Style of dress in Lima, Peru
Tapada limena
(means "
Liman [fem.] covered one
") was the denomination used at the time of the
Viceroyalty of Peru
and the first years of the Republic to designate the women in Lima who covered their heads and faces with comfortable
silk
mantones
[
es
]
, revealing just one eye.
[1]
Its use began in the 16th century
[2]
and it spread until well into the 19th century, that is, its use lasted for three centuries and was not only limited to the "
City of the Kings
", but also to other important cities in the region. In
Lima
, the custom remained until well into the Republic, when it was relegated by French fashions.
Background
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In 1583, the
Archbishop of Lima
Toribio de Mogrovejo
pronounced an energetic rejection of the Lima custom of wearing the
saya
and the cloak as usual garments worn by women in the capital. This happened during the
Third Liman Council
that he himself presided over and that gave rise to a censorship that the
Cortes of 1586
confirmed during the reign of
Philip II of Spain
. It was agreed that the offenders would be fined 3,000
maravedis
. The fear of this custom, already widespread among Liman women and that had generated so many misunderstandings and confusion, made the authorities suspect that the first cases of
transvestism
in the Viceroyalty were taking place.
Origin
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The use of the
saya
and the cloak, a pair of distinctive garments of the Tapada limena, appeared in Lima around 1560. About its origin it has been said that it is Moorish, due to the undeniable similarities that they bear with the costumes that cover the body of
Muslim
women, although later the theory of its
Castilian
origin was established.
[3]
The first official testimonies that deal with clothing were not very merciful with their users:
"The use of covering women has come to such an extreme that great offenses to God and notable damage to the republic have resulted from it, because that form does not recognize the father to the daughter, nor the husband to the wife. nor brother to sister..."
There were many ordinances subsequent to this act of the Cortes of 1586, but none could dissuade the Liman women.
Characteristics
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The characteristic attire of the tapada connoted insinuation, coquetry, prohibition and seduction game.
[1]
However, it was still a dress: the
saya
outlined the hips and the cloak covered the head and face, except for course, a single eye. The tapada was a symbol of the freedom of Liman women
[5]
and this symbol was used to distinguish themselves from women of other classes and roots (races).
[1]
Behind the cloak could live a toothless grandmother as well as a one-eyed woman stung by smallpox. The possibilities were many, as there must have been many occasions when gallant boys or old men squandered compliments on their wives, sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, mothers or daughters who could hide their true identity behind their cloaks.
The
saya
was a large and long silk skirt, colored blue, brown, green or black. To secure it, a belt was used that girded it to the woman's waist. It was not uncommon for some of the less graceful to wear false hips that exaggerated their natural endowments. Underneath this skirt it could see the small foot (shod with an embroidered satin shoe) that also made the colonial Lima women famous. The cloak was also made of silk, tied at the waist and up the back to cover the head and face, revealing only one eye and perhaps the arms. This cloak was usually a simple fabric so that the tapadas would not stand out in public and retain anonymity.
[1]
Political use of the saya
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Over time, the varieties of costumes went hand in hand with the political climate, which the tapadas took advantage of to favor their
caudillos
.
Felipe Santiago Salaverry
with the
saya salaverrina
,
Agustin Gamarra
with the
saya gamarrina
,
Luis Jose de Orbegoso
with the
saya orbegosina
.
The Tapadas limenas were an icon in ancient Lima, an original presence that did not exist in any other city in Hispanic America. The insinuating game, the symbol of secrecy, perhaps of an incipient female freedom, caught the attention of visitors who passed through the capital city during the three hundred years that the clothing was worn. In the 19th century they were painted by the Frenchman
Leonce Angrand
, the German
Johann Moritz Rugendas
and the Liman mulatto
Pancho Fierro
, as well as staged by
Manuel Ascencio Segura
in his satirical work
La saya y el manto
.
For her part, in
Peregrinaciones de una paria
(1838),
Flora Tristan
wrote about the saya:
"It is made of different fabrics according to the hierarchy of ranks and the diversity of fortunes (...). Only in Lima can they be done and the women of Lima pretend that you have to be born in Lima to be able to be a worker in saya".
Decline
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Contrary to the opinion of some specialists, the Tapada limena was not a fashion because the resistance to change and the attachment to tradition denote a stability, a comfort that allowed gossip, intrigues and other Lima customs. However, after three hundred years of validity, the tapada was disappearing and by 1860, the French fashion had displaced the saya and the mantle.
[7]
Gallery
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References
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Bibliography
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