SANTA CRUZ L.L. HUIPIL- FROM THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS Start Price USD 25.13 Current Price USD 25.13 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 02, 2008 End Time Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Location sweet home, OR See more about 'SANTA CRUZ L.L. HUIPIL- FROM THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS' Description THE COLD WEATHER IS COMING. THIS IS COMFORT WEAR.This is a worn, Santa Cruz La Laguna, Huipil. It is in excellent wearable condition. The color in the photos is fairly good; 1, 2 and 3 are about the right shade of red but too dark. #4. is too light. None of them is quite right as the base cloth is a bright cherry red with white pin stripes. The base fabric is probably acrylic covered cotton. The feel is still not completely soft. This could be the result of the way things are laundered at the lake. IT IS IN AS PURCHASED CONDITION. Wash it and see. This could be because it is the newer, last forever, thread.  I did a burn test on a loose thread. I know it is not pure cotton. Wash it! Turn it inside out. Cold/cold. Regular cycle. Ordinary detergent. Tumble dry 'till almost dry. Block to dry. It is high cotton content yarn of some kind.I know the woman that bought the thread; and parceled out the different piece work to create THIS finished huipil. She buys in 50 kilo bundles with price being fairly important. She is less concerned with issues important to those of us in the North than she is to the interests of her primary clients; the fashion conscious women of Santa Cruz L. L.,  most of whom prefer the acrylic/cotton blend as it is very much more color fast.  It does finally get really soft. It just takes longer than with 100% cotton. This is probably 80% cotton. I don't know for sure.The zig zag pattern is embroidery rather than supplemental weft and is made of acrylic. The neck decoration is made of embroidery thread. VERY TRADITIONAL.The pattern is called olas-waves. It is nicely done.  There are some loose threads in the decoration and a pattern of wear that is a sure sign; the woman who wore this lived in Jaibalito where women are the principal porters of building materials. Jaibalito.comSIZE: Referring to picture 1, the decorated back, it is 36 inches from upper corner to upper corner. It is 36 inches from the upper corners to the bottom corners. The neck design is T slot to circle with a string tie. Any head will go through.Santa Cruz is one of the Municipios of Departmento, Solola', in Guatemala's Western Highlands. It is one of the towns on the North shore of Lake Atitlan. The town is one of the few remaining towns anywhere without access BY MOTOR VEHICLE. There is no diesel smell! The styles of the town are less well known than cities and towns more on the tourist track. Picture number 5 is the woman sold this to me. The woman in the 5th photo is Maria "Tiniq'"(little), the vendor. She is third oldest daughter in the extended family of doña Sebastiana, (photo 6), who bought the thread mentioned above. Note that she is wearing the same design collar on a corinto huipil. It must be her family's design. It has that thicker inside ring. It is a San Juan L.L. influence.Part of the huipil business involves taking in and reselling used huipils. I buy quite a few from this family. They are always fair. Tiniq' is on shares with this. If you bid it up, she get half the net. I already gave her a base price and I'm doing the Ebay and paying for mailing. I think we break even on this starting bid. I met Tiniq' in '89 when she was 8. Now she is the principal source of cash flow in doña Sebastiana's compound-extended family. See all those beads she is wearing. She's doing OK. Nice people.  This is a huipil that is exactly correct for its time and place of origin. The thread that goes into this kind of hand made clothing costs about my starting bid. It is an unimaginable bargain.   I know quite a bit about this kind of clothing so feel free to ask questions.MAIL: I'll mail it free to USA addresses. International winners will be given a $5 discount on mail cost. The stated cost is a high end estimate. I will get a true cost when I send your invoice. Place a Bid!