Cultural Values

Clothing

An explosion of color and ornaments is seen in men’s traditional wear. Men in Iberá live in a close relationship with nature and seem to have a biological clock in sync with it. Just like birds, the male is the more colorful to attract the attention of the females. By analogy, the Iberá gauchos adorn their clothing with embroidery and colors that always attract attention, while women’s clothes are less striking. However women have a nonetheless fundamental role in male attire since they are the ones who make it happen.

Work clothes include “guardamontes” and brightly colored chaps, wide belts, cummerbunds, wide-brimmed hats and scarves. The bombachas worn for special occasions are colorful, broad and ornamented with embroidery, often matching the “corralera” (jacket).

Flowers and initials are usually the designs used on these embroideries, although horses or religious images or even the literal reference to their homeland, strengthening the bond between man and his surroundings, are often used as well.

The hat is always wide-brimmed. Felt ones became popular during the 50s, but the classic hats from Corrientes are actually made of palm and sewn by hand. An item always present with the clothes is the knife carried at the waist together with the “chiara” (a sharpening tool); both items are essential for fieldwork. Traditional vests and pullovers made of hand-spun wool and knitted with two needles keep the “paisanos” warm.

The use of color in Corrientes has symbolic connotations as it often reveals which political party the wearer favors, or which saint he is devoted to. This feature is especially important in scarves, which were once also worn to protect the neck from the edge of a knife.

Iberá does not escape the processes of globalization nor its consequences. Improved communications and information accessibility bring the risk of prioritizing the foreign over the local, assuming it is better. This happened with the women's dress, which has become a faithful copy of the city clothing regardless of whether it was suitable for the climate, geography or the characteristics of Iberá.

The typical women’s dress, currently only used for folk dances or special events, includes a wide frilly skirt and blouse or a dress with sleeves and a bodice adorned by ribbons or lace. In either case, flowery patterns, are an essential part of the garment. A scarf or shawl made with the loom or crocheted with raw wool is used for warmth, and for the feet: “alpargatas”.

Women still wear their hair long, though not as often as they used to. The traditional way was braiding it and tying the braids with ribbons.

For men the most significant change from traditionalists is the replacement of scarves by ties or in the decorations on the bombachas and jackets, which used to be manually embroidered but are now machine made or painted. Also, as a consequence of industrial production, the mass distribution of cultural icons from other regions of the country such as the guardas pampas are used here.