Men's Costumes
There are two main types of costumes for men. Foustanella and Vraka.
In the central and southern regions of Greece wear the "fustanella".
After the liberation of Greece in the first quarter of the 19th century, all
male costumes in Peloponnesus took the form of the fustanella.
Fustanella was worn by the Greek fighters of the 1821 revolution and today
it serves as the official uniform of the Evzones, Greece's Presidential Guard.
The fustanella skirt consists of 400 pleats symbolizing the years during which
Greece was under Ottoman rule.
The remainder of the costume is composed of a white shirt with very wide flowing
sleeves, an embroidered woolen vest, a sash worn around the waist, and shoes
(tsarouhia) with large pompons.
The embroidery is made of spun wool and the belt is of a fine leather work.
The Fustanella has changed in the meaning of detailed work, the length of
the fousta, and, sometimes, the number of jackets worn. The sleeves have become
decorative, resembling wings without the function of sleeves. After all the
changes, it has become the standard Pan-Hellenic male costume used to the
modern times. Extremely popular, this costume is now one of the world's most
well-known traditional garments: Vraka The word vraka means generally the
male Crete costume although this kind of trousers worn by the islands inhabitants
of Greece instead of a fustanella. The men's costume is made of heavy wool
felt to protect against the cold and is embroidered with black cord.
In some island 'vraka' was worn by women too and was long, to the ankles,
because during the Turkish occupation women wanted to hide their legs from
the eyes of the Turks.
The male Epirotan costume has also characteristic pair of pants, called 'bourazana'
or 'panovraki', which resembles the Macedonian 'salvaria' or 'vrakia'. The
pants are either white or black.
Women's Costumes
One general rule about the Women's costumes concerns the main parts of their traditional dress.
Most of the mainland costumes in particular have a cotton chemise (poukamiso) as the basic garment. On the body, over the chemise, there is a sleeveless vest which is usually made of wool. These may be short or long.
Sometimes dresses are of homespun wool, but in some areas they are made from finer factory woven wools. Colors are sometimes black, sometimes white. Sometimes in urban areas, they are made from velvet.
Other important elements of the women's costumes are various types of aprons,
sashes, and head coverings. The head coverings are usually large scarves of
various materials and colors.
Women's dresses were handmade embellished with detailed needlework and decorated
in a rich and colorful fashion.Although there are some generalizations that can be made about the women's dresses and their styles and components, costumes of each area tend to be different. Look at these examples below.
Amalia
In our days the national costume of Greece, the one designated by Queen Amalia. She was the first queen of Greece, and was of Bavarian descent. The true Amalia skirt was originally green, but was later changed to blue. A long sleeved jacket is worn with the skirt. The hat has a long cord, (traditionally made of the woman's own braided hair), with a tassel. It was said that the longer the cord, the more favor that particular girl had in the court of Amalia.
Tsolias - Fustanella
In the Peloponnesus, Attica and generally Main Greece men wore the fustanella, a pleated white skirt that has prevailed as the official Greek man's costume.
The Greek warrior of the revolution against the Ottoman rule/ occupation (1821) adopted the fustanella and later on it became the official dress of King Otto's
court.
Worn by diplomats and warriors, this costume was declared the national costume for men. Today we see men wearing this costume on certain celebrations, national
holidays and by the soldiers/members of the special regiment (euzonoi).
