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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY— PUBLICATION NO. 3 



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convenient measurement is S feet in length and about 

 36 inches in breadth. One end is placed o\-er the 

 right shoulder ; the !\-boso is drawn across the front 

 of the chest over the left shoulder around the back, 

 over the right shoulder and chest again, and the loose 

 end is finally thrown over the left shoulder to hang 

 down in back (pis. 15. lozver (right) ; 16, lozc-cf 

 (right)). 



The essential features of the "modified costume" 

 (pi. 15, upfer (right) and lozfer (center)) consist 

 of a skirt, sometimes of bayeta but more often of 

 cotton, attached to a sewn-on tapelike belt with loose 

 ends which can be tied in back. The skirt is a com- 

 plete tube, except for a slit over the hips at one side, 

 which enables the wearer to step into it. Over this 

 skirt is worn a waist. These waists differ among 

 themselves as regards the details of decoration, but 

 thev all show the following basic features which set 

 this garment off from the blouse of die old costume : 

 they have high neck lines, the sleeves extend below 

 the elbow, and the lower border of the waist hangs 

 outside over the skirt. I do not know the technical 

 dress-making term for this type of waist, but those 

 who do can doubtless identify it from the photo- 

 graphs. 



The cotton-dress costume is very simple. It con- 

 sists of a single garment of printed cotton cloth. A 

 variety of details occur, but the basic model of 1944 

 had a waistline efi'ect. that is, consisted of a skirt and 

 bodice sewed together, rather than a simple tubelike 

 or sacklike effect. Although the other two types of 

 costumes usually feature skirts modestly near the 

 ankles, the cotton dress often shows a higher hem- 

 line. 



Young ladies of marriageable age in 1944 appeared 

 in all three of these types of costumes, but they also 

 seemed to have a considerable variety of "modish" 

 dresses (in Trujillo terms i whose patterns had been 

 derived ultimately from North America and Europe. 

 I am incompetent to discuss how far these creations 

 lag behind the current modes of New York, Buenos 

 Aires, or other accepted style centers. Here is a 

 thesis project for a lady Ph. D. candidate. (See pi. 

 16, lower (left) , for a picture of the leading "younger 

 set.") 



A\'omen almost always appear barefoot, even when 

 going into the city for marketing purposes and in 

 church, although the more advanced young women 

 have shoes of modern style (pi. 16, lozver (left)). The 

 woman's hat is also of straw and follows a single pat- 

 tern. It has a proportionately higher crown than the 



man's hat and a narrower brim, which is turned down: 

 rather than being rolled up as in its masculinei 

 counterpart. A fringed shawl of wool or wool and! 

 cotton, made in a factory, replaces the rcbozo with; 

 most women. This is a feature of cholo feminine 

 dress throughout Peru. 



.\ majority of the women seem to know how to sew, 

 but only a minority have sewing machines. It was 

 surprising, however, to run across a large number of 

 women who did not know sewing, other than the 

 simplest patching. The general tendency is to have 

 women's dresses and blouses made by specialist dress- 

 makers (coscrcras). There are 17 of these specialists 

 who have been identified to me, and there may well 

 be more. In at least one household two sewing 

 machines are operated and the men of the family do 

 not disdain to make women's dresses. An unspecial- 

 ized housewife will make her own or children's clothes 

 for economic reasons, but sewing is not a general 

 female occupation. One does not see the women of the 

 house sitting about with their needlework as a com- 

 mon thing. 



Xo weaving of textiles is practiced at present (with 

 one doubtful exception) and the bayeta used in the 

 old costume is purchased from traveling merchants 

 or in the market in Trujillo or other centers. It is all 

 hand-woven by the natives of the Sierra. The woven 

 belts are hand-made in the Sierra and in Monsefu. 

 The straw hats come from the region of Chiclayo, 

 where the neighboring towns of Monsefu and Lam- 1 

 bayeque are highly renowned for their hatmakers;' 

 another source of supply is Celendin, in the highlands 

 northeast of Cajamarca. They are made from the 

 fibers of a palm leaf imported from the jungle areas 

 of the Mararion. In Celendin, bundles of this leaf 

 fiber were selling in 1944 at 1.5 to 2 soles. In 1944 

 a single Mochero had recently started in business as 

 a hat maker and w-as selling his product in the com- 

 munity. 



Sandals are worn by men when doing heavy work, 

 traveling over rough ground, or when they happen 

 to have them. Many men have none at all. The] 

 material for the sole is either untanned hide with hair 

 removed or automobile tire casing. The sandal tie 

 is shown in the sketch in figure 5. It is common to 

 tiie coastal region of Peru. Although it is said that 

 women occasionally wear sandals of this type, it is 

 apparently very rare, for I did not observe a woman I 

 so shod in Sj.'a months' contact with the community. 

 Apparently no kind of sandal was worn by the 

 Mochicas. The sandal first appears in Chimu hori- 



