Traditional Mexican Costume

While traditionalists are bemoaning the disappearance of traditional Mexican dress in Mexico, it has become a huge hit among people celebrating Halloween in America. More and more people, including men, women, teens, children and toddlers turn up on Halloween with a Mexican costume. The costume itself is extremely cheerful and creates a vibrant and animated spirit.

Traditionally, there is no single costume that can be identified as a Mexican costume. However, most people are referring to the attire worn by Mexican peasants when they talk about the traditional Mexican costume. The dress worn by peasants is very different from that worn by dancers, wrestlers, performers or czars in Mexico. While these other Mexican costumes are also extremely popular among Halloween celebrations, the traditional Mexican costume is the biggest hit.

For women, the traditional Mexican costume comprises of a loose dress or blouse with a long flaring multi colored skirt. The blouse is usually white or off-white in color and has a lot of embroidery on it. The neckline of the dress or blouse has embroidery on it and is usually square cut. The sleeves of the dress or blouse are usually short and puffed up. The bodice or the skirt is usually very colorful. A bandana is also commonly worn by women in traditional Mexican costume. As you can imagine, it would be very easy for women to dress up in traditional Spanish costume. At most, you may need to hire or buy a really large, flared multi-tiered colorful skirt, but even if you had to buy it, it would make for a fine addition to your wardrobe. You can then use accessories like large earrings, necklaces or chains, etc. to heighten the effect of the traditional Mexican costume.

For men, the traditional Mexican costume is also very easy to create. However, some items may need to be hired or purchased. The traditional Mexican costume for men comprises of a characteristic wide hat called the sombrero. Without this hat, no traditional Mexican costume for men would be considered complete. In Mexico, the sombreros worn by peasants are usually made of plain straw, but you can get excellent woven sombreros nowadays. The colorful sombreros are usually worn by performers in Mexico, but they do look great as part of the Halloween costume.

The trousers worn by Mexican men usually have a gold trimming at the side and are relatively tight fitted. The shirts worn usually have ruffles and are complimented with a short jacket with a darker, contrasting color. A colorful sash is then added to the costume to make it even more colorful. You may also choose to wear the characteristic poncho with a regular shirt instead of wearing a period shirt with a sash. This would make it even easier to assemble the traditional Mexican costume for men. You may want to add the finishing touches by adding a large handlebar moustache for effect.

As you can see, the traditional Mexican costume is extremely easy to assemble for both men and women and can be a lot of fun during Halloween celebrations.