Guayabera

Two guayaberas seen from the back

The guayabera (gwī-ə-ˈber-ə) is a men's shirt popular in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the West Indies, and Zimbabwe. It is also referred to as a "Mexican Wedding Shirt".

History

The origin of the garment is disputed, as various claims for the distinctive style have been made in several Latin America countries as well as the Philippines. While some Latin Americans believe guayaberas are of Cuban, or at least Caribbean, origin, Guayaberas have existed in Mexico since pre-columbian times and were created in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico.

A "spin" on the shirt's origins states that Mexicans either copied the design concept from the "El Encanto" store of Cuba, or emulated the trend from Cuban tourists who visited Mexico. However, it was during the trade routes through the Caribbean that the Mexican shirts got to Cuba and were taken to the Philippines by the Spanish and the evolution of the intricate embroidery started. There is also the stated fact that a similar, prototypical shirt has existed since the 18th century.

The origin of the name is Cuban and is where people assume that the shirt is originally Cuban. Guayabera may come from a Cuban legend that tells of a poor countryside seamstress sewing large pockets into her husband's shirts for carrying guava (guayabas) from the field. Guayabera may also have originated from the word yayabero, the word for a person who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba.

Though commonly called guayabera in Yucatán or camisa de Yucatan in Mexico, the shirt is sometimes referred to as a "Mexican Wedding Shirt, among North Americans."

Design

The guayabera shirt is distinguished by several details: either two or four patch pockets and two vertical rows of alforzas (fine, tiny pleats, usually 10, sewn closely together) running along the front and back of the shirt (the pockets are separately detailed with identical, properly aligned alforzas).

In Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Panama guayaberas designed from linen are generally considered the most popular attire for beach weddings due to their combination of style and comfort of wear.

The top of each pocket is usually adorned with a matching shirt button, as are the bottoms of the alforza pleats. Vertical rows of adjusting buttons are often seen, one on each side, at the bottom hem. While most versions of the design have no placket covering the buttons, a few newer designs do.

The bottom of some shirts have three-inch slits on either side, and these include adjusting buttons. The Mexican shirt will usually have two or three such buttons at the bottom, on each side. It has a straight-bottom hem, thus it is not tucked into the trousers.

Though traditionally worn in white and pastels, guayaberas are now available in many colors. Black, heavily embroidered with tiny colorful flowers and with French cuffs, has for many decades been extremely popular in Mexico.

In Puerto Rico, guayaberas are part of the national costume for men.

In Zimbabwe, the short sleeve Cuban version is worn for special occasions. The shirt was brought to Africa by Cuban teachers who once lived there. Today, it has replaced the safari suit for special occasions. White shirts are worn with black dress pants to weddings and black shirts are worn to funerals.

The same, short sleeve Cuban version is worn as office wear in Jamaica and Trinidad. In Zimbabwe and Britain the guayabera is called a Safari shirt. In Jamaica it is known as a bush jacket and in Trinidad, it is called a shirt-jac; in the Dominican Republic they are called chacabanas, though people usually know that "guayabera" is an alternate name.

The shirt-jac (also known as a "jac" for short, or a "summer jac") has become a popular clergy shirt in the last thirty years; though these shirts avoid the Guayabera design details, several companies such as Toomey of Chicago and Wippell's of England/New Jersey offer such shirts. Many clerics purchase fine Guayabera shirts and have the collars re-tailored into clergy collars.

Popularity in the United States

In the distant past, guayaberas were typically sold to and associated with older men ranging from 45 to 75. When retro clothing styles began to make a resurgence in recent years, the consumer base began to shift to a significantly younger audience. Cubavera makes many popular guayaberas in the United States

In some countries and in several areas of Florida, the guayabera is often an acceptable form of office wear as a means of coping with hot weather.

Most recently and also at times in the past, the Guayabera shirt has become a symbol of solidarity among Hispanics living in America. A most interesting statement (about the Guayabera as Hispanic laborer's "uniform") was made by President Arturo Rodriguez of United Farm Workers United_Farm_Workers, in the form of his choice of dress. Mr. Rodrigues appeared before the Congressional Subcommittee hearing on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security, as a primary speaker. At the hearing Mr. Rodriguez wore a finely tailored Guayabera.

Similar shirts

One of the Philippines' national costumes for men, the Barong Tagalog (or simply, "Barong") has some features which are similar to the guayabera. The Barong Tagalog is an elegant, typically long-sleeved shirt. Its major difference from the traditional guayabera is that it typically has no pockets, whereas a guayabera often has four.

In the Samoan islands the shirt style has been introduced into the masculine formal attire known as the "safari set" which pairs a solid-colored linen ie faitaga (a tailored, formal version of the "lava-lava" wrap) with a matching button-down shirt. The most common "safari" shirt resembles the pocketed khaki shirts stereotypically donned by Australian zoo workers and African safari tour guides but guayabera-like shirts are now commonly seen, especially in American Samoa where the majority of tailor shops are operated by ethnic Filipino tailors. The type seen in Samoa often includes tightly-sewn vertical pleats and two to four buttoned pockets front.

See also

• Panama hat