03/23/07

In Brazil, there are many ceremonies and rituals which require specific traditional dress.

Wedding

        In Brazil, the weddings are very similar to those of other countries. The bride and the groom dress up in their best or most beautiful clothes. The bride has many choices of dress. In the traditional weddings, the bride wears a plain white dress, although the bride can put whatever she wants in the dress, for example some dots with color. The other choice is to   wear a colorful dress, with plain white shoes.

         The groom is not allowed to see the bride’s dress until she enters the church. The groom wears a black suit, and if he wants, a colorful flower on the left side pocket of the jacket. He does not do much with his clothes. The bridesmaids dress up like each other, normally with a different color than the bride. For the guests, the dress code stated in the invitation.

New Years Eve

        New Years Eve, the Brazilian people dress up in new white clothes for good luck. They wear white because of a saint called Iemanja (ee-ah-man-ja), who is the national saint of Brazil. She wears white to bring peace, love and luck. Everyone wants to have peace, love and luck in the next year, so white is the color worn to honor Iemanja. All religions respect her.

        Although, you do not need to wear white. Here are some of the colors that you can wear and their meanings.

Yellow->money          Pink->love and beauty          Red->energy     Blue->health          Green->nature energy          Orange->money    Purple->imagination

Carnaval

        Carnaval is a popular festival in which people dance and sing samba on the streets. Usually when people dress up to dance, they wear a special costume. The women wear a type of bathing suit that is very colorful and full of golden dots. The women usually wear ornaments in their hair with feathers. The feathers “pop” out, like a peacock. Some women do not wear bathing suits and instead wear suits with the colors of the samba school, a place where people go to learn how to dance samba. Men wear suits, always white and never black (it’s too dark and it doesn’t match with the women’s clothes).