Moda da Bahia: An Analysis of Contemporary Vendor Dress in Salvador

Abstract

This article discusses the history related to the “traditional” Baianan dress worn by women in contemporary tourist areas of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Examining fugitive slave advertisements, travel diaries and images from the nineteenth century, it becomes clear that the dress of twenty-first century vendors in tourist areas of Salvador maintains a close visual and personal connection to the dress of female slaves. Goffman’s theory of personal front and Sansi’s theories on cultural appropriation in Afro-Brazilian traditions serve as the framework to assess characteristics of the twenty-first-century dress of acarajé vendors and shop girls in Salvador that are based on nineteenth-century female slave clothing, addressing components of cultural authentication in terms of a shift from slave imagery to one of pride in heritage and African culture (and commercial gain).

Keywords:

• Brazil
• Bahia
• cultural appropriation
• slavery
• dress

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the peer reviewers for extending their time and expertise to reading this article. Their questions, insights and critiques were apt and were appreciated for their acuity. I would also like to thank Rita Andrade and Regina Root, editors of this special issue of Fashion Theory, for their idea to create it, their timely responses and for their editorial excellence. I am honored to have my work included in it.

Notes

1. Acarajé is a dish made from black-eyed peas formed into balls and deep fried in palm oil. The “dough” is split in half and stuffed with cooked shrimp, tomatoes and peppers. This is made and sold on the streets of Salvador. The introduction to Brazil came through the African slave trade and the making of it in Brazil dates to that time period.

2. Detailed analysis of female fugitive advertisement from January 1 to December 31, 1861 may be read in Gage, Dissertation.

3. Collection and analysis of advertisements and images was conducted through personally photographing newspapers, photographs or art in the Archivo Nacional de São Paulo, the Instituto Moreira Salles, the Musuo AfroBrasileiro and the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard over a period of the last 10 years. Additional archival research was conducted through the use of Biblioteca Nacional Digital Brasil, an online, keyword searchable website of newspapers published in Brazil from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. This database was launched in 2012 and is a fantastic resource for archival research. The information from all historic sources is compiled in SPSS, forming a database that details word count (for written documents), items of dress mentioned or shown, details of pattern and color. This database served as the basis for comparison with contemporary images of acarajé vendors and shop girls. The images from Salvador were collected during two trips to Salvador, one month-long trip in 1987, one shorter trip in 2012.

4. Several scholars agree that Mina referred not to a particular ethnic group or culture but to slaves transported from Portuguese slave ports along the Gold Coast, particularly El Mina. (Klein 1971; Nishida 1993). Nishida (1993, 371) supports the nineteenth-century Brazilian application of Mina to anyone from the West Coast of Africa.

5. While a trade agreement between Britain and Brazil outlawing the international slave trade was signed in 1810, it was not enforced or honored until 1830. For a concise reading on this topic see Bethell (1969). For more in-depth information see Bethell (1970). Nishida (1993) specifically addresses the enforcement on slavery in Salvador, including slave prices and illegal importation of slaves.‬

6. In this article, I do not delve into the religious meaning behind characteristics of Candomblé dress. While many of these images could be analyzed for this nuanced information, the main items of clothing are based in the daily dress of slave women of the past. Candomblé is a polytheistic religion practiced in many areas of Brazil, particularly in Salvador and among Afro-Brazilian communities. With roots in West African religious practices and Roman Catholicism, Candomblé is syncretic in observation and includes music, dance, ritual offerings and, as noted, particular forms of dress. For further information on the practice and history of Candomblé, including importance of inclusion in African Diasporic studies, see Capone (2010), or Matory (2005).

7. Interestingly, Sansi’s (2007) in-depth analysis examines the relationships of Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian culture but does not touch on a connection with acarajé or the acarajé vendors.

8. A cursory examination of Brazilian newspapers from the early decades of the twentieth century in the Biblioteca Nacional Digital Brasil highlighted several cultural events in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro advertising food, dancing and culture from Bahia. Several stated explicitly that these events involved “negro” entertainment.

9. For additional examples, see studio images used as cartes-de-visite and postcards by photographers such as Christiano Júnior, Alberto Henschel and Ralph Lindeman (Figure 1).

10. In future research I intend to focus more intently on the perception of the contemporary wearers of the garments. I am particularly interested in similarities or differences in opinion between shop girls and acarajé vendors in taking on the “character” and what meaning the individual places on the attire.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kelly Mohs Gage

Dr. Kelly Mohs Gage is an Assistant Professor at St. Catherine University who specializes in Afro-Brazilian slave dress. Recent publications include articles in Dress, The Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion and Journal of International Education Studies. She has presented at numerous conferences including The Berks, ASWAD, CSA, TSA, ASA, and ITAA.

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