Collection: Guayaberas

The guayabera is a shirt with short or long sleeves, adorned with vertical tucks, sometimes with embroidery, and has four pockets, two on the chest and the other on the skirts. The use of guayaberas is displaced throughout Latin America, as it enjoys light fabric and light colours, which is ideal for hot weather. It used to be made with linen or cotton, but today a wide variety of fabrics are used. People say that its name comes from its common use which was to store guavas inside its pockets. According to popular history, this type of shirt comes from the Cuban city of Sancti-Spíritus. It is said that, in the 18th century, a peasant from that city asked his wife to put several pockets on his shirt to store his belongings at work, and that the guayabera came from there. The thinking of this person may have been influenced by the design of the military uniforms that peasants and landowners wore at that time, since these had four pockets distributed along the hem. By the middle of the 20th century, it began to become popular among governors and government officials and from there it was distributed throughout the urban centers of Havana. Henequen growers from Yucatan who travelled to Cuba realized the beauty of this garment and decided to make it in Mexico. The manufacture of this garment began to decrease in Cuba, this attributed to the fact that the textile manufacturers of Mérida took advantage of the opportunity to make guayaberas. That is how they achieved to be recognized as the manufacturers of this shirt. During the '70s, President Luis Echeverría popularized its use in Mexico and abroad by wearing it as usual. Today, the guayabera is used to go to both formal and informal events, such as weddings, meetings, discos, parties, and even daily.