The Sombrero

All right, I'll admit it, my blog has been primarily geared toward ladies fashion. So, for the one or two gentlemen out there (Hi Dad) who read my blog, today is your lucky day. I've dedicated this entry to an accessory that smacks of the tradition and gaiety of Mexican culture:

The Sombrero.

The word "sombrero" is derived from the Spanish word "sombra" which means shade or shadow. The sombrero is a wide-brimmed hat ideal for laborers who work long hours in the desert's heat and need to shield their heads, necks and shoulders from the blistering sun. The first people said to wear sombreros were Mestizo workers in the "agricultural belt", commonly known today as the border between the United States and Mexico.

Traditional sombreros vary in appearance but all are constructed out of loosely woven straw. Some are plain with unfinished edges and others are incredibly vibrant and covered in intricate embroidery.

Though the sombrero is often attributed to the Mexican harvester and charro (cowboy), mariachi musicians also embrace the hat as part of their intricate costume. It became known for the famous Mexican folk song and dance called the Jarabe Tapatio. It tells the tale of a courtship between a poor charro peasant and the woman he loves. In an effort to flirt with her, he tosses his sombrero on the ground as a gesture of kindness. In return the woman dances on and around the brim of his sombrero.

Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of the rich history behind the sombrero. Americans refer to the traditional Jarabe Tapatio tale as the "Mexican Hat Dance" and the hat itself has become a symbol of the Mexican leaning up on a cactus while taking a siesta. For American children the sombrero is associated with the cartoon mouse Speedy Gonzales. The sombrero has also become a tourist souvenir for Americans and is often given out as a gag gift at parties.

See below to watch dancers perform the Jarabe Tapatio:

Threads of Love

On the first Thursday of every month, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Nogales, Ariz. is turned into a medical clinic. Health practitioners, volunteers, and interpreters head down to St. Andrew's Children's Clinic to provide Mexican children with medical services.

On Thursday, Nov. 6, my journalism class visited the clinic to cover stories about its patients and staff for Border Beat, our student-run online publication.

St. Andrew's Clinic's services are free. The doctors and nurses leave their own practices to come to Nogales to work on these children simply out of the goodness of their hearts. I was truly amazed by the amount of care the staff gave to each patient.

St. Andrew's Clinic performs services in a variety of specialized areas from audiology to orthotics. In addition to the medical treatments it offers, the clinic also distributes donated clothing and food to the children and their families.

The church garden is transformed into a mini superstore. On a rack hang sweaters, jackets, and dresses of all shades and sizes. Colorful pairs of sneakers rest on the tiered ledges of the garden's stone fountain. Shopping bags filled to the brim with clothes cover the ground for visitors to rummage through.

For the last 8 years, one volunteer in particular has made the Church's distribution garden an important part of her life and vice versa. Rosemary Fitzpatrick sees it as a place where she can help children in need and watch as they gratefully accept the garments she's knitted for them.

Fitzgerald dedicates her spare time to knitting garments for the clinic. "I can knit and watch TV, I can knit and talk, I knit in the car if someone else is driving, not when I'm driving," Fitzgerald said. With that time she produces knitted hat and scarf sets, sweaters, and afghans for the children. Her individual goal is to produce 52 garments a year, finishing one every week.

"I get so choked up when I see somebody take something I've made and hug it because to me that's what I work for," Fitzpatrick said.

Where to find: Frida Kahlo Inspired Clothing

As promised, here are local venues that offer Frida Kahlo inspired/traditional Mexican clothing. There are two stores in particular, both located on Tucson's historic 4th Avenue, that have a wide selection.

How Sweet It Was
419 N. 4th Ave.
(520) 623-9854

This vintage clothing store offers everything from acid washed denim from the 80s, to flapper dresses from the "Roaring Twenties." When I first entered the store I immediately spotted a rack full of vibrant tehuana skirts (see below) and white billowy blouses, both staples in Kahlo's wardrobe. The store also carries other Mexican garments like the rebozo (see below & Oct. 13 post), which Kahlo often wore.



How Sweet It Was also offers a large collection of chunky Mexican jewelry and dead pawn jewelry (see Sept. 15 post), another element unique to Kahlo's classic ensemble.


Tucson Thrift Store
319 N. 4th Ave
(520) 623-8736

This store is just a block away from How Sweet It Was. Yes, it's a thrift store but it also offers vintage clothing and costumes. It too devotes a rack to traditional Mexican clothing like the tehuana skirt. The store has a nice selection of huipil dresses as well (see Oct. 13 post).

Frida Kahlo: Fashion Inspiration

Everyone has at least one famous person they admire. For some it's an influential industrialist like Howard Hughes. For others it's a writer like Ernest Hemingway. There are a handful of celebrities that I idolize and have spent years learning about. One of them is Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954).

My interest in Kahlo was sparked by a love for art and art history. After being introduced to her work eight years ago while studying overseas at the University of Cambridge, I was eager to learn about her life. I bought biographical books and watched every documentary that aired on TV. I saw Salma Hayek's big-screen rendition of her life multiple times. I was simply in awe of her accomplishments.

Kahlo was aggressive and played by her own rules. And though her life was filled with tragedy she never allowed it to conquer her spirit. She was a vivacious, strong-minded, and passionate woman. As a woman, I heartily respect that.

One of Kahlo's many qualities that I most admire was that her canvas wasn't the only place where she expressed her creativity. She lived her art and it was apparent in her appearance.

I (like many) consider Kahlo a fashion icon. She had such a unique way of dressing. She wore indigenous Mexican attire but added her own twist-- weaving roses through her braided hair and accessorizing with chunky jewelry. While times were changing and women's fashion was evolving, she continued to wear traditional tehuana skirts (see right) and wrapped herself in vibrant rebozos (see Oct. 13 post).

I chose to devote this posting to Frida Kahlo's style as a way to illustrate how traditional Mexican garments have made their way into contemporary fashion. Kahlo's revolutionary "look" has become the inspiration for many designers.

Noted fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier produced an entire collection inspired by her style. In that collection he showcased several corsets, which fashion critics believed to be inspired by the ones Kahlo had to wear to support her spine following a near-fatal accident.

Images from Jean Paul Gaultier's runway show in Paris

Christian Dior, Moschino, and Christian Lacroix have also shown designs influenced by Kahlo's style.

Harper's Bazaar magazine featured a fashion spread inspired by Kahlo. The model had a garland of red flowers in her hair and wore white blouses and embroidered skirts reminiscent of Kahlo's style.



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Watch a fashion show presented in Montevideo, Uruguay inspired by the Mexican painter:


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Be sure to check back this Wednesday 10/5 to learn where to find Frida Kahlo inspired clothing in Tucson and around the border.