FolkCostume&Embroidery: Men's Charro Costume of Salamanca, Spain

Hello all,

I have written an article about the women's Charro Costume of Salamanca, so now I thought I would talk about the men. This is not to be confused with the Charro Costume of Mexico, although some think that the one is derived from the other.

The word Charro originally meant rustic or county bumpkin. With the rise of Romantic Nationalism, the dress of the peasants came to be appreciated, and seen as a true treasure of Spanish Culture. A similar progression is true of Mexico. Both costumes are highly ornamented.

The Charro Costume is typical of central Salamanca, which is part of the traditional Kingdom of Leon.

The shirt is made from fine linen, and generally hangs to the knees.

They are generally highly embroidered in white on white.

The cuffs are relatively wide, like in modern shirts, and are covered with white on white embroidery. The sleeve end is gathered into them, and they are closed with buttons.

The collar seems to be a selvedge or perhaps the edge of the body fields is buttonholed and folded over. It forms a ruff by gathering the body of the shirt which is secured by bands of linen both inside and out forming the neck. It is closed by a button or separate metal collar button.

A large rectangular area on the front of the shirt is embroidered in openwork. The examples that I have found use either drawn thread work or pulled thread work. Opaque white motifs are embroidered within the field.

As per west European Tradition, the initials of the embroiderer or owner are embroidered in cross stitch below the opening. The edges of the openwork area often have embroidered borders in white.

The shoulders have a gusset inserted, and the upper sleeve is gathered in the center.

The vest is waist length, double breasted, and cut straight across the front opening low on the chest.

It has two rows of large, usually silver buttons, and an insert of brocade on the back. It may be of patterned black cloth with passementeries like this example, or of black wool or velvet with embroidery, beadwork, and/or sequin ornament. It is lined in linen. The low neckline is meant to show off the openwork on the shirt.

Black knickers are worn on the lower body. These may be plain, but are often ornamented with topstitching and large buttons.

Knee socks are worn with this outfit. They may be white or dark. White ones are often knitted in popcorn stitch, or some other textured technique.

The socks are held up by garters tied around the leg above the calf, with tassels attached to the ends that hang down. Dark stockings may be embroidered.

Black leather shoes are worn on the feet. In the past, black wool spats were often worn over the stockings and shoes.

You will sometimes see ornamented leather boots worn instead of shoes. In this case, of course, spats would not be worn.

A wide sash is worn around the waist. These seem to be of three types. In this image above, the sash is made of ornamented leather. This seems to be uncommon.

In many of the older photos you can see a wide cloth sash of some solid color.

In some old photographs the sash seems to be made of patterned cloth

Today what is often seen is a black sash embroidered in the style of a manila shawl. A patch on the front is embroidered with a floral motif, often with an exotic bird or perhaps butterflies.

A black felt or velvet hat is worn with this outfit. In the past they were of various shapes, but today the most common is this one seen above.

A short, waist length, highly ornamented jacket, chaleco, is worn with this outfit. You can see from this photograph above that it is made from some cloth with a patterned pile. Here is another example.

Alternatively, it may be made from plain black cloth, but still with a pile, like short fake fur.

It is ornamented with large silver buttons at the wrist.

Black passementeries are often applied to the edges of the jacket and may form ornamentation on the body of the jacket. Here is an old jacket shown from the inside, where the pattern of applied trim is visible.

A simple woolen mantle, shaped rather like a raincoat may be worn with this outfit. This is a fairly simple garment.

Finally, the Spanish Cape may be worn. This is common over a relatively wide area of Central Spain, and is also found here. It is of dark brown or black wool, and is cut in a full circle. In these first two photos, the cape is being worn over the mantle. These were actually taken in La Alberca, in the north of Salamanca.