Lady of Arequipa in Full Dress
Location: Arequipa
Description:
The author of A Journey Across South America gives a detailed description of the dress of the ladies of Arequipa in addition to the number of engravings on wood. The illustration here is "Lady of Arequipa in Full Dress," so we can assume that she is of the upper classes and that she is dressed in all the finery that money can buy. First he describes their habits of ornamentation, including tortoiseshell combs, curled hair additions, and silk or velvet bag instead of a fan. Here we clearly see the hair adornments and style in our image and her velvet bag as well.
Next, he discusses the materials and customary components of the dress: "The materials most affected in the city and province of Arequipa are plain or figured silks in lively tints, prints with large spots or sprawling flowers, and muslins with broad stripes or flowers of many colours...On great occasions and gala-days the [women of the aristocracy] abandon the rebos or mantle of Castilian wool which they carry about with them during the whole year, to display themselves in cuerpo, that is to say, décolleté as for a ball, and with bare arms" (47-48).
Finally, he describes an article of which we would only be able to get a glimpse of: her shoes.
"Their feet, very small and prettily shaped, are always covered with silk stockings and white satin shoes, an elegant little detail of dress which gives to their carriage I know not what grace, lightness, or poetry of motion by which the eye and the imagination are equally charmed" (48).
We see again the white satin shoes, what would seem to be a marker of great wealth and leisure. The wealthy women could either keep them clean by avoiding places where they would get dirty, or could afford to replace them when the did. The style of clothing is thus similar to European styles, but has been modified to suit the new environment.
Book Title: Journey Across South America
Plate Number: Page 48
Call Number: F3423 .S125 v.1