Traditional Dress
Women's Dress
Quechua women's dress today is rooted in traditions from pre-conquest Peru (a fusion of Inca and Huari cultures), and Spanish Colonial peasant dress (often with some modern items thrown in).
From London to New York, fashion is a personal choice. And increasingly in the high Andean villages where we work, we find a woman with a skirt bought from a traveling merchant that she “liked' but does not pertain to her region. However, technically, each village and region has a unique style of clothing which identifies them as such.
“Indigenous women in the Andes tend to wear synthetics because it is more convienient, and because they love to stand out wearing intense colour.”
Increasingly, young women choose to wear modern clothing if they live in Cusco, and traditional clothing in the community.
Men's Dress
Men's traditional dress has been more eroded by Western contact than women's dress and younger Andean men now mostly wear Western-style clothing, such as sport clothing and baseball caps. Many of the elderly men wear knee-length, dark handwoven pants. In the Patacancha region, the bayeta pants a beige/white colour. Knee length pants are much more practical for working in the fields, and its common to see young men with their tracksuit pants rolled up to the knees.
Lliclla is a Quechua word, and this item is also known as a Manta. A lliclla is a square woven cloth that covers the back and shoulders. It is secured at the front using a tupu (straight pin), a sturdy safety pin, and/or is tied.
When folded and pinned about the shoulders it acts as a small heavy shawl, which keeps the women warm in the chilly Andean air.
A young girl and her sister from Rumira Sondormayo.
Llicilas are intricatly woven and colourfully decorated for festivals and other special occasions. At which time they may wear multiple Llicilas over top of each other.
Llicilas or mantas can also be used for carrying children on the woman's back. Women and men use these in the same way for carrying cargo.
Some call larger mantas a k'eperina when used for this purpose.
Traditionally, wool jackets decorated in colourful patterns of buttons are worn under the Lliclla, but nowadays it is common to see women wearing sweaters or cardigans.
A Chumpi (a Quechua term for belt) is traditionally worn by women to fasten their skirts. Chumpis are also worn by men as a means of supporting the lower back when carrying heavy loads, and to tie their pants. On Tequile Island, Lake Titicaca, the women weave their soon to be husbands a belt as a wedding gift. Chumpis are also used to secure swaddled infants. Many weavers make these to sell at the market.
A woman's chumpi
-Tequile Island.
Jobona is a Quechua word for a traditional wool jacket, worn by women, that is adorned with patterns of colourful buttons, and worn under the Lliclla.
A weaver from Chinchero wearing her Jobona.
A weaver wearing the traditional Jobona of Chahuaytire.
Polleras are wide skirts, traditionally made from handwoven wool bayeta cloth (but now often machine made and purchased). Women usually wear several of these over top of one another, and on special occasions women may wear up to 10 or more of them!
Skirts are usually trimmed with a colourful band, called a puyto, which is often applied by hand to a purchased skirt. These puyto can very from a subtle, narrow band with one or two colours, to wide, multi-coloured band which covers most of the skirt. The style of polleras are often an indicator of where a women is from.
A weaver wearing the traditional Jobona of Chahuaytire.
A weaver wearing the traditional Jobona of Chahuaytire.
Montera is a Quechua word for a traditional hat, which varies in style depending on the region.
The sanq'apa is a woven strap which is decorated with a heavy layer of (predominantly white) beads. The number of beads generally reflects the social status of the woman.
Currently many women buy their hats in the market, but choose to decorate them in their own manner using sequins, flowers, safety bins, or bric-a-brac.
Photo by Joan Piccioni
It is often possible to identify the village or region that the women come from by the type of hat she wears.
Photo by Joan Piccioni
Hojotas are sandals made from recycled tires. When foreigners first see the Andean people wearing these sandals, they often think that it would be better for them to wear shoes and socks, but the Andean people are very comfortable in these sandals and their feet are hardened to the cold conditions.
A Chumpi is the Quechua name for a woven belt worn by men. The chumpi used to tie pants and to support the lower back when carry heavy load and working the land. Chumpis are most often worn by women as a way to fasten their skirts. They are also used to secure swaddled infants.
A man from Tequile Island wearing a calendar belt.
The poncho is only worn by men. The poncho is made of two woven panels that are sewn together with a gap for the head.
Ponchos are extremely heavy, and for this reason are becoming less popular for Andean people when traveling. But they are almost always worn when attending a community meeting and on special occasions and during weddings.
A boy from Chaullacocha.
A man wearing a traditional hand-woven, naturally dyed poncho
A man from Chaullacocha wearing a poncho without fringes.
Hojotas are worn by men as well as women. These sandals are made from recycled tires, and are a favored footwear because they are practical for wet conditions and crossing rivers. Men, women, children, and the elders wear these shoes.
Foreigners might think that this is inadequate footwear, but the Andean people have adjusted to the environment and their feet have hardened to accommodate the cold.
A Chullo is a man's woolen hat, knitted with earflaps. The technique for knitting chullos was introduced in the colonial period.
Photo by Joan Piccioni
Photo by Joan Piccioni
Men almost always wear a hat, but the styles vary drastically depending on the region. In some regions the hats are more elaborately decorated with buttons, beads and colourful tassels. In parts of the Sacred Valley they wear other types of hats, such as decorated felted sombreros, and more recently baseball hats.
The chuspa is a Quechua term for a small bag used to carry their coca leaves. Sometimes the chuspas have a separate pouch that is used for llipta, the lime ash catalyst that activates the alkaloids in coca. The chuspa pre dates Inca times.
