Bolivian Women Dress* R

The first thing I noticed in Bolivia was the way most women dressed. It was very interesting for me so I decided to tell you a little bit about it.

Before the Spanish came to the land of Bolivia in 1524, the local women dressed in simple tunics. The Spanish women though were dressed in fancy outfits with puffy skirts, pretty lacy shirts and hats for decoration. Slowly the natives way of dressing changed to what you see on my drawing.

The women often wear a very tall hat, sombrero, that is placed in a way that you can tell that it is a little small and is not meant for the sun. They wear a shirt, la blusa, and a short knitted top, chompa, over it. The shirt is lacy, and has puffy sleeves and the sleeves are also very short and only reach their elbows. The shirt also has buttons like a jacket. Over the shirt they wear an apron which sometimes has patterns on it like stripes or squares. The apron reaches to the end of their skirt.

The skirt, poliera, is pleated and is velvety and soft. It is very puffy. There are two layers and the bottom layer is white and lacy. The top skirt is a lot thicker than the bottom one. Sometimes the women wear alpaca woven leg warmers. They usually have animals knitted on the leg warmers and they look very soft. The women wear sandals, sandales, or flip flops. Also, many carry their babies  on their backs, attached with colorful blankets.

Bolivian women are very short. Many times I am a head taller than them! Many women have long jet black braids, trenzas. The braids are so long that they reach to their waists! Some told me my hair was too short! The braids are tied together by a string and at the end of both braids there are heavy black beaded balls as a decoration.

The younger women are not that much taller than the older ones. They have rounded faces and still have the long black braids and the black beaded balls at the end of their them. They often wear a sombrero. The young women usually wear earrings. They have the same lacy shirts with the puffy sleeves. The girls do not wear the aprons, but they often have puffy scarves in bright colors. Their skirts are the same as the older women, but shorter, and they still have the lacy layer of under skirt. Their legs are always bare and they usually wear sandals.

My dad took these photos of women in Tarabuko, Bolivia –

I think their way of dressing is very beautiful and I am surprised they do not wear this dress for special times!

Raina