---
node: fashion_sa_colonial
type: fashion
slug: colonial_south_america_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Colonial Era"
lead: "In the colonial era, under Spanish caste society, the elite wore European dress while Indigenous and mixed people wore a blend of native and Western clothing; the full skirt (pollera) of mestizo women arose in this period."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: colonial_south_america_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cuzco_School_-_Joaqu%C3%ADn_de_Saavedra_y_Santa_Cruz,_5th_Marquis_Moscoso.png"
image_author: "Cusco School — Marquis of Moscoso (1785)"
image_license: "Public domain"
change: "Created as a fashion sub-page under the history section, with a period image (south_america region)"
requester: internal
reason: "Per the owner's decision, fashion lives under each history era"
---

## Overview

In the caste (casta) society of Spanish America, dress marked race and rank in fine detail.

## Key garments and style

The Spanish elite wore splendid dress following European fashion. Indigenous people kept traditional textiles, but after the Túpac Amaru revolt of 1781 Spain banned Inca-style dress. Mestizo women came to wear the layered, full skirt (pollera) with a shawl.

## Transition

In the age of independence, the dress of the new republics and of the gaucho herders appeared.