Abosolo Chipas is a Tzeltal town. Traditional clothing is still worn by many people in the town.
Kaeren Elwell
14/03/2006
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San Martin Abasolo is a small, Tzeltal town that is located in the Municipio of Ocosingo, Chiapas. Abasolo is about 15 minutes south of the bustling city of Ocosingo. In the neighboring municipality of Oxchuc, Tzeltal women wear long red and white huipils and wrap skirts. The women of Abasolo, however, wear the costume of the lowland Tzeltals -- an indigo wrap skirt adorned with colorful satin ribbons and a boat-necked, embroidered blouse trimmed with lace. The women of the municipios of Chilón (including Bachajón and Pamalhá) and Yajalón wear the same basic attire.

We purchased the blouses and skirt shown above in Abasolo in January 2006. The ribbons on the indigo-dyed skirt are worn wrapped tightly around the woman's hips. The center ribbon is slightly wider than the surrounding ribbons; this seems to be characteristic of Ocosingo area skirts. North of Ocosingo, all ribbons are of equal width. The skirt is held in place with the same kind of hand-woven cotton sash used in Chilón (and also worn by Chol women in the Palenque region).

The blouses are made of bright colored cotton cloth. Each is decorated with a band of cross-stitched flowers and a white lace ruffle around the neckline. The size of the neck opening can be adjusted with a satin ribbon. The bright colors of the Abasolo blouses distinguish them from the solid white blouses worn in Chilón and Yajalón. The woman who sold us the skirt and blouses told us that some local women wore the all-white blouses, but all the traditionally dressed women we saw as we drove through Abasolo were wearing colored blouses.