Man's overpants (pantalón)
Guatemala, Totonicapán; K'iche' Maya
Collected by Gustavus A. Eisen, 1902
3-6
This colorful garment was made of nine pieces of commercially-woven wool cloth, machine-stitched, and decorated with silk thread embroidery and a row of silver-alloy balls along each side. Resembling 18th and early 19th century Spanish clothing, it was worn with a similar jacket and a serape blanket over the shoulders. These pants were worn by the martooms, members of the cofradía of San Miguel, a religious society of Totonicapán. Within a few minutes of his arrival in the town, Eisen witnessed one of their impressive processions: "Though I had seen many beautiful Indian costumes, I had not yet encountered any which could approach those I now saw. The Indians were all very young men, some even as yet boys, all evidently proud of their position and the attraction caused by their costume."
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