Vintage 70s Mexican Dress Hazme si puedes Oaxaca Blue Cotton

This is a hand embroidered blue cotton Mexican dress made most likely during the 1970s by an artisan of Oaxaca origin.  The embroidery on this Mexican dress features a variety of floral motifs and a few birds and is quite dense - embroidery of this type would have taken considerable time to do.  The embroidery fills the yoke, both on the front and back, and is also down around the underarm area and in a vertical panel at the centre front.  This Mexican dress is made with short sleeves and has tucking positioned under the yoke, embroidered with little “people”, both front and back. I believe that this technique is called “Hazme si puede”, which translates to “make me if you can”.  The tucking bestows some fullness to the body of the dress.  The neckline is rounded and edged in white crochet “lace” detail as are the edges of the sleeves.  There is a pocket at either side, each trimmed with red and white ribbon - the same red and white ribbon goes around the bottom of the dress.  This Mexican dress is unlined and has no zippered openings, so simply fits over the head to fit.  

Age: 1970s

Label:  None - artisan made

Colour:  Blue with embroidery in yellow, red, violet, purple, orange, blue, pink, violet, white and green

Material:  Cotton

Sizing: No size is indicated on this Mexican dress, however, I believe the this should fit a large size - please note the following measurements for fit (note that this has to go over the head and is a loose fitting garment):

Shoulders:  27” across the top, including the short sleeves

Bust:  48” around, taken under the arms, but should fall loosely

Waist:  56” around, but should fall loosely

Hips:  59”, but should fall loosely

Length:  45 1/2” long, measured flat

Condition: This Mexican dress is in very clean condition with no wear, tear, stains or odours - this dress was very well cared for over the years.

This is a very pretty Mexican dress …..quality hand embroidery, not like the more modern machine embroidered knock-offs that you see…..