What is a rebozo?

Answer 1

The Mexican rebozo, or shawl, is an intricate and very beautiful piece of work. It is also a definitive garment as no other country makes them quite the way Mexico does.

The rebozo has a history that goes back many centuries. In the days before the conquest, both men and women used a kind of simple shawl, a lienzo, both for warmth and for carrying bundles. It was woven in blackstrap looms from maguey and henequen fibers. Soon after the Spaniards arrived, they insisted that the Mexican women wear a head covering for entering the churches. Out of this necessity combined with the Spaniards' imported weaving skills came the rebozo (the word comes from the verb rebozar, meaning to cover up), a multi-purpose covering initially woven of just cotton and then later on also of silk and wool, and still to this day worn proudly by Mexican women of all social standings.

The patterned rebozos are woven from cotton and were formerly known as rebozos de bolita as the cotton came in balls rather than skeins or cones. A more recent type of rebozo is one made from a synthetic called artisela and referred to as a rebozo reservista. These are used more for formal occasions and come in exquisite solid colors such as fantastic, bright hues of red, green, orange or more subtle shades of violet and blue. There is also the very special rebozo de aroma which is black and often used as a shroud. The name comes from the fact that the black dye has a strong unpleasant smell so the dyed cotton is later soaked in a mixture of orange leaves, rose petals, sage, rosemary and other woodsy plant materials, all of which give the rebozo a long-lasting agreeable aroma.

The rebozos are traditionally woven by men on big looms that require a large degree of strength. The process of setting up the looms for weaving is laborious and complicated and takes years of practice to get it right. The cotton for the patterned rebozos is dyed in a centuries-old process called ikat which is called resist dyeing in English. It basically means that the cotton is knotted and then tie-dyed to set up a marbled pattern. It is something that is best understood by seeing the procedure being performed first-hand.