The local Santiago de Atitlán huipil is distinctive and beautiful, featuring large embroidered birds and flowers, usually densely displayed around the neck and chest area, on a plain white cloth with thin, blue vertical stripes or a checkerboard pattern. You'll find these at the numerous stands that line the main road between the dock and center of town. Santiago is also a good place to shop for carved-wood masks, as well as local paintings done in a "primitive" style. Friday and Saturday are the principal market days, and you'll find a greater selection on those days, with sellers coming into town from surrounding villages. However, the shopping scene is good here just about any day.
Note: It's become common practice to take old huipiles, particularly those from Santiago, and dip them into a large dye vat of either blue or ocher. This gives the huipil an interesting look, but it's very far from traditional, and often serves to mask an inferior piece of work.
