The ( in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

) is the

national costume A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

for men in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It has its origin in the

Llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

of Venezuela. It is traditionally white, beige, cream or ecru, although it is available in other colors. Recently, have been worn by famous personalities in Venezuela for their weddings, in a renaissance of traditional dress – for example,

Venezuelan folk music Several styles of the traditional music of Venezuela, such as salsa and merengue, are common to its Caribbean neighbors. Perhaps the most typical Venezuelan music is joropo, a rural form which originated in the llanos, or plains. Genres Jor ...

ian

Simón Díaz Simón Narciso Díaz Márquez (August 8, 1928 – February 19, 2014) was a Venezuelan singer and Grammy Award-winning composer of Venezuelan music. Career Díaz endeavored to recover the folklore and musical traditions of the '' llanos'', the Ve ...

was known to almost always wear one. The is traditionally made of linen or cotton cloth, although

gabardine Gabardine Burberry advertisement for waterproof gabardine suit, 1908 Gabardine is a durable twill worsted wool, a tightly woven fabric originally waterproof and used to make suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, windbreakers, outerwear and o ...

and wool can be used. The outfit is made up of a pair of full-length trousers and a jacket. The jacket has long sleeves and a rounded

Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

-style collar, which is fastened and decorated by a (chain link similar to a

cufflink Cufflinks are items of jewelry that are used to secure the cuffs of dress shirts. Cufflinks can be manufactured from a variety of different materials, such as glass, stone, leather, metal, precious metal or combinations of these. Securing of ...

), which joins the two ends of the collar. The jacket is fastened by five or six buttons, and may or may not have pockets (if so, no more than four). Overall, the outfit is very simple with clean, elegant lines. Traditionally, the is worn with ''

alpargata Espadrilles (Spanish: ''alpargatas or esparteñas''; Catalan: ''espardenyes''; Basque: ''espartinak'') are casual, rope-soled, flat but sometimes high-heeled shoes. They usually have a canvas or cotton fabric upper and a flexible sole made of ...

'' – an open-toed sandal – and a ''

llanero A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...

'' hat. Because of the style of the collar, it is said that the was brought to Venezuela from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, although this is uncertain. The more accepted version is that the is derived from the uniform of colonial-era soldiers, whose jacket or had a similar shape – hence the name and the collar.

References

{{reflist National symbols of Venezuela Venezuelan clothing Colombian clothing Folk costumes