Mexican Cowboy Clothing

Well, if you are trying to picture how a Mexican cowboy would look like, then the answer is - 'Clint Eastwood'. In his spaghetti films, Clint Eastwood's attire was heavily inspired from that of the Mexican cowboys. As a result, his famed charter 'Man with no Name', appears to be influenced by both, the usual American cowboy fashion and the Mexican cowboy fashion.

The thing about any kind of cowboy clothing and its fashion is that it is super-practical and tends to be tough and ancient looking. Modern fashion designers have however, made several changes in this attire. The basic sense and fashion of this type of clothing has however, remained the same.

When it comes to Mexican cowboy clothing, there are some distinct and unique physical traits which are observed. Here are some examples:

• First off, Mexican cowboys tend to have a significant number of frills on their clothing. May it be a jacket, or a shirt or pant or even the overalls, the sleeves and legs tend to have frills.

• A significant amount of decorative embroidery is so often observed in attires of Mexican cowboys. In some cases this kind of embroidery also tends to end in smaller and more delicate frills.

• Now this is a sort of a personal observation. Mexican cowboys tend to wear more of cotton clothing as compared to leather clothing. Their boots and in some cases their jackets and only their frills tend to be made up of leather.

The fashion of Mexican cowboys is drawn from Hispanidad (Spanish) culture and has become an dispensable part of the culture of Mexico.

Now jeans and shirt is the basic attire of most of the cowboys even today. Simply, put the attire can easily take or sustain the rough use and still last long. The 'Mexican' element in this basic attire is the frilled collared, typical cotton shirt, which often happens to be wonderfully soft and the embroidery on the shirt and the pants.

The embroidery in most of the cases is symmetrical and well oriented, tilting towards the vertical center line of the buttons. Sometimes a very nice tie, bow, linen or a kerchief is tied in an attractive, elegant knot on the collar. In several cases, especially while dressing for traditions, the cowboy attire shifts its focus from jeans to trousers/pants.

Horse riders and cowboys from Mexico are often known as 'Charros'. The Charro attire is also often used on traditional or festive occasions. This attire consists of a black or gray three piece suit with a white shirt. The jacket and the pants have a distinct pattern of sewn (usually silver) buttons on the seam of the pants.

The jacket, has an embroidery or even a similar 'line' of buttons. The Charro attire is worn for the performance of Jarabe Tapatío, the famous Mexican dance, whereas the ladies don the lovely 'China Poblana' attire.

There is not much of a difference between the common cowboy boots which are used by the America and the Mexican cowboys. The Mexican ones are leather and usually tend to have a great amount of intricate and beautiful embroidery on them.

There is also a distinct 'v-shaped' cut at the upper end of the boot. According to the need and use of owner, the boot may have a walking heel or a roper heel. The walking heel is significantly flatter whereas the roper or riding heel is a bit taller and pointy, facilitating stirrups of a saddle.

Now this one's quite popular, the broad and wide brimmed Sombrero. Sombreros, have no end to the versatility in them. Big, short, small, colored, whites.... well, basically no end to the versatility. A Sombrero is made up of straw, felt or even leather in some cases.

A Sombrero is often embroidered and is often considered to be a symbol of the 'vaquero' - Mexican cowboy or herdsman. Well apart from the Sombrero, some cowboys also take up the usual cowboy hat.

The pro-tropical and spring like climate of Mexico, which was also largely influenced by the hot and cold extremes of the desert, forced the cowboys to look for a convenient addition in their attire. Zarape and Poncho, proved to be the best solution.

Both the types of clothing are made from cotton wool or felt, in some cases, and even a combination of two materials or more. The poncho and the Zarape act as excellent overalls covering the torso form the harsh weather. Apart from that it is easy to use and handle when doing manual labor or riding a horse.

A baja jacket is nothing but a common light fabric jacket that is designed exactly like our modern-day hoodie. Often the material and the pattern of a Baja jacket is similar to that of the poncho or Zarape.

The rich culture of Mexico is distinctly reflected through the clothing of the Mexican cowboy. Apart from the aforementioned clothing there are several different items of clothing such the 'Rebozo' (shawal) or a 'Huarache' (sandal).