Costume worn by Queen Olga’s ladies-in-waiting. Athens, Attica. Mid 19th century
Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, Nafplion, Greece
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Women’s costumes of Sifnos, Cyclades. Late 18th century
Bridal costume from Kifisia, Central Greece. Early 20th c.
The bridal costume from Kifisia could be worn after the wedding on all festive occasions until the birth of the second child. The sleeveless cotton chemise is known as “foundi" and its multicoloured embroidered hem would often reach higher than the knees. The "tzakos" (short-sleeved bodice) with the "katomanika" (embroidered separate sleeves) hugged the upper part of the body, while the waist was girded by a red sash. Two white sleeveless woolen vests, the "griza”, were worn over these. The hair was parted in the middle and plaited into two braids, from which hung silver ornaments, the “massour plexides" or the "peskoulia”. The headdress consisted of the fez and the “obolia" (scarf).The chest was covered by a net of gold beads, the "yordani”. Finally, from the shoulders hung rows of chains, to which gold coins were attached together with various central medallions.
The bridal costume of Attica provided the inspiration for the official costume of the court of King George I. It is also inspired the costume of the “vlachoules”, a costume worn by little girls on national holidays, but also at carnival time, throughout Greece.
A woman of Psara (North-East Aegean Islands) wearing the local costume. Photo by Filippos Margaritis. Late 19th century
The wedding dress of Aspasia King. Athens, Attica. 1830s
Women wearing the costume of Skyros, Sporades, in the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens. Photo: Nelly’s. Late 1930s
The chrysí, the bridal and festive costume of Skyros. Skyros, Sporades. Early 20th century
‘Amalia’ costume. Athens, Attica. Late 19th century
The urban costume of the Peloponnese spread to other parts of Greece after 1837, when Amalia, the first Queen of Greece, adopted it as the official court dress, combining the Biedermeier style with the local kavádi and zipoúni. This costume was widely worn in Athens, among other places. The dress (kavádi) is made of taffeta, with an open bodice to show the neck opening of the chemise. The kondogoúni is of aubergine velvet, gold-embroidered and very close-fitting. The cap is a kalpak (kalpáki). Married women wore a tasselled flat round cap (féssi) which they covered with black lace when they went to church.
Urban costume of Ioannina, Epiros. Mid 19th century
Urban women’s costume of Pyrgos, Ilia, Peloponnese. Mid/late 19th century
The urban costume of Pyrgos is unique and was taken as the model for the ‘Amalia’ costume. It consists of a white silk-and-cotton chemise with gold braid on the sleeves, a kavádi (dress) of pink and white brocade and an old-style zipoúni (jacket) of crimson velvet adorned with braid, gold-brocaded ribbons and a little gold embroidery round the edges and on the shoulders.
Urban costume of Ioannina, Epiros. Mid 19th century
Bridal costume of Stefanoviki, Magnesia, Thessaly. Early 20th century
The bridal and festive costume of Stefanoviki was the customary dress of nearly all the villages of eastern Thessaly, with variations from place to place. It consists of a dark chemise, a shift (the anderí and the kondándero (a kind of quilted anderí made of taraklí. Round the waist is a gold-embroidered belt (zonári), fastened over the apron with either the bridal buckle or the less elaborate thilykotária. The material of the apron matches the sleeve lining of the kondándero. The sleeveless velvet overcoat is called the katifés. The head is covered with a round cap (féssi) encircled by an improvised frontlet adorned with gold coins. Brides from poor families would hire this frontlet, the kafássi, from the local large landowner. The kerchief is made of purple silk. The jewellery worn with the costume comprises a silver belt, a double kioustéki, a souyás, parádes (gold coins), a bracelet and a haimalí (amulet)
Photo of a married woman wearing the costume of Gidas, Imathia, Macedonia. Early 20th century
Photo of women, men and kanakares (firstborn girls) of Karpathos, Dodecanese, wearing local costumes. Early 20th century
Bridal costume of Alexandria (Yidas), Imathia, Macedonia. Early 20th century
This bridal costume was worn in about fifty villages in the plain of Yannitsa, an area then called Roumlouki, where Yidás (now Alexandria) is the most important village . The bridal headdress looks like a helmet and is called katsoúli me tis foúndes: the katsoúli is the hard, egg-shaped part of the headdress, held in place on the crown of the head by a lock of hair taken from married women, and it was never taken off even in bed. Wrapped round the katsoúli are the three kerchiefs of the headdress, one black and two white. One of the white kerchiefs hangs down the back of the neck and is called the peristéra (dove). A good bridal katsoúli also has a pair of foúndes (tassels). The hair is cut in a fringe.
Women’s costume of Elymbos, Karpathos, Dodecanese. Early 20th century
Bridal or festive costume of Kastelorizo, Dodecanese. Late 19th century
Women’s costume of Spetses, Argosaronic Islands. Early 20th century
The costumes of Spetses, Hydra and the Ermionida region generally used to have a pleated green dress with a crimson velvet hem and a zipoúni of brocade imported from Western Europe or the East. Later, the dress of the Spetses costume was replaced by one made in the fashion of the day, while still retaining the everyday or festive headscarf (piétes), which might or might not be embroidered, or the tsembéri, which was carefully arranged on the head and held in place with special brooches: the márka, kofináki, heráki and others. Eventually the zipoúni – which was much the same as the zipoúni used in the ‘Amalia’ costume – was abandoned.
