{{Short description|Type of men's shirt}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} thumb|Two guayaberas seen from the back, showing the ''alforza'' pleats and the Western-style yoke
The '''guayabera''' is a men's summer shirt, worn outside the trousers, distinguished by two columns of closely sewn pleats running the length of the front and back of the shirt. Typically made of linen, silk, or cotton, and appropriate for hot and/or humid weather, guayaberas are popular in Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean (especially Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Haiti, and Puerto Rico), South America, Southeast Asia (exactly in the Philippines), Spain (specifically Andalucia and the Canary Islands), and Portugal.
==Design== [[File:Guayabera pleats.jpg|thumb|Closeup of a pocket on a guayabera, showing the button and aligned ''alforzas'']]
The design of a typical guayabera is distinguished by several details: * Either two or four patch pockets and two vertical rows of ''alforzas'' (fine, tiny pleats, usually 10, sewn closely together) run down the front and three down the back of the shirt. The pockets are detailed with ''alforzas'' that are identical to, and aligned with, the ''alforzas'' on the body of the shirt.<ref name="bakersfield">{{Cite web |last=Tartakoff |first=Joseph |date=13 September 2006 |title=The guayabera: Traditional tropical shirt finds new customers online |url=http://www.masbakersfield.com/home/ViewPost/14587 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910011756/http://www.masbakersfield.com/home/ViewPost/14587 |archive-date=10 September 2008 |website=Mas Magazine}}</ref> * Long or short sleeves, the more common being the short-sleeved version, having a cuffed sleeve with a single decorative button. * Some shirt designs include slits on either side, and these include two or three buttons. The bottom has a straight hem and is never tucked into the trousers.<ref name="historymiami" /> * The top of each pocket is usually adorned with a matching shirt button, as are the bottoms of the ''alforza'' pleats. Vertical rows of adjusting buttons are often used at the bottom hem. While most versions of the design have no placket covering the buttons, a few newer designs do. Though traditionally worn in white and pastels, guayaberas are now available in many solid colors.
Mexican guayaberas often use complicated embroidery as a supplement to the traditional ''alforzas''. This style originated in Mérida, Mexico.<ref name="historymiami" />
==History== thumb|Cuban man wearing a guayabera {{circa|1956}}
The exact origin of the garment is unknown, although some historians attribute the shirt to the people of the Philippines who introduced the design to Mexico via the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, from there spreading to Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean. Specifically, the design is believed to be from the Philippine barong tagalog, which has documented origins in the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spanish.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Lynch |first=Annette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiEvBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia |last2=Strauss |first2=Mitchell D. |date=30 October 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780759121508 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="cubanet" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Herrera-Sobek |first1=María |title=Celebrating Latino Folklore An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions |date=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9798216058564 |url=https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/Celebrating_Latino_Folklore/6xjOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=guayabera%20filipina&pg=PT92&printsec=frontcover}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Vargas-Araya |first1=Armando |title=La Vía Costarricense: volver al futuro y reencontrar el camino de la prosperidad, la equidad y la dicha |publisher=Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia |isbn=9789968313643 |pages=142-144 |url=https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/La_v%C3%ADa_costarricense/7ne8K01I9D0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=guayabera+filipina&pg=PA143&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> [[File:Serenata Yucateca 2.jpg|thumb|left|Men wearing white ''filipina'' shirts in the traditional jarana Yucateca dance of Yucatán, Mexico]] Some scholars dispute the Philippine origin based on perceived design differences. The barong traditionally does not have pockets and has an intricate U-shaped embroidery around the chest (the ''pechera'') which is mostly absent in Cuban guayaberas.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Martinez |first=David C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2M4uAQAAIAAJ |title=A country of our own: partitioning the Philippines |date=2004 |publisher=Bisayâ Books |isbn=9780976061304 |pages=244–245 |language=en}}</ref> Guayaberas are also invariably made from opaque linen or cotton, unlike the barong tagalog which has two variations: cheaper variants made from common opaque fabrics (like linen) for commoners and everyday wear, and expensive embroidered ''piña'' or ''abacá'' sheer fabrics worn by the upper classes.