1531Rosas de diciembre · quinientos años
In December of 1531 she appeared on a hill outside Mexico City and sent a man to the bishop with roses out of season. Five hundred years in 2031. The tilma, the roses, her words to Juan Diego: drawn fine, printed rough, on black.
La tilma
The figure pieces: Our Lady as she is on the cloth, the medallion, the roses, Juan Diego, the praying hands. Fine-line drawing, worn-print finish, bone and gold with red roses, on black and midnight navy.
Las palabras
The lettering pieces — 1531, the feast day, her titles, the forty-six stars, and the words she said to him.
Four days in December
On the hill of Tepeyac, at dawn, she speaks to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in his own language and asks that a church be built there.
Juan Diego carries her request to Bishop Zumárraga, who does not believe him and asks for proof.
On the twelfth she sends him to the top of the hill. He finds Castilian roses blooming in December and gathers them in his tilma.
Before the bishop he opens the tilma. The roses fall, and her image is on the cloth. It hangs in the Basilica today.
“¿No estoy yo aquí, que soy tu madre?”
500
December 2031 is five hundred years since the apparitions. The Church in Mexico and across the Americas is walking toward it year by year. These are the pieces for the road: the dates, the badge, the jubilee, the pilgrims.
Los niños
The same pieces, cut for the kids who will be at Tepeyac in 2031: the tilma, the medallion, the year, the roses, Juan Diego, the feast day, the stars and the 500. Same fabric as the grown-ups, sized down.
Parches
The detailed pieces go on caps as patches: the drawing is printed on vinyl with a stitched gold edge and sewn to the front panel, so every line survives. Thread could never hold this much.
Bordados
The simple marks are stitched straight into the panel: the year in blackletter, Guadalupana, the feast day, a single rose, Tepeyac arched over a star.
Las estrellas del manto
The mantle on the tilma carries forty-six stars. They are on the Estrellas tee and they are here, inside the mantle's own outline, turning slowly with the page.
- What is the 500 collection?
- December 2031 is the five hundredth anniversary of the apparitions at Tepeyac (December 9 to 12, 1531). The 500 pieces carry the dates 1531–2031 and are made for the years of preparation leading up to it.
- What is the difference between a patch cap and an embroidered cap?
- Detailed, full-colour art such as the tilma and the roses is printed on a vinyl patch with a stitched edge and sewn to the cap, so every colour and line survives. Simple marks — 1531, Tepeyac, a single rose — are embroidered straight into the panel.
- Which blanks are these?
- Tees are the Next Level 6210, a soft 60/40 cotton-poly tee in unisex XS to 3XL. Caps are the Richardson 112 trucker and the Richardson 256 Umpqua rope cap, one size.
- When does it ship?
- Everything is made to order in Viera, Florida and ships within about two weeks. Orders ship together, so a cap and a tee in one order arrive in one box.