Bolivian Fashion Wedding Gold Jewellery 10

Bolivian Fashion Wedding Gold Jewelry.

By Aamir Mannan. 

Bolivian Clothing: Highlands and Valleys

In the departments of La Paz, Oruro and Potosí, which were conquered by the Incan Empire, typical Bolivian dress didn’t look anything like it does today. The Quechua clothing was colorful but very simple. The women used a rectangular tunic that was long and hung down to their ankles which they tied at the waist with a belt which had pointed ends that hung to one side, down to the middle of the thigh. The men also wore a rectangular tunic, 

although it was shorter, and used a 'taparrabos' (a strip of cloth used to cover the backside). Both wore “ojotas” (sandals made from strips of leather). During the winter both men and women used a cape which was made out of alpaca fiber among the lower classes and vicuña fiber among the aristocratic classes. The various social classes could be told apart by the colors and fabrics used to make their clothing as well as the way in which they were decorated (with geometric, zoomorphic or anthromorphic embroidered and woven designs). Fine vicuña fiber was reserved for the wealthy while the rest of the population used alpaca, llama or cotton fabric. Lamb’s wool didn’t exist at the time as sheep were brought over by the Spanish. 

To cover their heads the noble class used 'tocados' (headdresses) decorated with gold, gems and feathers and fine fleece earflaps. The lower noble classes used an embroidered chulo (woven winter cap) with earflaps as a symbol of social status, while the common classes didn’t wear head covering or hats at all. (Today Bolivian hats and hat styles still indicate which region of the country a person is from). The women didn’t use any adornment in their hair and simply parted it down the middle and tied it into a long braid that fell loosely down the back. Sometimes they covered their heads with a mantilla (shawl) or a headdress that was much simpler than what men used, and only if they were members of the nobility.

This changed when the Spanish arrived to colonize South America. The Catholic Church insisted upon deciding what was right or wrong to wear among the indigenous population and many of their customs and traditions were disallowed, including their typical clothing. Thus, as of the 16th Century, the Spanish imposed a new style of dress upon the indigenous and mestizo (mixed race) population forcing them to wear the typical European clothing of the era, permitting just a few adaptations to local customs and climate. This is the Bolivian clothing you see “cholas” wearing in the Bolivian Andean highland region today. You can see this in the photos above and below.