<ref name="Rendon">{{Cite book |last=Rendón |first=Manuel Jesús Pinkus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRZ0R39R_NkC&q=Jarana+yucateca+filipina&pg=PA55 |title=De la herencia a la enajenación: danzas y bailes "tradicionales" de Yucatán |date=2005 |publisher=UNAM |isbn=9789703223183 |page=55}}</ref><ref name="coo">{{Cite thesis |last=Coo |first=Stéphanie Marie R. |title=Clothing and the colonial culture of appearances in nineteenth century Spanish Philippines (1820-1896) |date=2014 |degree=PhD |publisher=Université Nice Sophia Antipolis |url=https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01126974/document}}</ref>
However, guayaberas in Mexico also have chest designs like pleats and embroidery similar to the barong (and in contrast to Cuban guayaberas); they can range from having no pockets to having one, two, or four. This is the reason why Mexicans also claim that it originated from either the state of Veracruz or the Yucatán Peninsula.<ref name="cubanet">{{Cite news |last=Armario |first=Christine |date=30 June 2004 |title=Guayabera's Origin Remains a Puzzle |work=Miami Herald |url=http://www.cubanet.org/htdocs/CNews/y04/jul04/05e5.htm |access-date=10 April 2015}}</ref> In Mexico, the same basic style is also known as the "camisa de Yucatán" (Yucatán shirt)<ref name=":2" /> or "wedding shirt".<ref name="historymiami" />
Regardless, a clearer line of evidence is that guayaberas are actually also referred to as "filipinas" in Yucatán, Mexico, with the former regarded as a variant of the latter. The only difference between the two is the type of collar used. Filipinas have a collar similar to the Nehru or mandarin-style (a style known as the ''baro cerrada'' in the 19th-century Philippines), while guayaberas have a more typical spread collar. Both filipinas and the derivative guayaberas were the traditional everyday men's shirts in Yucatán since the mid-19th century, before they were replaced by western shirts in the early 20th century. The white filipina shirt is still regarded as the traditional formal dress for men in Yucatán, along with the ''terno'' for women (cf. ''traje de Mestiza'' of the Philippines). In particular, white filipinas are the traditional shirts worn for the jarana Yucateca dance, paired with white trousers. This suggests an origin from the Philippines that entered Mexico early during the colonial period through Yucatán then to Cuba, where it was later adapted to local fashion and materials.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 August 2018 |title=¿Cómo se vestían los yucatecos a principios del siglo XX? |work=Diario de Yucatan |url=https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/se-vestian-los-yucatecos-principios-del-siglo-xx |access-date=27 January 2019 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309060254/https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/se-vestian-los-yucatecos-principios-del-siglo-xx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Arellano2007">{{Cite book |last=Arellano |first=Gustavo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQrwnU3WgUoC&pg=PA205 |title=Ask a Mexican |date=2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781416562061 |page=205}}</ref><ref name="Grimsrud2013">{{Cite book |last=Grimsrud |first=John M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nJJMCAAAQBAJ&q=Jarana+yucateca+filipina&pg=PT234 |title=Yucatán's Magic–Mérida Side Trips: Treasures of Mayab |date=2013 |publisher=Lulu Press |isbn=9781105124556 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Vargas-Cetina">{{Cite book |last=Vargas-Cetina |first=Gabriela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JuQsDwAAQBAJ&q=Jarana+yucateca+filipina&pg=PA32 |title=Beautiful Politics of Music: Trova in Yucatán, Mexico |date=2017 |publisher=University of Alabama Press |isbn=9780817319625 |page=32}}</ref><ref name="Rendon" /><ref name="Rodriguez">{{Cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Yazmin |date=26 September 2017 |title=Realizan: "Paseo de las Animas" en Yucatan |url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/estados/realizan-paseo-de-las-animas-en-yucatan |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>
