I’m sitting
in the office working whilst waiting, very impatiently waiting, for the
delivery of a long anticipated vintage staple.
Yes, I have finally found the Mexican Souvenir Jacket of my dreams and
it is being delivered today.
Most
vintage lovers have one of these on their list along with green shoes, fur
lined winter boots and a telephone cord purse, though it could be argued that
the jacket is the most useful.
Decent
vintage outerwear is hard to find, decent casual wear even harder. People just wore things longer and a lot of
people would either save for a proper overcoat or wear suit jackets.
I’m a casual kind of girl a lot of the time –
as much as I’d love to wear vintage suits every day I don’t have the energy or
the job to allow it – I like my jeans (Freddie’s naturally) and my flat shoes
for schlepping around town. Finding a
genuine vintage jacket that goes with a casual vintage look is a nightmare.
All hail
the Mexican souvenir jacket. Usually
made of wool or occasionally gabardine (how I long for one in gab – if anyone
sees one – holler at me!) the Mexican
Souvenir jacket is both short, casual and fun, plus it looks great with jeans
and saddle shoes.
I do
apologise if I cause any offence but I am putting issues of rich Americans
culturally appropriating ethnic clothing aside (this is both 70 years ago and
the styles were deliberately Americanised rather than aping traditional costume).
These items
were made and sold in Mexico from I believe the early 40s and right into the
70s. I have seen a couple which I would
swear are late 30s but these are few and far between. They were primarily bought by American
tourists visiting Mexico and I understand they were often simply sold at the
roadside by local women although there are certainly some which are “labels”
and would have been available in the shops.
There was even a sewing pattern issued so you could make your own
without the need to travel.
The jackets
tend to come in few basic colours and designs, though almost always the same
cut. The main colours are red, green,
turquoise and cream. Black jackets are a
lot rarer and you will occasionally see a yellow one or sometimes something in
two colours.
The
embroidery usually features Mexican motifs.
These are often scattered horseshoes, sombreros and cacti on the front,
often featured on the collar and pockets, then either a very large dancing
couple on the back, sometimes with the word “Mexico” sequinned on, or a scene
showing small figures going about their day to day business. These are usually embroidered on using yarn
but sometimes appliqué is used as well, especially on more large scale designs.
The borders of the jacket are usually blanket stitched in a contrast yarn.
Most
jackets are pretty brash in their design, which is incredibly fun, and I do
want one of these, some however are more muted, the decoration being in just
one or two colours.
The very
simple cut did not change much over time – the jackets tend to be long sleeved
do not have fastenings – though some short sleeved and even poncho versions
appeared in the 70s. Some stylistic details to keep an eye out for
are little tucks at the sleeve cap and some are round necked while others have
collars.
I have
finally chosen a dark green design, very simple, and unusual for having very
muted colours in the decoration – I’ve not seen one like it before. I cannot wait!
And lo, I’ve
been called to reception, it’s arrived!
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