Posted on 11/23/2004 1:32:30 PM PST by cfhBAMA
The rise of the lowly poncho
From the poorest Indians to the President himself - this traditional garment fits all, writes Daniel Hannan
You never forget your first poncho. I wore mine on Toribia, the sweetest-natured mare I have ever ridden, in a horse show near Lima. I was 11.
Universal appeal: George W Bush dons a poncho in Chile Like everyone else, I accompanied it with a white shirt and trousers, a red neckerchief and a broad-brimmed straw-hat: standard uniform when riding a caballo de paso, that stately symbol of rural Peru.
The great thing about the poncho is its classlessness. People who exhibit caballos de paso in South America are, socially, rather like those who attend equestrian events in this country. Yet you are just as likely to find ponchos draped around the poorest Indians in mountain shacks.
Yesterday's Daily Telegraph showed Presidents Bush and Putin at a summit meeting in Chile, ponchos thrown casually over their shirt-sleeves. Dubya looked as happy as ever, Putin wore a sardonic grin.
But what a social achievement for the poncho, once the preserve of illiterate tribesmen, now the dress of the most powerful men on Earth.
The poncho has lowly origins. The Jesuit missionaries who came to northern Argentina in the 16th century, exasperated by the tendency of the natives to wander about naked, threw ponchos over them to keep them modest. The poncho is, if you think about it, the sparest and cheapest garment imaginable: a blanket with a slit in the middle.
But it is warm and practical, and it soon spread throughout the Andes. Today, it is worn from Colombia to Patagonia, especially by horsemen, who spread its folds over their mounts for added warmth.
There are ponchos and ponchos, of course. If you are riding through the Andes, you don't want a dainty cashmere version from the Burlington Arcade, but a thick, oily cloak that will serve as a blanket when you dismount.
In a curious inversion, the indigenous Andeans dye their ponchos all manner of garish colours, while Europeans, imagining that they are being more authentic, demand natural duns and browns, or vegetable tints: eucalyptus, onion root, indigo.
The best ponchos, for my money, are made from vicuña, midget cousin to the alpaca and llama. But you can get them in cotton, wool and all sorts of synthetic concoctions.
The rise of the poncho has a great deal to do with the renaissance of the indigenous peoples of Latin America. When I was a boy, you wouldn't see an Indian in a suit. Native Peruvians were commonly referred to as cholos, a nasty racial slur.
They were seen as sullen and dull, loyal if properly treated, but with little spirit. In the words of a folk song of the time:
"I know that you say that we cholos have no soul, that we are like stones, without tongue or voice, that we cry inside without shedding tears.
"Only leave me at peace in my mountains, herding my goats, tending my llamas, knitting my ponchos. There I'll pour the voice of my sorrow into the wind."
How things have changed. Peru now has its first indigenous President, Alejandro Toledo. His predecessor, Alberto Fujimori, used often to don a poncho and chullo - the accompanying ear-flapped cap - on the campaign trail. Turning the racist epithet on its head, he asked people to: "Vote for the chinito and the four cholitos." And they did.
Go to the Andes today and you will find Quechua street names, a revival of pre-Colombian history in the schools and, of course, a new pride in traditional dress. Yet, as recently as the Seventies, our cook was too ashamed to admit that she could speak Quechua, as well as Spanish.
This classlessness has spread authentically across the Atlantic. With the possible exception of jeans, I can think of no other item of clothing that carries so little social baggage. You can pick up a serviceable poncho for a fiver at Camden market, or you can spend £710 on Chloé's stripy woollen version.
The poncho, I am told, is the hottest thing this winter – but, rather unfairly, only for women. Perhaps Mr Bush can change all that: it wouldn't be the first time he has turned opinion around.
Yeah, I even like the military style myself-camo pattern. So much, that I recently bid on some at a Govt auction and ended up with about 40 (thought I was only getting a few with some other coats and stuff).
Ponchos will be great for covering the suicide bomber vests too.
LOL!
Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho?
Most of the folks look OK, if self conscious, in their poncho's. Putin looks like a dork.
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