HistoryMiami Honors the Guayabera in New Exhibit

The classic guayabera.

July 1 is National Guayabera Day, so the timing for a VIP party at HistoryMiami last Thursday couldn't have been better. The occasion? The Guayabera: A Shirt's Story exhibit, which runs through January 13, 2012.

HistoryMiami pulled all the stops with major exhibit sponsor Cubavera, treating guests to a lively shindig in downtown's Cultural Plaza -- paella, Bacardi mojitos, music, cigars and dominoes gave the evening a definite Latin sabor.

Yes, ladies smoke too.

No Cuban-inspired party is complete without a cigar maker, this one from Mobile Cigar Store.

Dominoes are part of the Cuban tradition.

A massive seafood paella fed the guests after passed hors d'oeuvres.

But the real star of the festivities was the guayabera -- a button-down man's shirt with vertical pleating and four pockets associated with Cuban culture. Today, the once-humble menswear has become iconic and a fashionable wardrobe item for women and children as well.

The exact origin of the guayabera is unknown, but variations of it exist in Mexico, where embroidery distinguishes it from its Cuban counterpart.

Michael Knoll, a folklorist at HistoryMiami, curated the exhibit through the cultural institution's South Florida Folklife Center. Originally from Wisconsin, Knoll became fascinated with the culture of the shirt.  “The guayabera is culturally meaningful to a large number of South Florida residents," said Knoll in a statement.  "You only have to look at how many men are wearing guayaberas on any given day to see that.”

George Feldenkreis, founder of Cubavera.

Knoll introduced the audience to George Feldenkreis.

Cuban-born Feldenkreis is the founder of Cubavera, a leading manufacture of the garment, which retails at Macy's and online. Widely known as the "King of the Guayabera," Feldenkreis joked about taking the title of king back from Lebron James after this season's Miami Heat victory.

For garment industry royalty, Feldenkreis was actually very humble during his speech.  He told us he had arrived in Miami in 1961 and had fallen into the guayabera industry almost by accident. No sooner did he step behind the mic, he praised the U.S. as land of opportunity -- a very familiar tale among Cuban immigrants from his generation.

Even dogs enjoy guayabera fashions today.

Local fashion blogger Kelly Saks, here sporting a guayabera dress, was Miss Cuba 2011 (mainland Cuba, aka Miami, not the island).

This dress, part of a one-night only special addition to the exhibit, was designed by a student from the Miami International University of Art and Design.

The exhibit features Cuban and Spanish military uniforms from the 19th century, embroidered Mexican wedding shirts, contemporary versions by Cubavera, a guayabera dress worn by legendary salsa songstress Celia Cruz, a Pacific variation known as the Hawaiibera, guayabera-inspired accessories, a late 1940s shirt crafted by famous guayabera tailor Ramón Puig and much more.

(Incidentally, a new Ramón Puig store also held an opening night party Thursday just down Flagler street.)

For me, the guayabera has always been symbolic of my Cuban heritage and beckons a certain nostalgia. There's nothing more elegant than a crisp, white, well-pressed guayabera on a man.  Picture him in that shirt, hair neat and trimmed, wearing a nice cologne and on his best behavior.  A very fitting lady's companion indeed.

IF YOU GO

The exhibition will be accompanied by an online exhibition and a variety of educational programs, including a free family program on July 14th, a City Tour highlighting Cuban establishments in downtown Miami and a lecture/demonstration on the making of a guayabera.

For more information, visit HistoryMiami.

Miami's Aviation History

An article about Cubana Airlines' "Tropicana Special" flight from Miami to Havana in Cabaret Magazine, 1957.

There was a time in Miami when the party wasn't in South Beach but in Havana. You certainly didn't have to wait until you landed in Cuba to get your drink on. The party started on the flight, with live music, a floor show and the appeal of the exotic when mojito wasn't a mainstream word on the U.S. mainland.

