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Textiles
Cotton originated in the New World, and weaving cotton cloth has been a Zapotec industry in Oaxaca for 2,500 years. The tribute lists of the Aztecs give an indication of the quantity of fine woven goods produced in the Oaxacan valleys. In Mixe cosmology, the Goddess of Earth and Nature was a great weaver who wished to remain celibate to devote herself totally to her craft.
Her plan foiled by a god who changed himself into a hummingbird and impregnated the goddess by a peck of his beak on her breast; upon which she gave birth to the sun and the moon.
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Oaxaca native weavers still use ancient cultural motifs in their work. Their devotion to traditional forms and design motifs becomes more understandable if the artisans are seen as the guardians of ancient beliefs. However, the meaning of many of their symbols is not always clear.
In some villages each weaver has her own secret motifs with cosmic meanings, woven into huipiles that are never revealed or sold to tourists. Grandmothers recite the old lore to little girls as they learn to weave, thus passing on the legacy.
We can obtain some idea of how people dressed in pre-Hispanic times from their clay figurines, stone carvings and picture-writing (codices). The Spanish Conquerors highly praised the intricacy and beauty of Indian weaving. Each person’s style of dress designated his or her profession, social status, regional and village origin. Weaving was always a wome’s profession until the Spaniards trained men to use treadle looms. The Franciscan friar Motolinia noted the importance of weaving in a woman’s life, when he told how the Indians would place a spindle and weaving stick in the hand of new-born baby girls. Still today there are Indian villages in Oaxaca where a betrothal cannot be finalized until the prospective bride demonstrates her spinning and weaving skills to her future in-laws. During the course of her lifetime, she will have the responsibility of making all the family’s clothing.
The Spaniards introduced foot pedal looms into Oaxaca in the early days of the Colony and put men to work on them (it is a strenuous job). The looms in the Teotitlán Valley are Spanish upright looms, but modern European looms are now used there as well.
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The textile industry expanded in the 19th century, and a barrio of the City of Oaxaca named Xochimilco was the birthplace of an important manufacturing district. The looms are very wide, permitting the production of curtains, bedspreads, and table linens in any size requested.
Temple images were richly adorned both in ancient Mexico and in Spain, particularly figures of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The wealth of the New World gave Spaniards the means to shower their favorite images with jeweled crowns and magnificent robes. This practice reached its ostentatious height in Seville, the Spanish city with the strongest heritage of Roman paganism, later inhabited by the Moors (neither culture known for austerity.)
Seville’s annual Holy Week parade of images of its various Virgin Marys in all their finery is one of the world’s great religious spectacles, and also has a lot of the competitive beauty pageant about it. Between festivals, the belongings of the various images are proudly displayed. The patroness of the City of Oaxaca, La Soledad, has her own elaborate wardrobe of clothing and jewelry donated by devoted followers. In smaller towns in Oaxaca, images are attired as the economy can afford, sometimes in native costumes. One of these stands under the choir loft in Huixtepec, south of Zimatlán.
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Even in isolated provincial cities in Mexico, the Spanish dressed as sumptuously as their pocketbooks permitted, in fancy tailored fabrics decked with lace and ribbons. At first the dress of different classes was strictly regulated, prohibiting the Indians from painting their faces and bodies and exposing too much skin.
An ordinance of 1582 forbid mestiza, negro and mulatto women to wear Indian dress. Indian costumes were confined to their communities, which helped to preserve their traditional form. At the same time, the rule encouraged the development of alternative dress for other women. Indian clothing was enhanced by techniques and materials from Europe, readily adopted by native weavers.
Indians in metropolitan areas, barred from membership in the tailors' guilds, were extremely clever in learning by observation. One became the talk all over Spain when he hawked his copies of the “San Benito” around the Zócalo that he had seen on somebody's back, a garment worn as punishment by victims of the Inquisition.
Early in the Colony a silk industry thrived, but in the 17th century its success threatened Spanish businesses, and all the mulberry trees in Mexico were ordered cut down by order of the King. A small amount of native Oaxacan silk still emerges from the Sierra de Juárez and the Mixteca, where it is used sparingly by weavers.
The textile factories (“obrajes”) set up by the Spaniards soon after the Conquest stayed in operation, complimented by the production of individual weavers taught to use the European upright loom, spinning wheel, and how to raise sheep. In the 19th century a large national textile industry was developed using the latest machinery and synthetic dyes from Europe. Native costumes survived through all these centuries of change, and are still an important expression of cultural identity.
