Muleteer Attire

A characteristic of Antioquia’s elite during the late 18 century was their focus on commerce; originally centered on gold trade, it would eventually become mainly focused on coffee; farmers of the area needed to transport their merchandise to towns and villages with larger populations, so they started connecting smaller settlements by carrying the merchandise themself through the Andean territory, this job was named Arriero or Muleteer as this man of humble beginnings and their mule would traverse the treacherous mountains to trade.

This kind of job needed an attire that would their journey, so lighter straw hat was used to protect them from the sun, a kerchief around their neck and red flannel teacher with long sleeves, on top of their shirt they would carry a poncho over their shoulder in case of cold weather, and a walking stick (bordón) on hand to help them with the rocky terrain; over their pants they would use a leather apron for protection.