The history and art of the bullfighter’s ‘suit of lights’

THE FATHER OF MODERN BULLFIGHTING

Dressing for the part is nothing new. The tradition can be traced to the 18th century and Joaquín Rodríguez, better

known as Costillares and recognized as the father of modern bullfighting.

Costillares earned respect first through his talent. Though he grew up working in his father’s slaughterhouse, his

exploits in the ring found him held in the same regard as the local royals, says del Castillo. That sparked the idea. If he was going to be seen as a member of the upper class,

why not dress like one?

He wore fancy and fine-tailored cropped suit jackets and added “galos de platas,” a design that is similar to the

military badges worn by the nobles.

“He wanted to dress like them because they were important people in Sevilla,” says del Castillo, “and he considered

himself an important person in the town.”

Two decades after his death, matador fashion took a turn when arguably Spain’s most famous painter, Francisco de Goya, published a series of 33 bullfighting-inspired prints

called, “La Tauromaquia.”

Goya did not want his work to portray the nobles in Seville, as that city and Madrid, where he lived, were bullfighting rivals. So he morphed Costillares’s original Spanish look with the styles of French royals. In the early 19th century,

Goya had spent time in France painting for French patrons

“This is the first actual suit called, ‘traje Goyesco,’” says del Castillo while pointing at a bullfighter on a printed poster

version of a Goya painting hanging in the museum.

The painting, in effect, changed everything about the look of the suit: The trousers, originally ankle-length, were cut mid-calf. The coats, originally cropped at the ribs, were

adjusted to below the hip.

This uniform may have worked in an art museum but for the bullfighters, Goya’s innovations created a challenge. A

bull’s horns could easily latch onto the long coat.

Francisco Mounts, or Paquiro, established his legend in the 1840s through his daring work in the ring. He was also a

stylemaster, establishing modern matador chic by cropping the jacket back to rib-cage length while keeping the mixture of Spanish and French noble influence, or the

“galones de platas.” To separate the matador from the picadors and banderillos – bullfighters who are considered lower ranking – Paquiro would wear gold, while the others

wore silver. He was the first to add flashy details to the suit, so that it would reflect his individual personality.

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