The Baianas’ costume is influenced by African culture

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traje da baiana
baiana’s costume

The costume of the baianas, often called baiano, reflects the influence of African culture in Brazil, together with the twist and turn of the body.

The typical costume of the baiana is a set of traditional clothing and is the same as that worn in candomblé terreiros.

There are costumes for all occasions.

The ration costume is the simplest, while costumes made with Richelieu embroidery can be very expensive.

The baiana’s costume can take on a special colour when it comes to baianas at tourist events.

Traje das Baianas
baiana’s costume

The costume of the baiana at the samba school is a case in point, changing colour and model according to the school’s theme each year, just like those of the Maracatu in the north-east.

The baianas’ turbans and balangandans indicate elements of Islamic culture, predominant in North Africa (Sudan).

Balangandãs were part of the traditional clothing of black mucamas in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Balangandã is an ornament of coloured beads or amulets in the shape of a figurine, fruit, medal, coin, key or animal tooth; it can be a ring pendant, brooch, earrings or silver bracelet, worn by baianas on festive days.

Balangandans are made from a variety of materials and techniques, incorporating elements that reflect cultural and religious influences.

They are usually produced in silver, gold or silver-plated metal, but can also include coloured beads, precious or semi-precious stones, and materials such as mother-of-pearl.

Figurines, teeth and guides are used as amulets for protection, praise or to fight the evil eye.

The figurine, in particular, is an amulet in the shape of a closed hand, with the thumb between the forefinger and the big toe, used as a personal ornament, in the home or in a commercial establishment.

In Africa, the cloth of the coast was merely a complement to the clothing of black women, with no religious connotations.

Traje da Baiana
Traje da Baiana

História e Origem do Traje das Baianas

History and Origin of the Baianas Costume

The typical costume of the baianas is a mixture of Portuguese, African and Islamic culture. The swirling skirts and starched petticoats are inspired by the style of Portuguese ladies, while the necklaces and bracelets come from African culture, and the turbans from Islamised blacks. ‘The costumes of the baianas are true cultural festivals’.

From the 19th century in Brazil, these costumes began to be linked to Candomblé celebrations.

In Africa, they are called alaká or pano de alaká.

In Brazil, they became known as pano da costa because they came from the Ivory Coast and also because they were worn on the back. The first panos da costa were brought in on the bodies of female slaves, who had no clothes and were sold wrapped in this cloth.

Later, the cloths were woven in Brazil by slaves or their descendants on rustic handlooms that arrived in the country in the 18th century. Woven on a handloom, the pano da costa is made up of strips each two metres long and between 10 and 15 centimetres wide. The strips are then sewn together.

White is not the predominant colour on the pano da costa, which is usually striped or embroidered in high relief and coloured with cartoon patterns, depending on the orixá of each nation.

The children of the saint wear the alaká wrapped around their torso. Slave mothers used to carry their babies on their backs (with their legs around their waists) during working hours, tied by an alaká.

Today’s baianas, descendants of Africans (from the Yoruba, Nagô, Mina, Fula and Haussá tribes), are the ones who put the most effort into their dress. The Nagô, whose presence is most noticeable in candomblés, are short and fat, wearing bright, garish colours and wide, patterned skirts.

The Muslim baiana (from Sudan in Africa), tall and slender, wears an immaculate white costume and sometimes a rustic Costa cloth over her shoulder.

Today, as the costume of the baianas and the typical figure of Bahia, so celebrated by Dorival Caymmi, we can see the baiana pregoeira with her colourful trays of typical foods and sweets on the streets, hillsides and beaches of Salvador, or at Candomblé and Umbanda rites , as well as religious festivals such as the Lavagem do Bonfim.

See also The Colour of the Baiana’s Costume and Its Contemporary Readings

Baiana Day

In Salvador, on 25 November, Baiana Day is celebrated with a mass at the Igreja de N. Sra. do Rosário dos Pretos and various cultural events, such as Samba de Roda, Capoeira, Olodum and Afoxé, at the Memorial das Baianas.

The baiana is a figure who brings with her the links of ancestral African heritageorality, cuisine, belief, mysticism, dance, ginga and, above all, colour.

You have to have ancestral blood to understand what the baiana has.

Bahia.ws is the largest tourism and travel guide for Bahia and Salvador

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