Costume and Identity in Highland Equador
Contributors: Ann P. Rowe (Editor); Lynn Meisch (Editor)
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: December 1998
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 305
ISBN-13: 9780295977423
Subjects: Costume; Cultural studies; Fashion design; Indigenous peoples; Dress And Costume; Social Science; Archaeology / Anthropology; Sociology; Anthropology - Cultural; Customs & Traditions; Clothing and dress; Ecuador; Ethnicity; Social life and customs
Description: Costume and Identity in Highland Ecuador offers particular insight into the role of costume - clothing, jewelry, hairstyles, and bodily adornment - in a society changing from a subsistence to a wage-based economy. In some highland regions costumes are still relatively conservative; in others, machine-made cloth has replaced handmade cloth or distinctive costumes are disappearing altogether.

In this volume a number of textile experts focus their attention on the creation and use of the clothing itself, including loom styles and fabrics, but in addition they explore the historical forces that have helped shape indigenous costume. This work is the first detailed survey of Ecuadorian costume and will become a standard reference and a much-needed model for other areas of South America.

Pulling together many and varied field studies, it spans more than twenty years and presents research in a useful, comparative format. Many of the 286 photographs of daily and fiesta dress were taken on location; some depict significant examples from the renowned collection of The Textile Museum. All attest to the visual stimulation of Ecuadorian costume.