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🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

The Gaucho Garment Worn Across the Pampas for More Than Two Centuries

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Documents & data Context piece
  • The poncho became a familiar garment among gauchos and rural residents, but historical accounts also record its use by people in Buenos Aires.
  • Travelers and writers described ponchos worn during religious processions, horseback riding and everyday life in the city.
  • Historical records show a range of colors, designs and prices, including embroidered ponchos worn by young urban riders.

The poncho is commonly identified with the gaucho and the countryside, but its history in Buenos Aires is much broader. The garment appeared in the city more than two centuries ago and remains visible today, including at a recent exhibition in Palermo.

the men lining the route were dressed in their capes or ponchos and white caps, and very few wore jackets

· Pedro Pereira Fernándes de MesquitaHis account described clothing worn during Holy Week processions in Buenos Aires.

Travelers recorded seeing ponchos in Buenos Aires during the colonial period. Pedro Pereira Fernándes de Mesquita, a Portuguese priest who lived in the city as a prisoner after Pedro de Cevallos captured Colonia del Sacramento, wrote that men lining the route of Holy Week processions wore capes or white ponchos and white caps. Few wore jackets. In the city, the poncho could take the place of the cape.

A survey of 54 ponchos conducted by Nelly Porro and other authors found that half of the garments whose colors were recorded were white. Brown or gray followed, along with blue and red. The records offer a glimpse of a garment that was practical, but also part of public appearance and social style.

one rides a horse to go from one corner to another

· Juan Francisco de AguirreAguirre used the observation to describe Buenos Aires and its residents’ relationship with horseback riding.

A 1783 memoir by Captain Juan Francisco de Aguirre described Buenos Aires residents as increasingly less attached to horses and rural pursuits, though many still rode beyond the city. Some walked in capes, while others wore ponchos and presented themselves as fashionable young men. A travel diary attributed to Spanish naval officers José de Espinosa and Francisco Bauzá likewise described the city’s young men as fond of riding spirited horses and dressing in magnificently embroidered ponchos.

all their sons ride horses, but it can be said that most now do so only outside the city; within it, some walk in capes and others in ponchos, looking like elegant young men

· Juan Francisco de AguirreHis 1783 memoir contrasted urban walking with horseback riding and described poncho-wearing city residents.

Antonio Alcedo y Bejarano, in his geographical dictionary of the West Indies and America, defined the poncho as a square garment worn in South America, especially in Peru and Chile. An opening in the middle allowed it to hang over the body and keep the wearer warm. Some were embroidered with silk, gold or silver, and women also wore them. In Buenos Aires, the documented examples include decorated garments without the costly metalwork, with prices ranging from ordinary ponchos costing up to four reales to ponchos priced at several pesos.

A square blanket used in South America, particularly in Peru and the kingdom of Chile, for riding horses

· Antonio Alcedo y BejaranoHis geographical dictionary provided a definition of the poncho and described its construction and uses.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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