The villages of San Domingo Xenacoj, San Juan Sacatepequez, and San Pedro Sacatepequez are all located near Guatemala City and share many stylistic elements. San Domingo Xenacoj is the oldest of the three villages and is located southwest of the others. Both San Juan Sacatepequez and San Pedro Sacatepequez are relatively young villages, founded in the eighteenth century when a group of Maya in the region joined together to purchase the land from Spain. This may explain some of the shared stylistic elements. Another factor is the commission of weavers from San Jedro Sacatepequez to create apparel for merchants in surrounding communities to sell at market.

The most obvious similarity among clothing from these three villages is the color combination of red, yellow and mauve. Other shared motifs are humped-back birds and double-headed birds.

Some differences do exist. Note the rich surface texture of the San Diego Xenacoj huipil. In Cakchiquel the word used to describe the manner in which San Diego Xenacoj women weave is “Tzu’lbil,” meaning “braided” or “twisted.” And the predominance of floral motifs in the San Juan Sacatepequez huipil reflects the city’s main industry of flower growing.

Of particular interest is the banda from San Pedro Sacatepequez and the Silk brocade cinta from San Juan Sacatepequez. Silk floss was introduced to the Maya with the Spanish Conquest and was made possible with Spanish trade with the Far East. It is generally used for only very special garments.