How people dressed in Mexico 200 years ago

If something can be called ephemeral in life, those would be fashions: they change very quickly, which is why you have to be aware of new trends, in the tastes of others if you don't want to lag behind in the competition and be relegated for not following the flow.

It is well known that nothing remains unchanged or imperishable. Buildings fall, trees die and with them we leave becoming earth no matter how much we want to avoid it. So are our garments.

We don't dress the same way we did in previous times because tastes change and with them the usefulness or comfort of the clothes we wear. And just like now, attire differed from the purchasing level of individuals.

In Mexico, people dressed according to European fashion due to the three centuries that New Spain was dominated by the Spanish crown. Even during Mexico's Independence, Spanish fashion was still strong among conservatives who sought to maintain the monarchy in the country and the Creoles with enough money and social standing.

However, when the war ended during the 1920s in 1800, fashion changed, turning its approval towards French and English clothing as trade with these countries increased to the detriment of Spain. In the case of women, larger dresses were worn with corsets that marked their waists and with balloon sleeves; in the case of men the tailcoat and jacket, vests and jabots (antecedent of ties), top hats, boots or shoes with buckles.

Briefs, which were more flared shorts, lost popularity over trousers throughout the century; capes and metal arrangements to show the power and riches that the ancient marquises and counts held were the rule. And these were adorned with gold or silk threads. As long as the opulence was noticeable even in the garments, more than the better.

However, men's clothing did not really have much change throughout the century, as black colors prevailed in fracs and jackets, coats and waistcoats made of silk or very well-groomed foreign fabric.

On the other hand, women at the beginning of the century had greater changes. We opted for garments that showed a little more: blouses with floral ornaments, fabrics to some extent lighter; floral ornaments for extravagant hairstyles in many cases.

Years earlier, the shirt dress became popular, a piece that lightened and freed women from the bruise of the corset and skirt hollows. But these were back in fashion from 1820 onwards. Apart from corsets and skirts, numerous petticoats were also used that led to crinolines.

By the middle of the century the gala dress was popularized for the attendance of the dances and banquets of the high dome.

The poorest, on the other hand, wore cheap fabrics - and in some cases frayed by constant use - which they made themselves, dressed in large hats in the case of men, breeches and white blanket t-shirts; women with skirts and blouses along with colored shawls. At best they were wearing sandals, since most of them remained barefoot.

With the arrival of Porfiriato, men's clothing remained more or less similar with the fracs that characterized catrines and women's fashion to a more conservative one with dresses with sleeves and collars, as well as the use of gloves in any social situation.

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