient Mayan sculptures, figurines, and paintings. The word huipil is derived
from the Nahuatl language (Aztec), although the word po't is the most used in linguistic groups in
Guatemala. Nim means and is associated with great and special, therefore Nim Po't is understood
like a ceremonial huipil.

A woman can spend months weaving a huipil, when complex techniques or designs are involved.
required. Through the selection of design, material, and finishing technique, one can know the
information about the weaver, such as place of birth, religious background, social position,
skill for weaving and personality. Indigenous women can read the coded messages in
the huipiles, with just one look.

The huipiles are made from one to three brocade cloths (rectangular fabric panels), woven.
on a backstrap loom, or on a foot-treadle loom. Or they can be made from commercial fabric.
that is decorated with embroidery and lace. When several cloths are used, they are sewn together along
using a wide variety of techniques, regularly with a lace (decorative embroidery for joining
canvases.) When the garment is made of two canvases, the opening for the head is made by leaving
the unsewn canvases; or, when the garment has one or three canvases, a round cut is made,
square or in 'v'. The opening of the neck and sleeves can be left unfinished, or they are
adorned with lace or embroidered by hand or machine; as well as different types of stitches
they complement the ornament. Sleeves are rare in huipils, but they appear in huipils of
Sololá, Santiago Chimaltenango, and in some baby huipils. In some villages with huipils.
shorts are worn outside, hanging over the skirt, although in most cases they are worn inside it. One
Minimum stitching can help define the shoulders or shape the garment to the body.
CUTS
The cut, generally specific to each population, is a universal element of every woman's outfit.
The morgue is a type of cut made from a blue or black material similar to denim.
frequently incorporating white or light blue stripes, which can identify the population of
origin. Bright ribbons can also be distinguished in the cuts depending on the tradition
local, which can be as long as the ankle, as in Almolonga, or up to the knee, as in
Chichicastenango.

The material for the cuts is made by men on a pedal loom. The quantity of
The material used for making a cut can vary considerably, from two to more.
of six yards, it often includes a cloth of the same material added for the length. While
the skirts are mainly made of cotton, the use of rayon and acrylic has become
increasingly common.

The most common type of cut is a skirt that consists of a piece of fabric joined to form a
tube in which the woman is wrapped. The excess material can be wrapped around the body
and bent at the waist according to local custom. Another style, supposedly adapted from the
Spanish and used in Xela and Cobán, it is tightly adjusted at the waist with a ribbon.

An embroidered seam (randa) is used to join the panels of the skirt and can be found
in a variety of stitches and styles that vary from town to town. The lace of San
Martín Chile Verde, for example, is a simple zigzag stitch, while the functional cuts
Xenacoj special features a hand-embroidered design with motifs of birds and flowers. Skirts of
material base similar but manufactured in different populations, can be distinguished by the
differences in the rags. For example, the women of Santa María de Jesús use the morgue of
San Juan Sacatepéquez with a lace in colors and designs of your choice.

BELTS
Used to hold the cut in place, the waist-woven belt is an element
indispensable part of the clothing of an indigenous woman. The sashes are made in different
long and wide; they can be simple, like those from Almolonga, or decorated and embroidered like those from
San Juan and San Pedro Sacatepéquez. Most of the belts, like those of San Juan Ostuncalco,
they are simply wrapped around the waist several times, with the ends inside; but
Others, like in Colotenango, are tied with the ends on the outside. Most of the sashes have
tips that are rounded, laced, or braided. A notable exception is that of Santiago
Sacatepéquez, which is finished with long cords with pom-poms in the shape of donuts and
vivid colors.
While several women knit their own belts, based on their specific style
population, many buy their belts from professional weavers. In Chichicastenango, by
For example, there are men who weave and embroider women's belts. In many towns, women wear belts.
that are not of local manufacture, but it is a narrow belt made with white thread and
alternating black, made in Totonicapán. These belts are decorated with small figures, such
like birds, women with jugs of water, animals, even buses. Manufacturers usually
they incorporate their name into the register of figures. One half of the sash is occasionally adorned.
with bright and light colors and the other half with dark and gloomy colors. The success of the belts
made in Totonicapán is based on the fact that its design has remained virtually unchanged by
less than a century ago.
Colors that predominate in the traditional costume
The clothing is mainly made of wool, silk, rayon, and some synthetic fibers.
Standing out the use of colors such as white, black, yellow, and red (sacred colors)
for the reasons of war). The suits are made on looms and are expensive since
its production can take between three to five months as they are hand-embroidered,
Perhaps that's why it's a custom in Guatemala for traditional outfits to be passed down from
generation to generation (modern costumes are made on industrial looms and in
series because they are cheaper).

Geometric Shapes in the Traditional Clothing

White blanket güipil with a round embroidered collar, with lustrine of
vivid colors, such as red, orange, and yellow that form geometric shapes in
diamond and flower shapes of different colors. At the bottom near the neck and bordering
the entire güipil also used to incorporate finer thread embroidery representing
figures of little animals like birds, horses, and others. Nowadays, this is still preserved.
model as the basis for the design of the güipil, although other elements have been added such as
ribbons with shiny threads.

For the cut, they made a fabric with a black background and colored stripes in the form
horizontal and with some lateral decorations also embroidered in the shape of crosses. This type
The cut is still used today and there are family looms that produce this fabric.
which can reach quite high prices.

In the case of women, their clothing was as follows: they wore a cotton güipil in color
white with a round embroidered collar with shiny colors, especially
reds, oranges, and yellows forming geometric shapes in the form of rhombuses and flowers
of different colors. At the bottom near the neck and bordering the entire güipil, it was customary to
also incorporate embroidery with finer thread representing animal figures such as
birds, horses and others. This model is still preserved as a basis for
design of the güipil, although other elements such as ribbons with threads have been incorporated
brilliant.