This is what legacy feels like Part II

Hola! Que ondas?

Let's keep walking this journey through the Mayan land.

It would not be complete without shining a light on adornment. Textiles, clothes, accessories, colours and symbology come together like song and dance - and here's why it matters. 

Have you ever felt like you don't belong? You know that feeling of discomfort in your body when you're doing your thing, you're technically in your sauce but something just doesn't add up?

That was me playing in the fashion world cue glamour, air kisses, and sky high people - yes, everyone was really super tall. When I lived in Milan back in 2003, I was doing what you're “supposed” to do if you're into fashion. You go/ do/ be where everyone else is. Right?

Feck no. So not right.

The use of ‘e’ there is intentional. Because it goes beyond fuck.

I tell you, going behind the scenes at Milan Fashion Week and assisting at the Prada show was the most pollo comprado aka bought chicken aka fish out of water I've ever felt. 

Ever.

The week after that I heard the horrible news my brother had been diagnosed with cancer and that was my way out. I'd love to tell you it was a selfless decision to go to the US and support him at the tender age of 25 to go through this life altering moment. It wasn't. I told everyone that was the reason, but lying seemed like a far better alternative to saying “I hate this place, I don't belong, I quit!!!”

I look back at 19yo me and I really feel for her and in a weird way I'm also proud of her, even if she had to lie so convincingly to others and herself. I did end up supporting my brother, but also myself. Oxygen mask first and all that.

Fast forward to 2023 - turns out I didn't need to cross an ocean, it was next door all along. (Why is it we never look at the obvious? We love to over complicate it, don't we!?)

Each woven thread in the huipil (a Nahuatl word that means ‘something that covers’ or blouse) of the indigenous tribes of Guatemala embraces - colour, joy, ancestry, practicality, ease of use, and its flooded with meaning - Mayans can tell what specific tribe you're from according to the colours, motifs and style of the huipil. One, can take up to 3 months to weave on a waist loom, and these techniques are taught from generation to generation so they're kept alive.

Huipiles were originally used for ceremonies and amongst high society Mayan women - there's been ceramics found to this effect. Today, Mayan women use them to celebrate life, every day.

Basically, you know that garment you're saving for a special occasion? For them, the special occasion is TODAY.

Belonging looks like this

Woven textiles and huipiles from Casa Flor Ixcaco and a modern take by yours truly

The fashion I thought I wanted a relationship with was asking “how does it look?”

The fashion I've fallen in love with asks:

“HOW DOES IT FEEL?”

“WHO I'M I BEING TODAY?"

This is what I call Adornment. It's a frequency.

Does your style match who you're being? And most importantly who you're becoming?

In Joy + Power,

X
Caro

P. S Nana Asuncion (the picture at the top) is a shaman that speaks no Spanish, taught me how to say vulva in K'iche' = panoch, drinks beer, wears sandals to walk in the jungle and bought this for herself. Basically, she's cool.