Faralaes - the dress for feria.

One of the most distinctive aspects of feria is the dress worn by women and girls to show that this is a special time and to create a party atmosphere. The dresses are called ‘faralaes’, and they were first worn in Seville at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since then, they have not only been adopted as standard feria wear, but have been taken up by female flamenco dancers as their traditional costume.

Faralaes are usually ankle-length, though shorter ones can be seen and are often worn by children. They often have elbow or bracelet-length sleeves, finished with ruffles or frills and the neckline is usually V-shaped. They are fitted to below the hips and then explode into a froth of ‘volantes’ – frills.

Feria dresses exist in an endless variety of colours and patterns, though the emphasis is generally on creating a bright and celebratory effect. It is usual to find two different patterns in the same dress, hopefully of a harmonious nature. Dresses in one colour are also popular, and these are very elegant. 

Along with the dress goes a particular style. The hair is pulled back into a bun and fastened with coloured slides while extravagant earrings balance the exuberance of the dress. An artificial rose stands upright on the wearer’s head, a feat which only Andalucían women can perform and which is not attempted at any other time of year. You will rarely see a feria dress teamed with flat shoes. 

Feria dresses are expensive and some women save all year to buy something beautiful for themselves and their daughters. No female is ever too young or too old to wear a 'traje de feria'. The cost of a feria dress depends on the number of frills, as they represent the most time-consuming aspect of making the dress.

Vejer’s main faralaes outlet is ‘La Boutique de Antonio’ on the corner of San Ambrosio and Torrero Juan Conde. Here you will find dresses in all sizes, ranging in price from a little over 100 Euros for a bargain-basement dress to around 400 Euros for the most expensive examples. At the moment, the shop does not have a signboard, but it is very easy to find should you wish to make a purchase.

It is usually cheaper to have a dress made using your own choice of fabric. I was lucky enough to persuade a local dressmaker to share some of her secrets with me. This year, she has made about 12 dresses, some for a dance school. While a full-sized dress takes at least 20 hours to make, she told me, the children’s’ versions are a bit quicker, though not much.

An adult's dress might cost 120 Euros, depending on the number of frills, but members of her large family usually expect a 50% discount, which reduces her income.  Children’s’ dresses cost about 40 Euros. Feria and Carnival are her busy times, and nobody gives her much advance notice, so she often works around the clock. For a fully qualified craftswoman (she studied for four years at college to acquire her skills), the rewards are not very large.

Despite their distinctive appearance, she tells me, feria dresses are made in the same way as other dresses and there are no special techniques. After measuring the client, she adapts her pattern to their size and generally achieves a pleasing result with only one more fitting.

There is no restriction on the kind of fabric used for a feria outfit, though nowadays, a lot of people like stretch fabric because it holds its shape and gives a little room to move. Cotton and glazed cotton are popular, and silk is sometimes used though it is expensive, but mixed and synthetic fabrics are now predominant.

Not every dress you encounter at feria will be the typical faralaes. My dressmaker friend also showed me a dress she was making especially for the Garrotín. This flamenco palo is based in Asturian folklore and is one of the very few palos to have developed outside Andalucía. Its rhythm is similar to the flamenco tango and it is usually danced in a wide-skirted dress with fewer frills than the traditional flamenco dress.

A special design is required for the Garrotín