The flamenco dress: a fashion icon

Discover the origins of this garment and the places where to buy it in Madrid.

The flamenco dress infuses the flamenco show with strength, sensuality and tradition.

To talk about the flamenco dress, also known as gypsy costume, we have to go to Andalusia, the place of origin of this female costume used in the festivities of this region in southern Spain, the birthplace of flamenco.

And, although the origin of the flamenco dress is not precisely known, as is the case with the origin of flamenco itself, Intangible Heritage of Humanity There are several theories about its origins, from ancient times to the early twentieth century. However, what can be affirmed is that the flamenco attire as we know it today was consolidated between 1890 and 1910 and that its clearest antecedent is the Andalusian urban folk costume.

Woman wearing a flamenco dress during the Seville April Fair in 1935.

Shortly after, during the period between 1920 and 1936, fashion was introduced in the flamenco dress through the typical characteristics of each decade, an influence that has remained to this day. This traditional costume has inspired national fashion designers such as Victorio & Lucchino and international designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Valentino or Tom Ford.

Victorio & Lucchino's 2019 capsule collection to close the 25th edition of the International Flamenco Fashion Show (Simof)

This icon of Andalusian culture and fashion, which you will be able to see up close and in all its splendor in our tablaos flamencos It is characterized for being impregnated with a high symbolic and identity content, since it was a reinvention of the Andalusian stereotype during the period in which the romantic thought of Spain was formed.

And, without further ado, here are some places in Madrid to get the most expressive and full of vitality costume that exists, the flamenco dress:

  • Flamenco lives A space entirely dedicated to flamenco with beginners and professional costumes.

  • Doña Ana With a heritage dating back to the last century, a bastion of quality, design and authenticity.

  • White polka dots Rental and sale of a wide variety of quality suits in the outskirts of Madrid.

  • Menkes Specialists in the field of dance, in the 50s Ava Gadner, Vivien Leigh and Dali, among others, frequented this store.

The flamenco dress in movement in Joaquín Sorolla's painting The Cross of May in Seville (1911), panel for the Hispanic Society of America's commissioned exhibition.

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