More than a dress: The quinceañera’s place in Hispanic culture

STATESBORO, Ga. (WSAV) – Quinceañeras are often compared to a sweet 16, but for many families, the centuries-old tradition is a lot more than that.

“Every Hispanic little girl’s dream is to have her quinceañera,” said Alondra Jimenez-Otero, who’s looking for a dress ahead of her 15 ^th birthday.

“Just seeing her in the big dress, I think, ‘The baby’s gone,’” said her mother, Esperanza Otero.

The Oteros prepared for the big day at Quince of Your Dreams, a new shop in Statesboro and one of the only of its kind in the area.

“This could be a little controversial, but it might even be more important than a wedding for us,” said Cynthia Martinez, co-owner of Quince of Your Dreams. “For a girl, it’s like a coming of age. It marks her as entering into adulthood.”

The tradition has ties back to Aztecs and Mayans. When a girl turned 15, family and friends would celebrate the girl she is and the woman she’s soon to become.

“There’s traditional dresses such as a charro dress which is more embroidery,” said Martinez. “Oftentimes these dresses can represent a certain state from back home… and other girls, they want to dress up more modern, so they’ll pick something with color.”

The Oteros are planning a year ahead of time. Fourteen-year-old Alondra told News 3 she’s actually behind the clock by most standards.

Soft colors like white or blush are traditional, but modern girls go for bolder options – some even taboo – like black.

“The big dresses are really pretty but it’s more than just that,” said Martinez. “These dresses go on to go with families to make important memories.”

Girls may visit the church before heading to a party in their honor. There, she’ll perform a surprise waltz for the crowd waiting for her and perform other dances with important family members.

She’ll be crowned, gifted her last doll, and her flat shoes will be replaced with a heel, symbolizing her first steps into womanhood.

“After that, everyone just goes to the dancefloor and starts dancing,” said Alondra.

“She’s been waiting for that for a long time,” Esperanza added.

The party could be big or small — the expenses for which are a lot like a wedding.

Martinez said planning for the event can be just as exciting to mothers as it is to their daughters.

“A lot of times where the families are coming from, they oftentimes didn’t have the resources,” said Martinez. “Coming here, they were able to work, keep the tradition going and now a lot of moms are able to live that experience through their daughters because they weren’t able to have one.”

Alondra’s mother is having her first quince too.

“Whenever I saw her in the big dress, I just, tears started falling,” said Esperanza. “But I told her, I’m not choosing her dress. She’s the one.”

While mother-daughter pairs may sometimes disagree on the dress or the shoes, there’s one thing that everyone can agree on.

“Do you see this as a tradition we could lose someday?” News 3 asked.

“No, I have a little girl that’s 7 and she’s already practicing her surprise dance for when she grows up,” said Esperanza.

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