---
node: fashion_na_postclassic
type: fashion
slug: postclassic_period_north_america_fashion
title: "Fashion in the Postclassic period"
lead: "In the Postclassic period, under the Aztecs, dress was strictly assigned by rank: commoners wore maguey fibre and nobles cotton, and the length and decoration of the cloak (tilmatli) marked class."
published: 2026-07-28
updated: 2026-07-28
image_file: postclassic_period_north_america_fashion.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Codex_Mendoza_folio_64r.jpg"
image_author: "Codex Mendoza (Aztec, 16th century)"
image_license: "Public domain"
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 the hierarchical society of the Aztec Empire, sumptuary laws regulated dress in fine detail by rank.

## Key garments and style

Men wore the maxtlatl loincloth and the tilmatli cloak, women the huipil and a wrapped skirt. Commoners' clothing was maguey fibre and nobles' cotton by law, and elaborate cotton decoration, featherwork and gold ornament were reserved for the elite. In the north, the Mississippian and Puebloan peoples had their own dress.

## Transition

After 1492, the arrival of Europeans shook this world of dress profoundly.