Cubans also claim the guayabera originated from Cuba, although records of the guayabera appear much later in Cuba. Cuban literature first refers to the shirt from 1893,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Guayabera, The Beloved National Garment |language=en |work=CubaPLUS Magazine |url=http://www.cubaplusmagazine.com/en/culture/heritage-traditions/guayabera-beloved-national-garment.html |access-date=7 November 2017 |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421080803/http://www.cubaplusmagazine.com/en/culture/heritage-traditions/guayabera-beloved-national-garment.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and documentary evidence first mentions the shirt in Cuba in 1880.<ref name="historymiami">{{Cite web |title=The Guayabera: A Shirt's Story |url=http://www.historymiami.org/guayabera/#mexican |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718091000/http://www.historymiami.org/guayabera#mexican |archive-date=18 July 2016 |access-date=10 April 2015 |publisher=HistoryMiami}}</ref> The Cuban origin story tells of a poor countryside seamstress sewing large patch-pockets onto her husband's shirts for carrying guava (guayabas) from the field.<ref name="cubanet" /><ref name="historymiami" /> In another version of the story, in 1709 Spanish immigrants from Granada, José Pérez Rodríguez and his wife Encarnación Núñez García arrived in Sancti Spiritus, located along the Yayabo River. José asked his wife to make him a shirt with long sleeves and four large pockets to store his cigars and belongings while he worked. Because it was easy to make, as well as being useful, it soon became a popular garment in that region. Another belief is that the name guayabera is said to have originated from the word ''yayabero'', the nickname for those who lived near the Yayabo River in Cuba.<ref name="cubanet" /><ref name="havanajournal">{{Cite web |last=Gray |first=Kevin |date=23 May 2003 |title=Cuban Guayaberas Make Mark Abroad |url=http://havanajournal.com/culture/entry/cuban_guayaberas_make_mark_abroad |website=Havana Journal |access-date=13 June 2008 |archive-date=24 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724003002/http://havanajournal.com/culture/entry/cuban_guayaberas_make_mark_abroad |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=10 April 2012 |title=Cuba y su guayabera, presentes en Cumbre de las Américas |trans-title=Cuba and its guayabera, present at the Summit of the Americas |url=http://www.escambray.cu/2012/cuba-y-su-guayabera-presentes-en-cumbre-de-las-americas/ |access-date=16 January 2017 |publisher=Escambray |language=es-ES}}</ref>
== Wear and use == [[File:Secretary Kerry Speaks With Colombian President Santos (29922997956) (2).jpg|thumb|Former United States Secretary of State John Kerry and former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos wear guayaberas while discussing an upcoming peace treaty.]]
The guayabera is often worn in formal contexts, such as offices and weddings. In Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, guayaberas are part of the traditional wear for men and may be considered formalwear.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="havanajournal" /><ref name="Puerto Rico.com">{{Cite web |title=Guayaberas: Fashion Statement for Men |url=http://www.puertorico.com/blog/guayaberas-fashion-statement-for-men |website=PuertoRico.com |access-date=29 April 2009 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308101706/https://www.puertorico.com/blog/guayaberas-fashion-statement-for-men/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2010, Cuba reinstated the guayabera as the "official formal dress garment".<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 October 2010 |title=Guayabera shirt now official Cuban formal dress code |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/11492327 |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref>
==Political symbolism== [[File:06.27 總統著巴拿馬衫 (27361475804).jpg|thumb|Taiwanese President Tsai in guayabera gifted by Panama's first lady]]
Guayaberas have been worn extensively by a number of Latin American political leaders, including Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Cesar Chavez, Carlos Prío Socarrás, and Fidel Castro.<ref name=":0" /> This is often interpreted as a sign of the wearer's affiliation with populist political positions.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Root |first=Regina A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8LNOJB7Z6UC |title=Latin American Fashion Reader |date=4 June 2005 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781859738931 |language=en |access-date=10 April 2015}}</ref> Michael Manley, populist Jamaican prime minister, specifically advocated for the guayabera as an anti-colonialist mode of dress,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Ulysse |first=Gina A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ly4RqI91TiIC&pg=PA77 |title=Downtown Ladies: Informal Commercial Importers, a Haitian Anthropologist and Self-Making in Jamaica |date=2007 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=9780226841212 |pages=77 |language=en}}</ref> and conversely the shirt was later banned in Parliament by the conservative Jamaica Labour Party.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waters |first=Anita M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qw0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT194 |title=Race, Class, and Political Symbols: Rastafari and Reggae in Jamaican Politics |date=8 September 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351495066 |pages=194 |language=en}}</ref> Similarly, Mexican left-wing populist Luis Echeverría advocated for its use in Mexico in part to symbolize rejection of European and American-style business suits.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Kiddle |first=Amelia Marie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w34ZJAknTIUC&pg=PA198 |title=Populism in Twentieth Century Mexico: The Presidencies of Lazaro Cardenas and Luis Echeverria |last2=Munoz |first2=Maria Leonor Olin |date=2010 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=9780816529186 |pages=198 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="historymiami" />
