GUATEMALAN PURSES

There are many beautiful purses made from recycled handwoven Guatemalan garments. We have two groups of small purses. One, shown first, is made from re-used women’s blouses made from lacy eyelet fabric heavily embroidered around the neck, like the blouses the two women in the photo above are wearing. These blouses are becoming a popular alternative to the ornate huipiles worn by women. This has sadly happened because weaving of the traditional huipile is extremely time-consuming, making a new huipile expensive for the native women, who generally are quite poor. The eyelet blouses are beautiful, but sadly becoming a national blouse, not differing in style from village to village like the handwoven huipiles. The second group of small purses is made from re-used huipiles. All of the purses are lined and have zippers. Some have two zippered compartments and some have colorful cords so that they can be hung on your shoulder.