The most significant types of clothing the Spanish contributed to Mexico are the blouse, wholeheartedly adopted by the Indians and lavishly decorated, and the shawl or “rebozo”, of Moorish origin and inspired by the 18th century Chinese fringed, embroidered shawl. A pre-Colombian antecedent of the “rebozo” may have been the “apadera”, a head shawl still worn by the Chinanteco Indians in Ojitl‡n in the Tuxtepec region of Oaxaca. In 1794 in his report to the King, Viceroy Rivillagigedo described rebozos as an indispensable part of women’s wardrobes: “...the women wear them without exception, nuns, the highest born and the richest ladies and the most unfortunate and poorest women of the lowest class. They use them as shawls, as shoulder cloaks, in public buildings, and even in bed.”
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By the late 19th century the “rebozo” had become the symbol of Mexican womanhood and, like the native woman’s huipil or tunic, identified the wearer’s region or village by its color, arrangement of stripes, fabric and fringe type. The way a woman draped it around her could even indicate her marital state, perhaps availability. The most common type of rebozo is of rayon or cotton with a tie-dyed “paloma de bolita” pattern, so the rebozo shimmers or looks as though sprinkled with sugar. The origin of this design was probably shawls from India, introduced into Mexico in the late 16th century via the Orient. Called “ikat”, this tie-dye technique was once the exclusive work of men in Zimatlán, Oaxaca, for a factory that supplied the whole of Mexico with its thread.
The rebozo even has its patron saint, the “Señor del Rebozo”. Today it is still the most useful garment in Mexico, simply stated an uncomplicated, woven fabric with fringed ends, normally about 30" wide and 2 yards long. A child begins life in its sling, always close to the mother; it keeps the girl’s head dry and carries her school books. She uses it to flirt with a few years later, carries her own babies in its folds, and wears it for a shroud. Indian women in Oaxaca’s Central Valleys wear their rebozos twisted over the forehead with one end hanging down the back, or wrap it around their head to balance a jar. In certain regional dances, the “rebozo” becomes a snare, enticement, or even a vulture (Sola de Vega). In Mexico as well as in Spain, a woman will show off her prize article of clothing: an elegant, silk, embroidered and fringed shawl, or imitation silk rebozo, perhaps black with bright pink stripes and a proverb woven in: “I am my owner’s pride”.
Rebozos currently available for sale in Oaxaca include the natural and white cotton ones from the Sierra de Juárez, principally Yalalag, with a distinct woven fringe; white cotton ones with multi-colored thin stripes from Betaza in the same region, net weave rebozos in white, and bright colored, wide striped ones from the Pacific Coast north of Pinotepa. The traditional rayon flecked with white is still the most popular in the countryside, now manufactured with imitation tie-dye designs on a dark blue, grey, black or brown ground. Wool and wool-acrylic or wool-cotton mixtures in plain color and striped rebozos with fringed ends are made in Mitla and sold widely. Shiny rayon (imitation silk) rebozos come in luscious pastels, turquoise, white, royal blue, and stripes and are an elegant addition to any wardrobe. Mexican rebozos are presently popular in Germany among young mothers influenced by the ecology movement, who are using shawls from Africa and India for the same reason; that it is the “natural” way to carry a baby.
The Indian women weavers are the source of the handmade textiles in Oaxaca, sold to shops but mostly for their own use. In many Indian towns, a common sight is the weaver working on a backstrap loom (see photo at left), sitting on a mat on the ground in front of her doorway. She moves back to extend more warp on her loom with the opposite end tied to a post. This simple loom has been used in Mexico for over 4,000 years. It consists of two bars of wood with lengthwise warp threads extended between them; the weaver weaves in the woof thread with a simple shuttle that permits the elaboration of a wide range of effects not possible on commercial looms. Native costumes achieve their effect mainly by the texture and decoration of the cloth itself, not the tailoring as with the clothing of North America and Europe. Oaxaca is the most important regions for handmade textiles, because the Indian traditions have endured more than elsewhere.
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The weavers employ European cross-stitch and embroidery techniques, as well as aniline dyes, store-bought lace, embroidery thread, and ribbons to enhance huipiles and create blouses of hand-woven cotton or factory-made cloth. The best Oaxaca handmade blouses are probably those from San Vicente Coatlán (nick-named “Chenteños”), San Antonino Castillo Velasco, near Ocotlán; and Santiago Yaitepec, a Chatino Indian village near Juquila.
The desire of many buyers to pay less for these garments has lowered the quality of native weaving. The best work is more rare, and some forms have disappeared altogether. The Trique Indians, so often seen weaving and selling in the plazas in Oaxaca, have taken to using acrylic yarn in their red, white and black striped huipiles. Sometimes cheaper versions of fine clothing are produced, as is the case with the “wedding dresses” of San Antonino; the lesser versions are peddled on Alcalá Street and around the Zócalo. Inexpensive unisex gauze shirts and heavier, striped men’s shirts are widely sold; be careful of shrinkage.
