Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/64

48 state of things is over and firm government and popular security are once more established.

Dress in Mexico appears to be just as dependent on fashion among the higher classes as European costume. The fashions of New York and Paris have for almost a generation been adopted by the upper classes, and national garments formerly worn by all grades are now being abandoned to the peon. But here and there a remnant of the picturesque remains. The costume worn by ladies in the street is frequently black, while for headgear they sometimes wear a thin veil or mantilla. Some classes of Mexican women unwittingly hasten the ravages of time by using cosmetics too freely, which spoils their complexions and tends to a premature appearance. The poorer women also wear an article of apparel called a rebozo, a kind of thin cotton shawl, usually sombre in colour. It is about three yards long by three-quarters of a yard wide, and it is worn draped gracefully round the head and shoulders. The men of the peon class, in contrast to European custom, are, as a whole, much more gorgeously attired than their women-folk, and affect showy and brilliant garments. An article of headgear which they are fond of decorating is the sombrero. This is a wide-brimmed felt hat, usually light grey or white, which, for decorative purposes, is faced with silver lace, and bands of silver are twined round the foot of the crown, the whole being occasionally completed with a silver fringe.

The zarape is a garment at one time popular with Mexican men in all grades of society, but it is now sharing the fate of the rebozo, and is worn mostly by labourers and the lower classes. It consists of a thick shawl, which may sometimes be gaily striped, or, in the more costly varieties, decorated with gold and silver, though others are beautifully embroidered. The zarape is often red in colour and, when made in cheaper materials, costs from $2 to $5, but in richer cloths it may reach the price of $5,000. When on horseback, the Mexican is brilliant in his charro costume, which is of