U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Barack Obama, have worn the shirts as a sign of solidarity when visiting the Cuban community in Miami<ref>{{Cite news |title=Best Place to Buy a Shirt and Chat with a Legend (2002): La Casa de las Guayaberas |work=Miami New Times |url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/best-of/2002/shopping-and-services/best-place-to-buy-a-shirt-and-chat-with-a-legend-6399430 |access-date=10 April 2015}}</ref> and when attending Latin American summits.<ref name=":0" /> Visiting politicians are sometimes given the shirts by Cuban American or Latin American political leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 September 2016 |title=After debate, Trump visits with the Hispanics who seem to like him most |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/donald-trump/article104484896.html |access-date=27 September 2016 |website=Miami Herald}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=28 June 2016 |title=President Tsai attends panama canal cermony {{sic|hide=y}}/ 巴拿馬運河竣工 蔡出席見證拚外交 - PTS Good Morning Taiwan |language=zh-TW |work=公視新聞網 |url=https://news.pts.org.tw/article/327153 |access-date=6 November 2017}}</ref>
==Similar shirts and alternative names== A variety of similar, lightweight dress shirts exists in other tropical countries. These include: * In the United States of America: the Western shirts with pointed yokes and elaborate embroidery were directly copied from the guayaberas of 19th century Mexican vaqueros.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/dropping-knowledge-the-western-shirt|title=Dropping Knowledge: The Western Shirt|date=28 November 2012|website=GQ}}</ref><ref>"The Cowboys", part of Time and Life: The Old West (1973)</ref> * In Guyana: a similar or identical shirt is called a "shirt-jac".<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 February 2010 |title=Summit |language=en-US |work=Stabroek News |url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/opinion/editorial/02/28/summit-2/ |access-date=7 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Allsopp |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PmvSk13sIc0C |title=Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage |last2=Allsopp |first2=Jeannette |date=2003 |publisher=University of the West Indies Press |isbn=9789766401450 |language=en}}</ref> * In Jamaica: the guayabera is called a "bush jacket".<ref name=":1" /> * In the Dominican Republic: guayaberas are referred to as "chacabana".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deive |first=Carlos Esteban |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLTyydkMtrIC&pg=PA104 |title=Diccionario de dominicanismos |date=2002 |publisher=Editora Manati' |isbn=9789993439073 |pages=104 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moran |first=Patrick R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFliAAAAMAAJ |title=Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice |date=2001 |publisher=Heinle & Heinle |isbn=9780838466766 |pages=104 |language=en}}</ref> They are worn for both formal and casual occasions. In tropical countries like the Dominican Republic, chacabanas are used for black tie events such as weddings, business meetings and even political events.<ref name=":5" /> * In the Philippines: the barong Tagalog shirt has some features which are similar to the guayabera: it is long-sleeved, light, traditionally white, and worn without being tucked in. However, the most traditional styles are decorated with U-shaped embroidery (called the ''pechera)'', rather than the guayabera's straight pleats, and lack pockets.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hila |first=Ma Corazon A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3rtAAAAMAAJ |title=Garment of honor, garment of identity |last2=Reyes |first2=Mitzi Marie Aguilar |last3=Feleo |first3=Anita B. |publisher=EN Barong Filipino |year=2008 |pages=63–69 |language=en}}</ref> It is also traditionally made of hand-woven, fine, translucent piña or jusi fiber, rather than linen.<ref name=":4" /><!-- In the Samoan Islands the shirt style has been introduced into the masculine formal attire known as the "safari set". American Samoa's version of the shirt often includes tightly-sewn vertical pleats and two or four buttoned pockets. {{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} --> * In Trinidad and Tobago, physicians often wear them because of their practicality; one pocket for pens, one for a prescription pad, another for a stethoscope, etc.
==See also== * Mantón de Manila
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Guayaberas|position = left}}
{{Clothing}} {{Folk costume}}
Category:Caribbean clothing Category:Latin American clothing Category:Folk costumes Category:Tops (clothing) Category:Men's clothing