Traditional Greek Dress - Introduction

   By Traditional Greek Dress, we refer to the clothing worn by the people of Greece, between the 19th and mid 20th century. The clothing possesses a variety of versions, owed to 

a) the Geographical position, as Greece is mainly comprised of mountains (about 70%) while only having two significant plains; the plain of Thessaloniki and the plain of Larissa (both in the north). Furthermore, as you surely know, it has numerous islands contributing to its surface area, meaning there were plenty of sea-related occupations and clothing came to meet the needs that came along with them.

b) the second is the Historical component, for, by the time the War for Independence was declared on March 25th 1821, Greece had been under foreign rule for as long as 750 years, depending on the region one would like to talk about. 

The important matter here, however, was not for how long one region came to be under a foreign ruler, but rather which one. Regions such as the Eptanesa or Crete, upon their annexation by the Republic of Venice and later France (known as the Francocracy), enjoyed a period of prosperity and were heavily influenced by the west. Regions like Macedonia and Thrace, however, which were "under the yoke" of the Ottomans (known as the Turkocracy- and were even freed 90 years later, along with Crete), faced a period of regression and were instead heavily influenced by the east. 

    Therefore, when inspecting or researching the attire of the Greek area, one has to take into consideration the above points. 

   Despite the turbulent history of the people, there are several pieces of garment found common throughout the regions; sometimes sharing the same name, while other times referred to by a locanym. e.g sayia and saias - sigouni and segouni - kontohi and kontosi. 

    The garments appear in various colours; from red to blue to green and white. The northern regions generally tended towards a darker colour scheme, while the Cyclades preferred a mix of white and colourful patterns (c.f Traditional Dress of Siphnos). 

   Regarding the fabrics, the poukamiso [the chemise and base of almost every traditional costume] was usually made of cotton or linen, while silk was reserved for special occasions. The outer-garment, whether that be a long or short vest, was made either of felt or sayak and adorned with colourful or gold threads. Of the few regions that had dresses as part of their attire, those were made of cotton, satin or silk for special occasions. 

- Periellados