Things would change regarding flights to Cuba, of course, but Miami would continue to grow as a main airway hub for the Americas. Today, Miami International is the country's second largest airport by volume of international passengers.

Miami played an important role in aviation history as far back as 1911 when Miamians witnessed the first ever flight over its sunny skies. Future major Everest Sewell and aviator Howard Gill flew over golf courses on a Wright Brothers winged biplane, much to the amazement of those city dwellers who had never seen an aircraft. Over the decades, Miami would be home to aviation training and host to sky-bound celebrities.

The new exhibit at History Miami museum puts it all on display for you, chock full of interesting tidbits for Miami trivia fans.

Here are just a few that caught my eye:

• Burdine's flew gowns to Miami from New York on the first air mail route connecting both cities. (For you spring chickens out there, Burdine's was the original Miami department store, brought out by Macy's.)
• Amelia Earhart began one of her around-the-world flights in Miami so that Pan Am's mechanics, reputed to be some of the best in the world, could inspect her plane.
• The Pan-American Field had the first modern passenger terminal in the United States.
  
• Many female instructors took over Embry-Riddle's aviation classrooms during World War II.
• Charles Lindbergh flew several inaugural flights between Miami and Latin America.

The exhibit dig deep into more history including the rash of hijacking incidents in the 70's related to strained relationships between the U.S. and Cuba -- a far cry from that pre-revolutionary "nightclub in the sky." What with flight restrictions to the island easing up this year, it's still doubtful flying to Cuba will ever be a party.

Flying just isn't as pleasurable as it used to be, no matter what the destination. An exhibit panel on Mohamed Atta, the 9/11 terrorist who trained in a Florida flight school, offers a grim reminder.

Aviation in Miami: The First 100 Years is on display until July 22, 2012 and features lectures and films. The exhibit is free on Wine Down Wednesdays (first Wednesdays of most months). For more details, visit History Miami.

Explore Florida's Art Without Leaving Miami

Dance of the Whooping Cranes by N. C. Wyeth. Just one of many paintings on exhibit at History Miami through May 15.

I've been taking a Florida history class once a week since January with Dr. Paul George at Miami-Dade College. Only this week did we begin to get into the 19th century, when Spain sold Florida to the United States for a cool $5 million in 1819. (Compare that to today's luxury real estate prices.)

Coincidentally, History Miami launched an art exhibit about two weeks ago highlighting the periods we're going to be studying for the rest of the course.

Reflections: Paintings of Florida 1865-1965 displays 69 paintings from the collection of Cici and Hyatt Brown, collectors who are passionate about Florida art. The collection focuses on Florida's natural beauty and rural life before the post-World War II construction booms and is the largest private collection of its kind in the world today.

My favorite paintings were the one depicting natural landscapes -- the kind you might see today if you go off the beaten path into the forests, swamps, lakes and rivers of the state -- any place untouched by development. St. Augustine was also well represented with street and maritime scenes. Portraits of native Floridians and pioneering African-Americans hung among the depictions of the land.

What's important about this collection is that it captures the Florida School of Art and features many renown painters who lived in the state and were inspired by its culture and beauty. Today, it's so easy to get caught up in everything that's wrong about Florida and find no inspiration here. Exhibits like this put things into perspective, keeping track of the rich cultural history of the state.

The exhibit was organized by the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach and is on display until May 15. For more information, visit History Miami.

NOT A STUFFY MUSEUM

History Miami is one of my favorite local institutions and now they've made it even more cool and groovy with Wine Down Wednesday, which take place the first Wednesday of every month, 5 to 8 PM. So if you happen to go to Reflections on April 6 or May 4 from 5 to 8 PM, you'll get free admission, free parking, live music, $15 open wine bar with light snacks or $5 by the glass. Members and county employees get a complimentary glass. Surely, this has to be one of, if not the best, Miami cultural happy hours.

For more details and to rsvp, call 305-375-1614.