Tapada limeña
Tapada limeña was the denomination used at the time of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the first years of the Republic to designate the women in Lima who covered their heads and faces with comfortable silk, revealing just one eye. It was introduced in the 16th century and continued for three centuries, well into the 19th century. Its use spread from Lima, "City of the Kings", to other important cities in the region. In Lima, the custom remained until well into the Republic, when French fashions relegated it.
Background
In 1583, the Archbishop of Lima Toribio de Mogrovejo rejected the Lima custom of women wearing the saya and the cloak in the capital. This occurred during the Third Liman Council, which he presided over, leading to a censorship that the Cortes of 1586 confirmed during the reign of Philip II of Spain. It was agreed that the offenders would be fined 3,000 maravedís. The fear of this custom, already widespread among Liman women and that had generated many misunderstandings and confusion, made the authorities suspect that the first cases of transvestism in the Viceroyalty were taking place.Origin
The use of the saya and the cloak, components of the tapada limeña, appeared in Lima around 1560. Its origin is said to have been Moorish because of its similarity to clothing worn by Muslim women. However, a theory of a Castilian origin was later established.The first official descriptions of the clothing were not very kind to its wearers:
There were many ordinances after this act of the Cortes of 1586, but none could dissuade the Liman women.
Characteristics
The tapada grew to connote insinuation, coquetry, prohibition, and seduction. However, it was still a dress: the saya outlined the hips, and the cloak covered the head and face, except for a single eye. The tapada was a symbol of the freedom of Liman women and this symbol was used to distinguish themselves from women of other classes and roots. Any face could be behind the cloak, and there were likely many occasions when boys or old men squandered compliments on their sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, mothers, or daughters who could hide their true identity behind their cloaks.The saya was a long, large silk skirt, colored blue, brown, green, or black, and secured with a belt. It was not uncommon for false hips to be worn underneath. Underneath this skirt, one could see the small foot that colonial Lima women were known for. The cloak was also made of silk, tied at the waist and up the back to cover the head and face, revealing only one eye and perhaps the arms. This cloak was usually a simple fabric so that the tapadas would not stand out in public, and the wearer would retain anonymity.
Political use of the saya
Over time, the varieties of costumes went hand in hand with the political climate, which the tapadas exploited to favor their caudillos. Felipe Santiago Salaverry with the saya salaverrina, Agustín Gamarra with the saya gamarrina, Luis José de Orbegoso with the saya orbegosina.The tapadas limeñas were an icon in ancient Lima, an original presence that did not exist in any other city in Hispanic America. The insinuating game, a symbol of secrecy and perhaps of incipient female freedom, caught the attention of visitors passing through the capital city over the three hundred years that the clothing was worn. In the 19th century, they were painted by the Frenchman Leonce Angrand, the German Johann Moritz Rugendas, and the Liman mulatto Pancho Fierro, as well as staged by Manuel Ascencio Segura in his satirical work La saya y el manto.
For her part, in Peregrinaciones de una paria, Flora Tristan wrote about the saya: