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In some countries, traditional clothing has been a referent and a distinctive feature associated with musical expressions. It can portray people’s cultural heritage and can be used to trace the development of a culture. This is the case in Vélez, where the traje tipico (traditional attire) has become a symbol of the cultural expressions of the region. For centuries, the traje tipico has been used in the Festival de la Guabina y el Tiple, where its development can be observed.
The main characteristics of the traje tipico have remained the same: a ¾-sleeve blouse and long skirt for women; black pants, a white/beige long sleeve shirt for men; and all members wear a wide-brimmed straw hat and alpargatas (traditional shoes). More recently, there has been a significant development in the use of colors and increased sophistication in embroidery. This section explores and explains the history and context of this traditional clothing and the different clothing combinations and implementations of the traje tipico. Complementing first-hand and familial knowledge of traditional Vélez clothing is information drawn from Investigacion del traje tipico de la region de Vélez Santander y propuesta para la elaboracion de moda artesana by Marta Lucia Bustos, Colombia país de regiones volumen 2 by the Centro de investigaciones y educación popular, and various articles from the Colombian newspaper Vanguardia libera. Each description is illustrated with a photo of some members of the music ensemble Corazón Santandereano.
What is known today as traje tipico was the clothing that the campesinos (farmers) wore for their everyday labour. However, around 1950 Colombia underwent significant social and economic changes that influenced how the people dressed, tending towards a western-clothing style. As a consequence, the use of the traje tipico became limited to a short time in the year when the ferias y fiestas de Vélez (parties and festivals of Vélez) took place (Bustos 1988, 29-30).
Today, the traje tipico and related cultural and musical traditions are present in Vélez and nearby municipalities, such as Bolivar, Puente Nacional and La Paz. In reference to the clothing, the magazine Colombia país fe Regiones states: “El traje típico de Santander guarda una relativa uniformidad en las áreas donde aún se conserva y que coinciden con las de dispersión del torbellino y la guabina” (1998, 88). [The typical attire of Santander maintains a relative uniformity in the areas where it is still preserved and that coincides with the dispersion of the Torbellino and the Guabina]. In the preservation process, local seamstresses play a very important role. The traje tipicos are all handmade, decorated and locally made relying on the knowledge of local people. Colombian actor and producer Toto Vega states that the traditional attire in Vélez music is considered a traje de gala [gala dress] and it can take months to embroider and make the entire outfit (2021). In addition to the transmission of musical traditions in this region, the making of this clothing and the items themselves have been passed to younger members of Corazón Santandereano. Blanca Rivera, proudly states that her traje tipico and most of the trajes tipicos that the members of Corazón Santandereano wear, were sewn and manufactured by her mother Ana Mercedes Hernandez.
Common elements:
In the traje tipico there are two elements common to the female and male attire, a sombrero de jipa (jipa hat, a wide-brimmed straw hat) and the alpargatas or chocatos (type of shoes similar to espadrilles). The Vélez hat [jipa hat] can be constructed of different palm fibers; Nestor Caceres comments that the Iraca palm is often used for the fabrication of the hat, and that it is also known in Colombia as sombrero aguadeño [Aguadeño hat]. In 1988 Bustos noted this hat was made of paja de nacuma[1] called jipijapa and the factories were located in Barichara, Zapatoca, Socorro, San Gil, Giron and Bucaramanga. However, the industry declined with the commercialization of the Ecuadorian hat (1988,49). Nowadays this type of hat is also known as the Panama hat. The sombrero de jipa can be white or a light beige. It has a black strip made of fabric about 2.5-3 cm wide and it has peacock feather or flower that adorns one of its sides as seen in the following photos.
The second common clothing element for all performers are the alpargatas. These are a type of shoe made of fique (type of fiber) that were commonly worn by the poor, local Indigenous peoples and peasants/farmers (Bustos 1988, 11). The original alpargatas were made with a fique sole with the upper part made of tightly knitted thread with black laces (see photo). Nowadays, alpargatas have a plastic, rubber or neolite sole and the upper is made of fiber yarn or acrylic fabrics (photo 4). It is also common to see prints on the upper part of the shoe.
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