The Guayabera Shirt has been worn by Latin Americans for the last two hundred years. For years In Miami, it has been a popular item among the older Cuban Anerican generation. Recently however, the Guayabera has reached an unprecidented popularity. It is no longer just being worn by the elderly businessman. Men of all ages and denominations have discovered its attractiveness. What is so attractive about this shirt, you may ask? In simple terms, men see the Guayabera as a power garment.
Politicians and celebrities have been wearing them for years. Besides fidel and Raul Castro other Latin American power brokers wear them consistently. American politicians have worn them as well. Ronald Reagan wore one when he visited Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillipines. Jimmy Carter wore his when he visited Cuba. And Mitt Romney wore one during his presidential campaign. When actor Andy Garcia opened his bar in Key Biscayne it was by invitation only. Most of the male guests, you guessed it, wore Guayabera shirts.
Now these Guayaberas weren’t the run of the mill cotton poly blends. These shirts resembled the original shirt mentioned in the opening pages of this site. They were custom made long sleeved shirts made from Irish linen or Eygtioan cotton with embroidered initials ranging in price at about $300.
Ramon Puig, Miami’s most famous custom Guayabera maker, says that he “can barely keep up” with the demand for his custom shirts. His business has more than doubled in the past few years, selling more than 80 shirts a day. René La Villa’s business, Guayaberas Etc., has also increased with the addition of two more stores. 
Men today have found the ideal power garment in the Guayabera. Not only does it exude a sense of power in the wearer, but with its classey looks and comfort fit it can be worn for any occasion. It can be worn in place of a business suit or with jeans. And men will pay any price to own one.
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For the last several years the Guayabera, or more commonly referred to as the Cuban Guayabera Shirt, has become a fashion trend in the United States. The shirts unique style design of front pockets, pleats and embroidered patterns has been the preferred attire for businessmen throughout Latin America. With the embargos placed on Cuba, Mexico has been the top producer of the Guayabera for the last half century.
Mexico was once the “go to” country for cheap labor, but today Mexican manufacturers are fighting exporters from Asian countries, where wages are much lower. In recent years quite a number of Guayabera factories have closed. Merida, Mexico in the Yucatan Penninsula, the capital of the guayabera industry, has been hit hard by Asian competitors, who have copied and sold the shirts to U.S. markets at cut rate prices.
Clothing exports from Mexico to the United States have been declining for the past ten years.
The sales of the Mexican Wedding Shirt, another name for the Guayabera, have fallen about 20 percent. Lourdes Rodriguez, head of the clothing business chamber in Yucatan has said that “the arrival of guayaberas from Asian countries has lowered our production.” Raul maglioni, a guayabera manufacturer said “We don’t have access to popular markets like Wal-Mart or Kmart. They demand prices we can’t afford. If they ask for five or six dollars, we can’t do it.”
The difficulty that Mexican Guayabera manufacturers have been experiencing is only a small reflection of Mexico’s dire export problem. In the last few years China has overtaken Mexico as the top exporter to the United States. The increased demand for the Cuban Guayabera Shirt by world markets and the increase in designer specialty shirts has only worsened this mexican industry.
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Today the country of Cuba is divided into fourteen provinces, but just after the Spanish American War in 1905 there were only six. Almost in the island’s center was the province of Las Villas. Today that province has been divided into three. One of these three provinces is named Sancti Spiritus, named after the town by the same name. Sancti Spiritus is near the Yayabo River, where the legend of the Guayabera Shirt was born.
To this day, the origin of the Guayabera is a matter of debate, but Cuban legend has the shirt originating in this area. To set this legend to rest, the Cuban government established a cultural program called “La Guayabera” at the Ruben Martinez Villena Library in Sancti Spiritus. This program consists of a collection of Guayabera shirts and photograhs donated by many Cuban personalities.
Among these personalities were Fidel Castro and his brother Raul. Fidel donated the Guayabera shirt he wore at the 4th Ibero-American Summit in Cartegena, Columbia. For this occasion Fidel had replaced his traditional olive green uniform with a crisp white Guayabera shirt for the heads of state and the world to see.
It has been said that one of the most famous personalities to have worn the Guayabera was Ernest Hemmingway, though no pictures have been found. After World War II, Hemingway purchased a home, Finca Vigia, near Havana, Cuba. In 1952 he wrote a story of a tired old Cuban fisherman and his battle with a giant marlin called “The Old Man and the Sea” for which he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.
Several US politicians have also worn Guayabera shirts, including two presidents. In the 1980’s, when Ronald Reagan visited Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillipines, he put one on. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, also wore one when he visited Cuba in 2002. He was the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution. And presidential runner Mitt Romney had one on when he attended a ralley at a youth center named after Jorge Mas Canosa, the founder of the Cuban-American National Foundation.
On a negative note, the agents of the Cuban secret service known as the General Directorate for State Security (DGSE), wear Guayaberas as their civilian incognito uniform. And Raul Castro had a specially designed Guayabera made for the military.
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