The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Belt
The man's belt, called a banda, resembles the woman's sash, or faja, in both
appearance and function, and such details of its wearing as the placement of the
knot and whether the fringe hangs loose are similarly determined by local tradition;
it is often the only item of traditional dress retained by a man when he changes to
European-style clothing. Pattern varies from warp stripes in a standard group of
colors and a decorative finish of knotting (Santiago Atitl.n, fig. 20) to a solid
ground, usually red, enhanced at each end by a block of supplementary-weft
patterning (Chichicastenango, fig. 18). The thick knot of the Chichicastenango
banda is worn at the center front, and the fringe is tucked into the folds of the belt;
the ends of the Santiago Atitlan sash hang loose.
Tzut
Tzuts for men are as variable in size and function as those for women. A small,
one-width tzut may serve as a handkerchief, be draped around the
crown of a hat, or be tied around the neck like a scarf, as at NahualA.
The large, two-width tzut from San Juan Sacatep6quez would have
been worn as a shawl, as a sign of office, by a member of a cofradia.
One of the most distinctive tzuts is that of Chichicastenango, and the
red ground, the pile-like patterning, the motif of the double-headed
bird, and the long tassels of the example in figure 18 are characteristic.
As a ceremonial head covering it is worn folded diagonally, the
opposite corners tied at the nape of the neck. An older style is
represented by the tzut in figure 21, which resembles a piece collected
in Guatemala in 1902 by Gustavus Eisen and now in the collection of
the Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, the University of California, Berkeley
(illustrated in O'Neale, fig. 108a).
Bag, blanket, and hat
Since the man's traditional garments seldom have pockets, the personal
belongings which would normally be carried in them are carried in the woven,
looped, or knitted bags made by men. The looped white cotton bag in the Nasher
Collection is from Chichicastenango, where it is called morral (Spanish) or chim
(Quiche) and forms an essential part of the ceremonial costume.
Once a common accessory at Chichicastenango, the blanket, poncho or manga in
Spanish and q'uul (or kul) in Quiche, was carried on the man's shoulder or folded
and hung across the top of his large white bag. The tapestry-woven border of
checks, lozenges, and arrows and the long fringe of the example in figure 18 are
characteristic. The blanket is used as a wrap, as a mat to sit on, as padding for a
burden carried on the shoulders, or as a blanket for sleeping.
The only hat (sombrero) in the exhibition is from Todos Santos. Made of strips of
braided palm fiber stitched together on a sewing machine, it is banded by a leather
belt wrapped diagonally with blue cotton bias tape. Hats are worn by both men and
women in Todos Santos; the men wear them over a tzut or a red bandanna.
Fig 21