Tilmatli (cape or cloak)

The invading Spaniards called this garment a manta; in Mexican Spanish today it is also called a capa, and sometimes referred to as a tilma, a shorter version of the Nahuatl original. A commoner, if he could afford it, would have worn a plain white cape, undecorated, and made of coarse agave (century plant) fibre (ixtle in Nahuatl) over a loincloth (a poor man, or manual labourer, would have worn nothing but a basic loincloth). Warwick Bray (1987: 31-32) describes the tilmatli as ‘a rectangular cloak which was wound round the body under the left armpit, and then knotted over the right shoulder, for buttons and pins were unknown. When a man sat down, he slipped his cloak round so that nearly all the material hung in front and covered up his body and legs’ (main picture, above).
Whilst the basic design was simple to say the least, reflecting the hierarchical structure of Aztec society there were huge variations in cloak design: the Florentine Codex lists as many as 54 different styles - including one so colourful it was called a centzontilmatli, literally a ‘400 [colour] cloak’...
Moreover, sumptuary laws specifically stipulated the length of the cape: ‘the common man’s mantle was not to be worn below the knee; if it reached the ankle, the penalty was death. The only exception was the warrior with leg wounds, who was permitted to wear a longer cloak only until his wounds healed’ (Rieff Anawalt, 1981: 27).

Pic 1: Mexica man wearing a simple tilmatli (cape); Codex Magliabechiano fol. 70r (detail)

As well as being the privilege of the élite, fine capes - beautifully embroidered, trimmed with animal fur and decorated with precious feathers - were sometimes awarded to brave warriors (whether nobles or commoners) who had distinguished themselves in battle. These would be ceremoniously presented to the warrior by the emperor himself, the style depending on how many captives the brave man had taken. Moreover, cotton mantles varied in size, the largest being called quachtli; being too large to be worn, they probably served as ritual or tribute cloths and/or as a medium of exchange in the market: apparently thirty large cotton capes might be paid for a slave - forty for one who could both sing and dance.
Is the tilmatli still worn today in Mexico? Rarely but apparently yes. In Mexican Indian Costumes, Donald and Dorothy Cordry reported that ‘As late as 1940 and after, Otomí men in the state of México still wore the ayate [from the Nahuatl ayatl or maguey-fibre cloth] of woven ixtle, sometimes brocaded or embroidered, tied over one shoulder in the fashion of the pre-Conquest tilmatli, when it is not being used as a carrying cloth’ (1968: 166).

Pic 3: Moctezuma shown wearing an elegant ‘tilmatli’, tied specially at the front; Codex Azcatitlan fol. 22 (detail)