Figure 1.--Here we see a Puero Rican boy wearing a sailor suit. This looks like an American style. The long stockings hardly seem suiy=table to the Caribbean climate. He is named on the back but the writing is difficult to make as the portrait was trimmed. The portrait was taken August 14, 191?. We think 1913, but it could be 1915.

Puerto Rico has been influenced by both Spain And the United States which combined with the Caribbean climate are the principal fashion influences. Puerto Rico was one of the ealiest Spamish colonies in the New World. colonization began at about the same time as Santo Domigo (1493). Thus Spain contrilled Puerto Rico for four centuries, although it was from an early point a backwater of the Empire. Spanish fashions modified by the climate dominated the island. This only changed with the Spanish American War (1898). The United States seized the island whicgh became a Commonwealth. We see Spanish colonial style clothing fir some time. Here there were social class issues. The better off urban population began wearing American styles fairly quickly. Spanish colonial styles persisted longest in the countryside anong the less affluent families. American styles gradually were adopted, although some were not really suitable for the Caribbean semi-tropical climate. American fashions by the time of World War II were fairly standard as can be seen by the well-to-do family snapshot on the previous page. We also see by this time less well off families in the countryside wearing American styles.

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Crerated: 8:58 PM 12/26/2018
Last updated: 8:58 PM 12/26/2018