Mexico

Jeggings and pearls

/ edebock / 6 Comments

LogoJeans + Leggings = Jeggings

Early on one of our recent walks around the central core of Coatepec, Mexico a pair of jeggings on a mannequin standing outside one of the many tiny clothing shops caught my eye. These were jeggings with a twist. Not only were they leggings designed to look like tight jeans, but they were studded with imitation pearls. I looked but kept on walking. Later, as we circled around and headed back toward our friends’ house where we were staying, we passed the shop again and this time I couldn’t resist taking a closer look.

Entering the store, I looked around but didn’t see more of the jeggings anywhere. Approaching the clerk, I asked “Hablas Ingles?” (Do you speak English?) and as usual, the response was “No”. Beckoning for her to follow me out front, I pointed to the jeggings. “Grande o pequeño?” I asked. (Large or small?) Though I tend to wear a size medium in most things, that word wasn’t part of my extremely limited Spanish vocabulary yet! “Uno talla,” was the response. (One size) I recognized the word “uno” and that was enough to tell me that this was a one size fits all garment. The clerk took them off the mannequin and I held them up to myself to ensure that they were long enough. They were and my mind was made up. They were coming home with me! It didn’t hurt that the price was only 100 pesos; less than $7 CAD!

With their cozy fleece lining, these jeggings are surprisingly warm. In fact, since returning to Canada, I wore them outside at -27ºC (-17ºF) and didn’t freeze! Granted, I only walked half a block from the grocery store to the post office and back again, but they were plenty adequate for that. It may seem surprising that I was able to buy something this warm in Mexico, but Coatepec is in the highlands where it can get a bit chilly at this time of year. Since their homes aren’t insulated and don’t have central heating the people tend to dress quite warmly.

I strongly believe that leggings are not pants and that they should be worn with tops that are long enough to cover the buttocks and crotch. I’m undecided where these new jeggings are concerned though. Clearly, the pearl studded imitation pockets on the front and the details on the back are meant to be seen.

 

Screen Shot 2019-02-11 at 6.02.45 PMPearl embellished clothing has been very much on trend for the past year or so. I’ve seen sweaters, dresses, jeans, and even shoes adorned with imitation pearls. One of my favourite fashion bloggers, Josephine of Chic At Any Age, wore this cute pearl studded beret in one of her recent posts.

Adding faux pearls to a garment that you already own would also be a simple DIY project. I’d thought of doing that to a pair of jeans, but now that I have my pearl studded jeggings, I won’t need to!

Museo de Antropología de Xalapa

/ edebock / 3 Comments

When I registered for my first year of university I intended to take a sociology course, but it was already full. I had to find something else that would fit into my timetable, so I registered for introductory anthropology. The study of human societies and cultures sounded interesting enough, but I didn’t anticipate it capturing my attention to such an extent that I would take as many anthropology courses as I could over the next four years and if money had been no object, I would have gone back to school after earning my education degree to get a second one in anthropology!

When I learned, after our first visit to this part of Mexico, that nearby Xalapa is home to the second largest museum of anthropology in the country, seeing it immediately took first place on my list of things to do on a return visit. With more than 25 000 pieces, the Museo de Antropología de Xalapa, also known as MAX, houses the world’s largest collection of artifacts from the ancient cultures of the Mexican Gulf Coast including the Olmec, the Huastec, and the Totonac.

The most notable amongst these pieces are the colossal Olmec heads that date back to at least 900 BC. That’s hundreds of years before Alexander the Great! Sculpted from huge basalt boulders, 17 of these heads have been discovered to date and 7 of them are housed in the MAX. The heads vary in height from 1.47 to 3.4 metres and weigh between 6 and 50 tons. All of them depict mature men with flat noses and fleshy cheeks.

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There are also tiny heads like this one depicting a newborn baby.

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Also Olmec in origin, this 55 cm tall sculpture is thought to depict a priest holding a limp child, either sleeping or dead.

I won’t bore you with all of the 80+ photos that I took today or too many details about ancient culture, but as a lover of anthropology, I was absolutely amazed by the collection.

A few pieces even reminded me of the masks carved by the natives of the Pacific Northwest.

MAX is also noted for a series of small Totonic faces, called “caritas sonrientes” (little smiling faces) in Spanish. The first one shown here makes me laugh!

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In contrast to the little smiling faces, this poor fellow looks terribly sad.

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For Mesoamerican people childbirth was considered a form of battle, therefore, women who gave birth were revered as heroes and great warriors. Losses on any battlefield are inevitable, so women who died as a result of childbirth were given the same honour as men who fought and died in conflict. I was very impressed with the sculptures, like this one, representing these women.

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Here’s one of a series of tiny sculptures showing an ancient culture’s concept of the ideal female form; tiny waist, abundant hips, and voluptuous breasts. Clearly, with my boyish figure, I’d have been one of the ugly ones!

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