Fashion During The Aztec Period
During the Aztec period in the country of Mexico, the clothes that women wore were an important symbol of their marital status. The typical tradition was for the boy’s mother to put’s brand new blouse on the bride to show that she was about to get married. Another piece of clothing that was symbolic for showing marital status was a skirt that would be a wedding gift from the groom’s mother. It is tradition for the mother of the groom to lay down the skirt on a mat. For the male, the bride’s mother would get him a cape and tie it on him. Similarly to the skirt, the bride’s mother would buy the groom a loincloth and place it before him as a gift. These are the usual garments would wear in order to show that a man and woman were getting married. These two garments were important because, at the end of the ceremony, the bride and the groom will tie the cap and blouse together to show they are united.
The clothing of the men and women was simple and was all made of cotton. When young girls reached the age of 4 they would begin to wear short skirts and blouses. Once they reached the age of seven they would wear what their mothers would wear, which would just be a longer skirt. There is no factual evidence that states that women wore a specific set of clothes to attract men and vice versa. Usually, men would only wear a loincloth but only when they reached the age of five. Before that, it was a tradition that very young children, both girls, and boys would not wear anything. Unlike today’s culture wear showing more skin is a popular way of attracting the opposite sex, the Aztecs were accustomed to that way of living. Before the Spaniards came and colonized them, there was more skin than clothing. When they say the first army come to conquer them, they were all surprised at how much armor they were wearing because it was out of the norm for them to see that. Just as the Aztecs were surprised by the Spanish army, the Spanish army was shocked at the lack of clothing that the Aztec people of Mexico had.
There were three types of people who lived in the Aztec period of Mexico, the common people, the upper class, and the military. As I mentioned earlier, the people of the Aztec culture would wear a loincloth, but if they wanted to show a higher social standing it would have embroidery or fringes on the end, this also applied to women on their skirts. The upper class consists of religious leaders who wore clothing that was adorned much more than a common person. The symbols would be meaningful, and the brighter the colors the more prestigious the person was. The military clothing was completely different from that of the noble class or common people. They were considered heroes and would wear medals and jewels to be more noticeable when they walked around the village.