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New Year Color Rituals Endure Across Latin America as Yellow Leads in CDMX and Red Dominates San Luis Potosí

Rooted in Afro-Brazilian white-wearing traditions, the practice now drives a year-end rush for colored underwear that reflects local priorities.

Overview

  • In Mexico City street interviews, most shoppers chose yellow underwear to attract money, often pointing to inflation and a focus on financial stability.
  • Vendors in San Luis Potosí reported red as the top seller for those seeking love, with prices typically ranging from 50 to 200 pesos across varied styles.
  • Retailers and street stalls stocked extensive color options and saw brisk pre–New Year sales as the ritual remained a popular cultural and consumer practice.
  • Widely shared meanings held steady: yellow for prosperity, red for love, white for peace or renewal, green for health, blue for calm, pink for gentle romance, and black for power or elegance.
  • Wearing white traces to Brazil’s Réveillon and Afro-Brazilian practices honoring deities such as Iemanjá and Oxalá, a heritage that helped spread the custom regionwide.