Guayabera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The guayabera (also known as a Mexican wedding shirt) is a style of men's shirt popular throughout Latin America. The origin of the garment is disputed as various claims have attributed the distinctive style to differing Latin American countries. Usually, though, Mexico and Cuba are listed as originating the shirt.
The style is marked by four (lower and upper) or sometimes two (lower only) pockets on the front of the shirt. Two vertical rows of alforzas (pleats, usually ten, that are sewn closely together) run on the front (over the pockets) and back of the shirts. The top of each pocket is usually adorned with a button, as are the bottoms of the alforzas. The Cuban guayabera, unlike the Mexican, also has the alforzas going down the center of the shirt, over the button holes.
The bottom of the shirt has three-inch slits on each side engaged with a small button. As a straight-bottomed shirt, it is not tucked into the trousers. The cuffs may be either one-button or French-cuffed. The white, French-cuffed guayabera, worn with a black bowtie, is considered to be equivent to a tuxedo and can be worn as formal attire.
Traditionally worn in white, guayaberas are now available in many colors and shades and in short-sleeved version. Cuban designers in exile have modified the original style, creating guayaberas for women as well as guayabera-styled dresses. Guayabera use has spread to many Asian countries, including Thailand and the Philippines, although some sources claim the Filipino Barong Tagalog predates the guayabera.
Asian versions normally have embroidery in place of the alforzas. Some Mexican and Panamanian designers have also begun using embroidery and some designers have even used both alforzas and embroidery on their shirts.
In Jamaica the guayabera is often worn as office wear and is referred to as a "bush jacket." In Trinidad it is known as a "shirt-jac".
The origin of the name 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, thus creating the guayabera style. The guayabera's name may also have originated from the word yayabero, the word for a person who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba.