Women’s costume of Psara, North-East Aegean Islands. Early 20th century
The women’s costume of Psara belongs to a type that appears to have been worn in varying forms on other Aegean islands as well. It is renowned for its pure silk tsiboukotó chemise. The dark sleeveless dress has a richly-pleated skirt with the characteristic horizontal pleat about 20 centimetres above the hem, which has a decorative strip of brocade. This horizontal pleat is found in nearly all island-type dresses. The headdress with its pure silk bólia is also very typical of island costumes. The Psara bólia combines well with the hairstyle, which anchors it to the forehead.
Old type bridal costume of Kymi, Evia (Euboea). 18th century
This bridal costume is a real rarity. Typologically it belongs among the island costumes of the Greek world, as these took shape in the eighteenth century.
The dress is made of pure silk brocade imported from Western Europe, with a hem of a different brocade. The brocaded design of the hem is the same as that of the waistcoat but the material is of poorer quality, which reveals the existence of two kinds of material with the same woven design.
Bridal costume of Skopelos, Sporades. Early 20th century
The bridal costume of Skopelos is called foustána or stófa after the long, richly pleated outer sleeveless dress, which is made of sixteen metres of black silk satin . In earlier times it had a hem of brocade (stófa), which was later replaced by a band of lavish embroidery with the same floral designs.
Photo of a woman wearing the bridal costume of Episkopi, Imathia, Macedonia. Early 20th century
Postcard of a woman wearing a costume of Stymphalia, Corinthia, Peloponnese Greece. Early 20th century
Chrysomándilo costume from Astypalaia, Dodecanese. Circa 1870
This bridal and festive costume of Astypalaia, the chrysomándilo, belonged to the Palatianos family and, according to Irini (Rinaki) Palatianou, it had been passed down through four generations starting with her great-grandmother, who was born in about 1850. The chrysomándilo takes its name from the gold-embroidered, pearl-encrusted frontlet of its headdress.
Bridal costume of Trikeri, Magnesia, Thessaly. Early 20th century
The costume of Trikeri has two fine white calico chemises and up to thirteen petticoats, the main ones being the kolovóli and the mallína. The ‘good’ outermost chemise is made of linen or silk, in white, blue, crimson, brown or green, and is adorned with gold or multicoloured embroidery. The dress is richly pleated, sleeveless and short, and the hem is often ornamented too.
Women from Trikeri, Magnesia, Thessaly, wearing the local costume. Photo: Nelly’s. 1936
The Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece. All Rights reserved
Bridal sayás from Asvestohori, Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Late 19th century
Cotton dress. Karpathos, Dodecanese, Greece.18th century
This dress is in the form of a dalmatic, with a large internal pleat or overfold resembling the kolpos of the ancient Greek chiton. It is embroidered with terracotta and green floss silk, using a stitch that Angeliki Hatzimichali calls ‘Rhodian’.
Pleated cotton dress. Crete. 18th century
This is a simpler variation of the Cretan dresses with their magnificent embroidered hems. Cretan dresses are literally suspended from the shoulders by shoulder-straps. Some travellers’ accounts imply that the women of Sfakia wore them with no chemise, leaving the shoulders bare.
This dress has two bands of red silk embroidery on the hem: one with floral designs, running parallel to the hem, and another above it with vases of flowers alternating with cross-in-circle motifs.
Long-sleeved chemise of off-white cotton. Stymfalia, Corinthia, Peloponnese. Late 19th century
This chemise is part of the old type of village women’s costume of Corinthia, the Argolid and probably the whole Peloponnese. It has a vertical opening at the front and is decorated with multicoloured silk embroideries of geometric motifs, and with triangular appliqués on the sleeves.
Sleeveless chemise of off-white cotton. Mesogeia region, Attica. Early 20th century
This chemise has a vertical opening at the front and is decorated on the hem with multicoloured embroideries of geometric motifs.
Samaráki, a short red cotton dress belonged to the Yialouris family. Mesta, Chios, North-East Aegean Islands, Greece. Early 20th century
Off-white bridal chemise. Episkopi, Imathia, Macedonia. Early 20th century
This bridal chemise has a small upright collar, a vertical opening at the front and long, wide sleeves. The hem has four square panels, two at the front and two at the back, embroidered with multicoloured geometric motifs and crosses.
Áspri vólta: a long, sleeveless, pleated dress. Skopelos, Sporades. Early 20th century
This particular dress, worn as an overdress or underdress, is made of fine white calico.
Mórkos: a long, sleeveless, pleated red dress with green satin hem. Skopelos, Sporades. Early 20th century
The dress of the skléta costume from Astypalaia, Dodecanese. Early 20th century
The dress is made of green satin and has shoulder-straps and a pleated skirt with a broad horizontal pleat. The lining is of off-white material.
Phelonion made of a linen-and-cotton fabric, with multicoloured silk embroidery. Crete. Late 18th century
An eighteenth-century Cretan dress remade as a church vestment
Postcard of a woman wearing a costume of Attica, Greece. Early 20th century
Engraving by E.Ronjat depicting a woman from Psara. From the magazine “Le Tour du Monde”, Paris 1876