I met this cool Mayan chica a little over a year ago in Antigua, Guatemala. I just had to know where she got her dress... because I would totally rock that outfit.
It was so beautiful with all of the intricately woven beads on the Huipil (the blouse) and on the skirt. Which, it better be!
She told me her outfit took 6 months to make by hand!
I could never be a Mayan woman who had to make my own clothes. I'd get distracted 10 minutes in and have to walk around naked. They'd ban me from the community.
Each Huipil is unique since it's made by hand... yet each one has a similar regional design which goes back to the Spaniards being control freaks and trying to get all up in everyone's business.
They got their panties in a wad trying to keep track of what region each Mayan group belonged to. So, what did they do? They forced each group to create it's own special regional design (so it'd be easy to spot where they were from).
It's all good though, 'cause now the Mayans are proud to rep their regional designs.
If you ever want to buy an outfit like this, there is a market called Chichicastenango in Guatemala where they sell these traditional Mayan "trajes (outfits)."
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