Guayabera Shirt – Khaki Floral Jacquard Striped Dobby

A special Engineered Garments Guayabera Shirt, created exclusively for Nepenthes London. An unconventional fabric choice for this design, the floral jacquard forms interesting patterns amongst the striped fabric. The intricate detail echoes the use of embroidery in early versions of the style.

The style is thought to have originated some time in the 18th century in the city of Sancti Spiritus where a wealthy landowner asked his wife to create him a shirt with multiple pockets cut from a lightweight cotton fabric called batiste. The landowner's fruit-picking workers decided to copy the shirt and named it yayabera after the river that ran through the estate. 

Another source suggests that the name was derived from the large pockets of the shirt which were used by workers to carry the guayaba fruit (guavas, as we know them). Either way, the shirt was born, with the earliest versions featuring four front pockets, vertical pleats and in many cases decorative embroidery.