Pollera - Bolivia

Bolivia

In Bolivia the word pollera denotes a pleated skirt very much associated with the urban mestizo and the rural indigenous classes where women usually wear this garment (nowadays also instead of the woven indigenous dresses). The urban pollera typical of the Bolivian altiplano should be made of 8 meters of cloth and it is worn with 4-5 embroidered underskirts, which gives the Cholitas (mestizo women who wear the pollera) some "round" lookings… There are still quite a lot of women around who wear this skirt which originates from the Spanish rural dresses and for the Carnaval de Oruro and other festivities even women who don't usually wear it put it on for the dancing.