The mantilla’s origins go back to the Iberian culture, when women
used veils and robes in order to cover and adorn her head. Later,
during the Middle Ages, women continued using many different head-dresses,
some of them with a certain Arabian influence.
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During the XVI century, the use of the robe, then called mantilla
de aletas (winged mantilla), became general in Spain, considered
one more garment into the traditional dresses. However, each region
kept a special appearance, in order to adapt it to the both social
and physical determining factors. In this way, for example, in
the coldest areas, the mantilla was used like an outer coat, made
in different sorts of stuff. Some of them were adorned with glass
beads, silk and velvet. On the contrary, in the warmer areas,
were made in light and smooth weaves, making a garment more luxury
and ornamental.
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In the XVII century it began to be used the lace mantilla -like
we can see in some female portraits painted by Velázquez- being
an important part of some elegant women’s wardrobe. However, the
ladies in the Court and in the higher social condition didn’t
use it until the XVIII; it was also in this century when the lace
mantillas definitively replaced the silk and stuff ones.
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So, it was in the XIX century when the mantilla acquired a real
importance like refined head-dresses for Spanish women. Queen
Isabel II, who was very keen on laces, promoted actively the use
of the mantilla. She and her ladies used to dress it in many public
and private ceremonies. |
| Since 1868, the use of the mantilla was given up. Nevertheless,
in Seville and others Andalusian cities it continued being very
popular. This also happened in Madrid, where the use of the mantilla
was so firmly rooted into the tradition that the women of the
nobility converted it into a symbol of the protest against the
King Amadeo de Saboya and her wife María Victoria. The repulse
against them and de foreign customs was leaded for the women,
who showed their protest wearing, instead hats, the classical
Spanish mantilla and peineta. This fact was historically named
"La Conspiración de las Mantillas" (The Mantillas’ Conspiracy). |
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In the XX century in Andalusia, and especially in Seville, the
mantilla stopped being a daily garment used for the evening stroll.
Only during the first third of the century women used small mantillas
when they went to mass. In this way, the use of the mantilla was
relegated to certain events and celebrations, especially during
the Holy Week. |
In Holy Week, is a tradition that the ladies were dressed in black
clothes, wearing her best attire: over the head, a tortoiseshell
peineta and a black lace mantilla. These clothes were dressed
up in Holy Thursday and Holy Friday, for going to visit the churches
and escorting the processions. This tradition was kept until the
middle of the century, and actually is being recovered.
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