In the market places, woven goods are available from Guatemala and Chiapas, particularly in Oaxaca and Mitla. The Guatemalan products (bags, jackets, dolls, shirts) have tie-dye stripes in dark blue and white alternating with solid colors; the Chiapas blouses are hand-woven and embroidered, usually quite attractive, with geometric designs concentrated on the shoulders and around the neck, red predominating.
The huipil is a very practical as well as lovely article of clothing. Basically a sleeveless tunic, it is constructed from three lengths of hand-woven cloth, with decoration applied later or woven into the fabric and often concentrated on the bodice. Most huipiles are sewn up on the sides to make armholes, and the seams are joined with ribbons or a decorative stitch. Falling softly over the length of the body, the huipil hides any imperfection in graceful folds. They can be washed endlessly, and their simple comfort, easy solution to looking good in a variety of situations, and elegance are enticing qualities. Huipiles are inexpensive to buy, except for the finest collector pieces, but even those are under $250 in the market places. A striking, authentic huipil from any number of Indian villages can be purchased for $30 to $75. Outside of Mexico, huipiles can be rather expensive, and the good blouses and rebozos are even harder to find.
The processes of making handmade garments are tedious and time-consuming: perhaps spinning the thread on a pre-Hispanic spindle with a clay whorl, and weaving on a primitive backstrap loom. If not using commercial dyes, it involves dying the thread with aniline or laboriously concocted natural dyes: sea-snail ink collected on the rocks along the seacoast by men carrying hanks of thread on their forearms and squirting the ink on them to create purple); or smashing tiny cochineal insects from the nopal cactus to make a deep magenta dye. It takes 70 to 80 thousand to make a pound! These minute cactus mites were Oaxaca’s main source of income between 1750 and 1820, processed at Cuilapan and sold abroad. The processes used to make textiles are depicted in murals by Arturo García Bustos in the stairwell of the State Government Offices in the Zócalo. Among the other natural dyes are indigo (blue-black), shells of “huisache” tree seeds (black), and nut shells for brown.
Little material profit results from making these textiles, but it is all some of the native women know how to do that produces any cash at all. Cooperatives have been formed in some villages, and their representatives journey regularly to Oaxaca and sell to stores and market place vendors. Young women are not taking to the profession very readily, so one day soon there will be no more production of these magnificent textiles.
When purchasing handmade textiles, use the same criteria you would for ready-made clothing: are the finishing details well done?, are the designs matching or at least compatible at the seams and complete instead of cut off at awkward places?; does the garment hang well and fit straight at the neck? Some colors may run, so check the edges of embroidered or woven designs against the white background fabric to detect any bleeding. Oaxaca native textiles come in a lot of variety and qualities, and it takes time to learn about them. But soon your eye will begin to note differences and allow you to make good choices to suit your individual taste. The best huipiles have highly developed, often subtle color schemes and exhibit intricate weaving techniques. Loose threads on the inside of textiles from the coastal towns are not a sign of poor workmanship but a result of the difficult brocade technique used to create the designs.
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The native garments have so many uses, at home, at the beach, or in more formal situations, that you almost can’t go wrong buying them. The best huipiles have a refinement rarely achieved in the ethnic garments of other countries and can be worn almost anywhere, tucked in or not, belted or not. Oaxaca native weavers are now paying more attention to the modern figure and making their huipiles to suit slimmer, taller ladies. Fit is not a problem with native blouses, bags, belts, and jackets, in either men's or women's models. The household linens: bedspreads, tablecloths, placements and table covers also made on backstrap looms with the same techniques are beautiful and colorful, and use many of the same motifs as the huipiles.
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The most popular huipiles in Oaxaca today are from San Pedro Amusgos, Pinotepa de Don Luis, Jamiltepec, and Huazolotitlán on the Pacific Coast; the Trique Indian towns of the Mixteca Alta region around Tlaxiaco; Yalalag, a Zapotec community in the Sierra of Juárez, the Mazatec town of Huautla de Jimxnez, the Mixe Indian town of Cotzocán, and the Tuxtepec region inhabited by the Chinantec and Cuicatec Indians, including the towns of Valle Nacional, Ojitlán and Usila. Generally speaking, market places are the best place to buy, not only for more favorable prices, but also because many of the vendors have spent years in the business and have a genuine interest in textiles, often advancing money to the weavers to keep them producing. As well as the markets, many shops also carry fine quality textiles both in Oaxaca and on the Coast.
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