ECUADOR SERIES: Ecuadorian women and cultural identity
One of the things that fascinated me while travelling through Ecuador was its cultural diversity. Given its small population which is 4,5 million, you would not expect it to be so diverse.
While I was crossing the country I was amazed by the way the Ecuadorian women expressed their cultural identity.
In the northern area of Ecuador in the provence of Imbabura, I have seen many Quechua people. They are the direct descendants of the Incas.
The Highland Indian women were wearing the traditional costume which consists from an embroidered white top with a long, black skirt on top of which there is a woven piece of fabric that acts as a belt.
Another distinctive part of their traditional outfit is the colourful woven shawls around their shoulders, which is meant to offer clues about their marital status.
They wore simple fabric black shoes or open sandals.
In terms of jewellery, the Quechua women always had gold beaded multi-layered necklaces.
Apparently, the older a woman is, the higher amount of layers she has around her neck.
Some of them wore bracelets realized in a similar style with their necklaces, but with red beads.
Having long hair seemed to be a norm everywhere throughout the country. I don't recall seeing a woman or young girl wearing her hair short.
In the capital city, Quito, a lot of women were using their ethnic costume as a daily dress.
In the southern area of Ecuador, most of the older women were having their head covered by a felt hat or their wool shawls.
The highlander women chose to wear pleated colourful skirts and a wool shawl along with their headwear.
The lowlanders are dressed differently than the highlanders. They wear loose-fitting clothing and seem less interested in displaying their ethnicity, except for those living in Amazonia and the subtropical lands of Santiago.
The Mestizos and Ecuadorians of European descent do dress in Western clothing.
Have a look at this gorgeous braid! Could you believe that this is a man's hair?
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Unless stated otherwise, all photos used in this posts are taken and owned by myself. If you wish to use any of my images, please contact me!
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave your feedback in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!
So many beautiful women! Love the hats! I am sure you really enjoyed this trip through the towns and markets, I can't imagine the beautiful fruits and vegetables. Interesting to see the difference in dress from the lowlands to the highlands. Western culture has found it's place with the young people :) Great photo's @lymepoet.
Thank you! Ecuadorian love fruits and ice cream! They always munch on one of these! As for the younger generations, especially those living in the coastal areas or in Southern parts of the country, they care less and less about their ancestors' traditional dress.
So beautiful, I love the beautiful woman. The are so different from us the europeans and the thick glanzing hear I amjealous, deep dark so great.
Love your travel blogs
Britt
Thank you! These women were so different and beautiful with distinctive facial features.
Thats is so beautifull about the worlds population some part of the world peoples features are more wide or small great to See in photos
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They look lovely and very beautiful. I am always taken with how much color their use in their clothing, simply amazing.
I loved the plated skirts. They were so colorful!
I find the hats are incredibly interesting! They seem to be similar to the German hats that men wear?
Is not the same thing, but it is similar!
So beautiful!! The difference in culture is amazing, and I just love how they are all so individual, but so similar at the same time. How interesting!
It was really exciting for me to reach a new area discover new features and try to find similarities or contrasts to what I had seen the previous day.
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Wow so much variety in clothing considering the population is half that of the UK capital! Thanks for sharing the various cultures :)
@lymepoet,
Great post, Lavi. As usual, interesting insights.
Quill