Quinceañera DressesBy Abbie Strachan

The History of Quinceañeras

Quinceañera was a tradition from the Azetecs, an ancient civilistion from Mexico. Girls at the age of fifteen were

believed to be 'women' and so the fifteenth birthday was very important. Because of this, quinceañera was a very

important, and very big, celebration.

Even today these celebrations are very big, elaborate, and very expensive. Months of planning goes into making sure that the day runs smoothly. Every detail is covered, even the choreography for

the night is practised beforehand.

The Quinceañera Dress

The quinceañera dress is a very important part of the quinceañera tradition. In the past, the dress

was traditionally white, to symbolise the purity of the girl. Nowdays the dresses come in all sorts of

bright colours and elaborate designs.

The quinceañera has to have the stand-out dress and accessories of the night, so the dress is

usually paired with a tiara or crown and some expensive jewellery.

Quinceañera Similarities Sweet 1615th Birthday Both big birthdays 16th BirthdayFrom the Aztecs Both now celebrated in

the USAAmerican

Many choreographed dances in partucular sequence

Dancing is a large part of both celebrations

Father-daughter dance

Very large and expensive party, sometimes the girl is given a trip to Europe instead because they cost about the same.

Both can be very large and expensive celebrations.

Can be anything from a small party to a huge formal one.

Bibliography

• http://users.polisci.wisc.edu/LA260/quinceanera.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_sixteen_(birthday)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincea%C3%B1era