The Dressing of Brazilian Blended Cultures

Since its discovery by the Portuguese in 1500, Brazil has experienced the blending of different cultures. Initially, the population consisted of Portuguese, Africans brought over to work as slaves, and indigenous peoples. From 1887 until the Second World war, the mixing increased with the arrival of considerable numbers of Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Jewish, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese, American, and Syrian-Lebanese immigrants, who all contributed to the formation of one of the most mixed-race countries in the world. In many respects, the difficulties of adaptation to the tropics that the immigrants had to face contributed to the formation of a multiracial Brazilian society and soul. More than just shaping the faces and lifestyles of Brazilian people, this cultural context can be seen and felt in the great majority of what is produced in the country. This chapter considers how the contours, cuts, textures and colours of contemporary Brazilian fashion reflect particularities of the Brazilian hybridity.