It has always been said that AdLib fashion was initially inspired by the petticoats (faldellins) worn by Ibizan peasant women. The traditional outfit of rural women and men – in particular that of the women – has been the subject of attention and study for many folklorists. There were different outfits for different occasions, such as fiestas, work, or a day of mourning.
The gonella was the oldest type of dress: it was ankle length, narrow, dark in color and accompanied by a long, embroidered apron. It is perhaps interesting to consider some of the descriptions that were made by those first travelers who arrived on the island during the 19th century.
One of the first is that included by E. A. Claessens de Jongte in his pamphlet Dos hojas de historia (or, Two Sheets of History), which was published in 1858. Writing about the male attire for fiestas, he said: “With artistically wrinkled white canvas pants that, hanging from the waist, go down to the ankle, and the body cinched with a red sash, the villager is covered with a loose black cloth jacket, (…) at the same time a black satin vest adorns his chest. He wears a red cap with black trim on his head, or else, a black cap with red trim…”
As for women’s attire, he mentions a traditional garment, the cambux, which was a fine-fabric shawl with which women covered their heads: “The villager also wears a kind of headpiece called the cambux. It is made of printed calico and when it drops from their heads, it covers the entire face and ends below the throat.”
Another feminine garment was the mantellina, which was used only when in mourning or half-mourning, as well as during Holy Week. White in color with a black trim, its existence has been documented since the end of the Middle Ages. It was made of a thicker fabric in order to afford more cover: it had to perfectly conceal the head and chest and it is still used in Holy Week processions in some parishes, such as Sant Miquel de Balansat.
Decades after Claessens, the Frenchman Gaston Vuillier (1847- 1915) spoke of the peasant outfits in Les îles oubliées (or, The Forgotten Islands), and gave a very similar description of the men’s fiesta attire.
As for women, he also mentioned the infinite number of folds in the skirts, which were ankle length. The peasant women wore their hair up in a braid, complete with a multicolored bow, fashioned according to whether they were single, engaged or married.
In the book Costumbres en las Pithiusas (or, Customs in the Pityusic Islands), written by the notary Víctor Navarro at the end of the 19th century and published in 1901, the peasant dress is also described, and another traditional garment, the abrigall, is mentioned: “They cover their heads, and even their waists, with a heavy wool shawl called the abrigais”.
The peasant outfits are symbolic of another way of life, and this traditional dress is now worn by only very few older women – the last of their kind, but who still take part in the collas de ball pagès dance groups that preserve both the traditional music and attire.
