TRADITIONAL FOLK COSTUMES PELOPONNESE GREECE TRADITIONAL FOLK COSTUMES PELOPONNESE

TRADITIONAL COSTUMES Queen Amalia - King Otto (19th c.)

Amalia’s costume This ladies’ famous costume was introduced by Queen Amalia in the 19th c. It used to be her daily garment and she imposed it on the ladies of the Royal Court. The costume was then spread to all the urban centers of Greece as a costume for the festivities.

This ladies’ costume consists of a gossamer silk shirt with fine gold embroidery, a precious pleated silk dress with wide sleeves in a variety of colors, and a velvet short jacket, all trimmed with gold braid and embroidery. The costume is completed with a red fez, and silk tassel. The neck and chest are decorated with rows of pearls and a precious brooch.

MEN’S COSTUME EVZONE: guardian of the Palace, now guardian of the Parliament. This men’s costume consists of a white shirt with very broad sleeves, white elastic trousers, knee bands and a kind of a very flared skirt (fοustanella) with 400 pleats. The length of the skirt is 50 cm. 

EVZONE Yesterday and Today

PAIR OF ARCADIANS Husband with his Wife 15th century.

Traditional costumes of Servo, Arcadia

TSAKONIA (eastern Arcadia) MELANA - TYROS This women’s costume is worn on the east coast of Arcadia, Tsakonia, one of the most historic places in the Peloponnese. The place has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Tsakonian dialect (still alive) is the closest language to the ancient Greek one. The dance of this region, the Tsakonikos Dance, is one of the oldest and similar to the ancient Greek dances.

TSAKONIKOS DANCE (5/4) (Mother, I told you not to get me married to an old man…)

DOLIANA-ARCADIA Men’s costume The man wears a black headscarf tied at the back of the head. The dress is woven on the loom in grey with black stripes. Underneath, he wears trousers with knee bands (gοnatares) and the special kind of shoes that are called tsarouhia.

NESTANI-ARCADIA People who participate in the event are dressed in traditional costumes and they hold tsipianitiki (shepherd’s) crook which is adorned on the top with flowers, lilacs, and other plants of the Greek earth, such as wild celery (agrioselino).

TEGEA-TRIPOLI The dress of the costume is black and woven with embroidered shirt sleeves. Inside the dress the woman wears a white shirt with fine lace. On the head there is a white silk headscarf. At the edge of the skirt the red felt gives a special finishing and a silk apron tightens the black dress.

Traditional folk costumes (of every day life)

THE LOOM

The history of the loom The loom is a machine which was used for weaving clothes in older times. It was widely used in the pre-industrial era and later, mainly in rural areas, played a major role in the domestic economy, since it has been the primary means of weaving and textiles. After the industrial revolution, the old classic, wooden, and moved by muscle power loom, was replaced by a mechanical one. Today it has almost disappeared, as the weaving process has been automated and the loom has been replaced by the industrial textile machine.

KALAMATA (south-west Peloponnese) The women’s costume of Kalamata is one of the most elegant and exquisite costumes of all over Greece. The dominant colors of those costumes are white, yellow and black, combined with gold embroidery and gold jewelry. .

MANI (southern Peloponnese) Women’s costume for the upper class

MANI-Ceremonial costume The ceremonial women’s costume consists of:  • A long white shirt with embroidered bodice and sleeves.  • A sleeveless dress of dark-colored woolen cloth with deep cut of the bodice and a skirt that falls in folds, the outer part of which is decorated with a very wide cotton band of red color, while the inner part, namely the hem, is decorated with a narrow red band.  • Around the waist: a striped belt.  • For the head: Two headscarves-one of blue color and a silk one that is called bolia.

Mani Men’s costume The Maniatis-the man of Mani-looks like a pirate. On his head he wears a black strapped headscarf. He wears a shirt with colored embroidery on the sleeves and over it a short red or black vest. He also wears dark blue breeches with black trousers and tsarouhia without tassel. This attire was used in pirate raids.

ARGOLIDA (eastern Peloponnese) Women’s costume The women wear white headscarves tied behind the head. The dresses are pale yellow with lace on the bodice, on the edge of the sleeves and on the hem. Over the dress there are a black vest and a yellowish oval shaped apron with lace on the edges.

CORINTH (north-east Peloponnese) Bridal gown The bridal costume consists of:  • A white cotton shirt with embroidered sleeves and hem.  • A short fitted front with embroidered sleeves, too. • A neckline with gold embroidery.  • A white apron embroidered with multicolored geometrical patterns.  • A red belt.  • An open outer short garment made of thick weft-knitted cloth, decorated with multicolored cording.  • For the head: a headscarf (bolia), embroidered with multicolored geometrical patterns.

CORINTH The villager’s costume (horikos) This long shirt is the every-day-life costume of the old Arvanites.It is the ancestor of the special men’s skirt (foustanella). Underneath he wears trousers, gonatares under the knees and tsarouhia.  

Finishing touch The differences between the similar kinds of the traditional costumes demonstrate the origin of a genus or the social status or the economical power of the family or even the personal story of a woman (mourning). That's why the diversity of our traditional costumes marks the unique path of culture in the Greek history.