We all recognize her iconic figure, with the unibrow, the braids on top of her head, and the fabulous embroidery in her clothes. Yes, we’re talking about Frida Kahlo, who rediscovered Mexican heritage in the way she dressed and built a persona that, decades later, still inspires fashion designers around the world, such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Riccardo Tisci, or Rei Kawakubo.
Many people think that Frida used to wear indigenous textiles just to please her husband, Diego Rivera, who was interested in celebrating Mexican people, as well as their culture and traditions. But in fact, it was Frida’s family heritage which led her to pay homage to her Mexican roots. Her mother, Matilde, was born in the Tehuantepec Isthmus of Oaxaca, Mexico, a region where the popular Tehuana dress comes from, and where women use to wear not only beautiful blouses and skirts with impressive embroidery work, but also heavy golden jewelry as a symbol of empowerment. On special occasions and parties, they also wear a type of headdress that surrounds the face called “resplandor” (or “shining” in English). Frida used to wear this too, as we can see in some photos.
Bernard G. Silberstein, American (Duluth, Minnesota, 1905 – 1999, Cincinnati, Ohio), Frida Wearing Tehuana Dress, Coyoacán, 1940, gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches.
Guillermo Kahlo, Frida Kahlo, c.1926. Silver gelatin print, 6 ¾ x 4 ¾ in. (17.2 x 12.2 cm). Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera Archives. Bank of Mexico, Fiduciary in the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Museum Trust
Comfortable fashion
According to curator Circe Henestrosa, these kinds of blouses with plentiful embroidery and the heavy jewelry draw the eye of the viewer to the upper part of the body, helping Frida be more confident in herself by distracting people from the lower part of the body: one of her legs was shorter than the other as a result of contracting poliomyelitis when she was just 6 years old.
Nickolas Muray (American, born Hungary, 1892–1965). Frida in New York, 1946; printed 2006. Carbon pigment print, image: 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum; Emily Winthrop Miles Fund, 2010.80. Photo by Nickolas Muray, © Nickolas Muray Photo Archive. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Also, Mexican blouses (“huipiles”) are very loose, which was comfortable for her since she had to wear plasters and orthopaedic corsets to help with her posture, which was permanently damaged after she suffered a streetcar accident and a handrail crossed her body, breaking her column and pelvis.
Long skirts were also a useful and comfortable way to cover her legs, so they weren’t as visible as when she was little and kids used to bully her and call her “Frida Kahlo, pata de palo” (Pegleg Frida).
The European influence
Frida Kahlo / Frida Kahlo [ca. 1942-1947] woman seated outside with Mexican hairless dog, facing toward right, two seashells set in wall by window Kahlo, Frida
Despite wearing Mexican textiles, Frida also had European heritage from her father, the German photographer Guillermo Kahlo. She used to combine blouses or skirts in a more European style with the Mexican ones, making her outfits one of a kind. That is reflected in one of her most popular paintings, The Two Fridas (1945), where she portrayed herself twice: one of the Fridas wears a white dress with lace, a nod to her European heritage, while the other one wears a blue and yellow blouse and a green skirt, in the Mexican style.
Her own fashion
Frida was very aware of her whole persona. She used to modify her clothing and add things to make them unique and help her express how brave and original she was, like adding a bell to her red boots and prosthetic leg, or painting each and every one of the plaster corsets she had to use.
She also added flowers or colorful ribbons to her braids, mixed colors and textures, and definitely became an icon not only in art, but also in fashion. No wonder why fashion magazines constantly try to recreate her iconic style.
If you want to see Frida’s dresses you will have the opportunity to do it at the exhibition “Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City.
If you want to know more about Frida Kahlo, read these:
12 Frida Kahlo Paintings You Can Find In US Museums
Making Themselves Up: Frida Kahlo, Madonna, And What It Takes To Be Unapologetically Genuine
11 Paintings That Depict Frida Kahlo’s Vision Of Female Sexuality
