SANTA CRUZ L.L. HUIPIL- FROM THE GUATEMALAN HIGHLANDS Start Price USD 32.42 Current Price USD 32.42 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, September 03, 2008 End Time Wednesday, September 10, 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 seldom worn, Santa Cruz La Laguna, Huipil. It is in excellent wearable or collectable condition. The color in the photos is fairly good. The base cloth is  corinto-carmen or light burgandy- with pale blue pin stripes. In photo 4. the color is way too red.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 thread of some kind. The dye will not run. The dye is Beyer, made in Mexico.I know the woman that bought the thread; and parceled out the different piece work to create THIS finished huipil. The person she had apply the back decoration did it very well. There are very few places on the inside where the decoration thread is seen. The woman who applied the deco was able to pick up the warp thread rather than penetrate the fabric. The resulting "inside"- they wear both sides out-is an extraordinarily pleasant design. There are few sew throughs.Sebastiana buys in 50 kilo bundles of thread 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. Wash it. It will get MUCH softer immediately.The Rios pattern decoration, is embroidery rather than supplemental weft and is made of acrylic yarn. The neck decoration is made of embroidery yarn. VERY TRADITIONAL. It is nicely done.  SIZE: 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 doña Sebastiana is wearing a very similar collar design. The doña is pretty sick. I've been doing more with Tiniq' or Lucia, next oldest.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. You probably think of that as nonsense. With thread at $11 a pound it has at least $22 invested in just in the base cloth. The decorative threads cost $13 to $15.  It is an unimaginable bargain.  It is HAND MADE. It began as a bale of thread. Hand made clothing is much more expensive than second hand Chinese clothing. These are traditional Kakchiquel people. They wear what they make or what was made by a neighbor. 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!