San Antonino Dresses

San Antonino is a traditional Zapotec town, located adjacent to Ocotlan, in the area where some of the best-known and finely made blouses and dresses are produced. Once part of the traditional costume worn there, it was common to see these incredible fashions on both the old and young, at every fiesta and dance, twirling about. However, as the modern age encroached upon this small town, the artistic embroidery that so characterized the town previously became scarcer as the younger generations gradually left many of the 'old ways' behind, including their traditional Zapotec language (signaling a switch to Spanish) and some traditional forms of livelihood, such as dressmaking. 

Now done by a select group of artisans, the San Antonino dress (also known as the Mexican or Oaxacan Wedding Dress) is characterized by the delicacy of embroidery, as well as the preservation of traditional forms and motifs. Fine silk and cotton thread is used to achieve brilliant and precise floral motifs on cotton fabric. The reward for the patience and attention to the tiny details that the embroiderer creates is a world of diminutive hand-holding people (as pictured left) on the smocking, and the picturesque birds and delicate flowers of different types that adorn the neckline, sleeves and yoke.

Before beginning any of the embroidery, however, the pieces that form the dress must first be cut out and the decorative motifs drawn on. Then the fine pepenado work begins, involving forming tiny, even folds, that are held in place with diminutive stitches to form perfect pleats. This work requires much patience and skill, as both the front and the back of the smocking must be perfect as it will become the background for the small, romantic, hand-holding figures.

Then begins the technique known as hazme si puedes, so named for the great complexity of work, representing a true challenge for the eyes and the hands. The sleeves as well as the yoke are embroidered with delicate designs, harmoniously combined, with great care as to quality. When finished, the garment is assembled--some areas with delicate lacework--and a large embroidered floral spray is embroidered vertically down the front of the dress. The whole process, from beginning to end, can often take several months to complete.

In the late 60's, and continuing into the 70's and early 80's, these dresses experienced a rise in popularity in the United States--beginning first as a "hippy" thing, and then moving into the mainstream as they even became the uniform in some sorority houses at the University of Texas. Since then, these incredible dresses--whether on the fashion radar or not--have always been in demand at El Interior, simply because they cannot help but be appreciated for the time and effort that goes into each beautiful dress. What was old is new again...and that never goes out of style.
 

El Interior
1009 West Lynn
Austin, TX  78703
p. (512) 474-8680
info@elinterior.com
www.elinterior.com

*Last updated 11/15/08