Otovalo
Traditional
Costume
The traditional costume
of Otovalo is daily wear for most of the population of the town and is
widely seen in the rest of the country as well. In many jobs
where a uniform is usually worn, such as in hotels, the
Otovaleños are permitted to wear their traditional costume
instead. It is said that if an Otovaleño ceases to
wear their traditional dress, they lose rights in the community.
Traditional
dress for the Otovalo women consists of a long dark skirt with pale
underskirt, fastened with a cloth belt,
and an embroidered white blouse with full,
lacy sleeves.
The "skirts" are actually
two separate pieces of cloth with no tailoring at all, simply wapped
around and held in place by the belt. If you look closely you
may see tiny, detailed embroidery along the selvedge of the cloth.
The belts are woven in detailed and intricate
designs with traditional weaving techniques which have been used in
Otovalo for centuries.
The traditional white
blouses for the women of Otovalo have broad, intricately-embroidered
collars and sleeves. Traditionally all the embroidery would
be done by hand, though these days some is done by machine.
The many strings of tiny
gold bead necklaces signify the woman´s importance in the
Otovalo community: more beads = more status. The
beads are not real
gold (at least, not since the time of the Conquistadores, who stole
huge amounts of gold to take back to Spain) and these days are
apparently imported from the Czech Republic. The red bead
bracelets are traditionally believed to ward off evil spirits.
The women also wear a cloth binding around their hair.
Both men and women wear
open sandals called alpargata, made from cactus fibre,
although wellington boots are also common now. One
Otovaleña admitted that their feet can get chilly in the
traditional sandals, to the extent that elderly ladies sometimes
shuffle out in warm, sensible slippers instead.
The
traditional Otovalo costume of the men is white, cropped-length
trousers with a dark poncho and felt hat. They wear
their long hair braided, just as in the traditional woven pictures.
The best way to find out
more about this beautiful traditional costume and the people who wear
it with such pride is to see for yourself with a visit
to Otovalo and its textile market.
Otovalo
Traditional
Costume
Otovalo´s traditional style of dress
- design and symbolism of the Otovalo regional costume.
