Flamenca Fashion around Sevilla

El Corte Inglés is a great first pit stop to see what the rest of the town has to offer.

Sevilla, and the Sherry triangle between Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda and all the towns in between have the best ferias.  They dress to kill and dance Sevillanas.  So the fashion market for sevillana dresses is pretty big and intense in this area.   I love it when spring arrives and all the store start decorating the windows with colorful flowers, lace, polka dots and fans.  You know feria is around the corner.  I'm like a kid in a candy store and I squeal with joy, but cannot decide what to choose.

Rows, and rows of dresses at El Corte Inglés.

Accessories at the Corte Inglés

This year with my Sevillana students I decided to have a "little" field trip to Sevilla and share the joys of shopping with other women.  " Will be there just half a day" I said.  It promised them that we would be done by lunchtime, famous last words.  We could't leave, we were having too much fun, and came back home around 9 pm!  Did I mention we had so much fun?

It was a very productive day.

We arrived to Sevilla just in time for breakfast, so after parking the car in El Corte Inglés, we had coffee and toast and headed up the stairs, our first stop the aisles of El Corte Ingés.  Is was hard to leave the store,  it had so much to offer, we almost missed sight of what we were there for, to shop Sevilla.  So it took a little muscle to get all the girls out into the street.  Our next stop was Doña Ana dress shop.  My idea was to show my students the different styles and tendencies in Sevilla fashion.  You can be classical of flamboyant and there is a store for you.

These designs are from Doña Ana, very classical old feel look.

Some of these designs were at the We Love Flamenco runway show, that was right before SIMOF in Sevilla.  Notice the tendencies, old fashion feel, turn of last century, lost of colors and fabric brought together with amazing results.  Also lots of lace, and trimmings.

Details from Raquel Teheran's dresses.

We immediately went to the famous Sierpes street to see mantones, shawls and fans.  Accessories too and possible shoes.  We then moved quickly to the left to Cerrajeria street and towards Plaza del Salvador area, the street were full of people the bar across the church was packed and buzzing with chatter.  What a fun place, make a mental note to come back and have a drink. Behind this big plaza there is another small plaza Jesus de la Pasion, this area has lots of shoes, I guess it could be called the shoe district, and also lots of Bridal and party dress stores.  There we found Micaella Villa stores with lots of affordable dresses.  Jerez has one too.  Off Sierpes street we went by Luchi Cabreras store, beautiful runway dresses.  My students and I decided to split, I had to be fitted for my dress and they went shopping on their own.  When we finally met for lunch, they had bought castanets and flamenco shoes!  By then it was closing time, but we could't leave, there was so much to see, so we decided to stay, have lunch and keep shopping.

We headed to a little bar off Franco street, Bar Estrella, where more Feria dresses shops were.  Raquel Teheran for one, we oohh-ed and aahh-ed at the windows, took pictures and kept on going.  On one street corner was the shadow of the name of what once had been the boutique of another great designer, Rosalia Zahino, my first SIMOF show.  

This dress greets you at the entrance of Maria Castañas dress shop

Maria Castaña dress shop was also in Franco street and so many fabric stores and millinary stores all displaying their goods for Holy Week and Feria, side by side.  

I just had to try one of these dresses.  Big mistake, had to buy it!

Pitusa Gasul another dress store off Franco st., has beautiful dresses, blouses and skirts.  Her designs were at We Love Flamenco fashion show. The lovely owner was very accommodating.  I bought a blouse on the spot, it was love at first sight, and it was closing time, she said it was no problem, she would have it fitted for me and would open the store after  I had lunch so I could pick it up.  The rest of the day was mainly window shopping, we had spent a great deal in the morning thinking it was all the time we had so the afternoon we just enjoyed the streets of Sevilla.

This store had surprisingly well priced blouses.  I got one of course!

Beautiful designs from Raquel Teheran.

Sevilla has a large district where most designers concentrate and you just have store after store of Feria accessories and dresses.  I haven't even ventured out on the other side of town, Triana or the industrial areas where the factories are.  Downtown was plenty.

With these retro dresses you need old, antique style jewelery

Flowers at Maria Castaña dress shop.  Flowers change with fashion too, and the colors change with the current dresses.

A simple dress sometimes all it needs is a drop dead accessory

Love the windows in Sevilla.  So colorful

You can find anything in Sevilla, inspiration for one.

Fabric stores turn into a sea of polka dots.

This years most import accessory, montoncillo, flecos for the dress

It just takes your breath away.
A one stop store for big and little people.

I could go on and on with thousands of pictures, but you just have to come and see for yourself.  One trip is not enough.  When Sevilla is in blooms it explodes with colors inside and out.