---
node: fashion_na_classic
type: fashion
slug: classic_period_north_america_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Classic period"
lead: "In the Mesoamerican Classic period, dress reached great refinement under the city civilisations of the Maya and Teotihuacan; the elite wore woven cotton with feather headdresses and jade, vividly painted in the murals of Bonampak."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: classic_period_north_america_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonampak,_Temple_of_the_Murals,_musicians.jpg"
image_author: "Bonampak Maya mural (photo: Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0)"
image_license: "CC BY 2.0"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (north_america region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

In this age of cities and priestly rule, dress clearly marked rank and authority.

## Key garments and style

Men wore a loincloth and cape, women the huipil and the quechquemitl shoulder cape. Kings and priests displayed authority with brightly woven cotton, huge quetzal-feather headdresses and jade and mosaic ornaments; the Maya murals of Bonampak record the splendour.

## Transition

In the Postclassic period, under the Aztecs and Toltecs, strict rules assigning dress by rank appeared.