Cinco de Mayo

Hat - Nautica
Top - Zara
Jeans - One Teaspoon
Bag - Gigi New York

Cinco de Mayo: Such a fun day for tacos and margaritas, right?

Hold on...

In a time where our country is in a bit of an imbalance, and relationships with other countries- including Mexico- have been rattled, I think there's room for introspection, and a little further than bright colors and embroidered materials for the Friday fiesta.

Ready for a little history-behind-the-fashion lesson?  Kick up your loafers for a minute:

In the US, Cinco de Mayo has become a celebration of Mexican-American culture.  It's sometimes mistaken to be Mexico's Independence Day—which is actually celebrated on September 16.

But really, Cinco de Mayo is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over French forces back in the day, specifically on May 5, 1862.

The holiday began with events following a civil war called the Reform War in Mexico (stay with me here); it left the country nearly bankrupt.  Due to this situation, Mexican President at the time Benito Suarez suspended all foreign debt payments for two years.  While other countries were able to negotiate reimbursement, France- ruled by Napolean III at the time (go figure), took this opportunity to establish a Latin empire in Mexico that would favor French interests.

The Mexicans were not having this.  They stood up for themselves and took the chance on going up against a much better equipped French army.  Well guess what? They won, and the major victory gave a huge morale boost to the Mexican army and the people of the country.  Kind of a big deal.

The holiday crossed over from California into the rest of the United States in the 1950's, but its popularity really caught on in the 1980's when marketers, especially beer companies, capitalized on the celebratory nature of the day and began to promote it.  This is when things got lost in translation (maybe because people were too drunk), and now many Americans today use it as an excuse to go out and celebrate with drinks and tacos without a clue about the significance of the holiday to the people and country itself.

So when you go out later today for margaritas, hopefully you now have a little more insight into why this day is important.  But hopefully you also look cute.  Smart but cute.  Fun looks for Cinco de Mayo...and any other weekend this spring... listed below.  Enjoy!