Silk

A two-piece set of a blouse and a skirt. The blouse is made of a soft pink silk. Features a high, standing collar adorned with fine lace trim in an off-white or cream color. The lace has a delicate floral pattern. A lace overlay extends from the collar to form a shawl-like feature that drapes over the shoulders. This lace layer is scalloped and intricately detailed, continuing across the chest and back. The sleeves are long and finished with lace-trimmed cuffs that flare slightly, mirroring the decorative lace of the collar and shoulders. The blouse has a fitted silhouette at the waist. The skirt is made of the same soft pink fabric as the blouse, with pleated detailing that adds volume and movement to the lower portion. It features horizontal decorative stitching or fabric bands near the hemline, adding subtle visual interest. The hem is slightly flared, creating a graceful and flowing silhouette that complements the blouse. It is full-length, reaching to the ankles.

Blouse with intricate lace details, likely from the late 19th or early 20th century. The blouse is made of an off-white silk.  The blouse has a high, rounded neckline with a delicate lace trim that extends into a shawl-like collar. These lace panels are highly detailed, with a combination of floral and geometric motifs. The lace edges have a scalloped design. A central tied bow is located just below the lace collar, drawing attention to the chest. The back mirrors the front in its lace and pleat detailing. The lace shawl-style collar drapes over the shoulders, extending towards the middle of the back. The fabric's striped texture is prominent, and pleats add subtle volume. The sleeves are long and slightly loose-fitting, narrowing toward the lace-trimmed cuffs. The lace cuffs flare out slightly, creating a ruffled, layered appearance. The cuffs also feature lace inserts that mirror the design of the collar and chest area.

This ensemble likely served as every day or semi-formal wear. It is a two-piece outfit that appears to be from the late 19th or early 20th century. The blouse is light yellow with long puffed sleeves, detailed with lace trimmings on the cuffs and the collar area. The fabric has a slightly shiny or patterned texture, indicating it is made of silk. The collar is high, adorned with an elaborate lace overlay. The back view shows gathering at the waist, giving the blouse a fitted silhouette. The lace detailing continues on the collar and cuffs, consistent with the front view. The skirt is a light cream or off-white color, extending to ankle length. It features subtle paneling and light pleats near the bottom hem, adding structure and movement.

Silk pipilla (lace) forming flowers.

ΜΓ 385

Formal foustanin of striped silk(?) imported fabric with gold, blue and fine red-white stripes. Because of its weave, the gold colour is not visible internally. Cotton alatzia with broad burgundy stripes, alternating with intricate bands of black-delimited white and green stripes, is used on the breast, the waistband and part of the back. That specific part of the dress is particularly worn from long use, showing altered colours, especially under the armpits. Beige cotton fabric has been added to the lower part of the back.

The dress has a simple neckline and a vertical opening at the front, 44 cm tall, which reaches below the waist at a height of 11-12 cm. Fine ready-made(?) banded lace is sewn onto the right side of the opening. Similar lace was probably originally featured on the left side of the breast too. At the front, either side of the breast consists of two panels of cotton alatzia, hand-sewn with red thread. The lower panel, 5.5 cm in height, as well as the waistband, 3.5-4 cm tall, are made of the same alatzia but preserve their original vibrant colours. The upper panels extend to the back in a single fabric piece, 5.5 cm in height. Its lower part, which is joined to the cotton fabric that forms the lower part of the back up to the waistband (height: 17.5 cm, width: 37.5 cm), also features more vibrant colours.

The stripes of the alatzia are horizontal on the waistband. Either side of the front opening extends to a tongue-shaped end made of an added band of a different fabric (10 cm long on the left and 7 cm long on the right). Each extension features a hook, paired to an eye on the waistband, one internally and the other externally. A blue trimming band, densely stitched with orange thread, runs along the entire length of the opening and the extensions of the waistband.

The skirt is wide, densely gathered in the upper part, where it is joined to the waistband. It comprises four pieces of fabric, 60 cm wide each, with the stripes in horizontal arrangement. The blue selvedge is discernible at the handmade joints. At 30 cm over the hem, 4.5 cm-wide lace with consecutive yellow-gold lozenges, is stitched by hand (basting) with white thread along the upper side, whereas the lower side is unstitched. A reinforcing band of white cotton fabric, 3.5-5 cm wide, is hand-stitched with orange cotton thread.

The sleeves are made of the same silk fabric as the skirt, with the stripes in horizontal arrangement. Sewn vertically to the body, they consist of a single fabric piece with an inseam. Two gussets of striped cotton alatzia, red with fine yellow stripes, have been added to each armpit to repair wear. A 14 cm- tall opening is featured at the lower end of each sleeve. A decorative sewn-in braid runs around the edge of the sleeve. Small loops are created in two places on the braid whereas a small tassel is featured at the middle of the opening’s one side.

The bodice of the dress is lined with various types of fabrics: white-beige cotton fabric with red criss-cross stripes for the body; plain white cotton on the sleeves, up to the opening, and for the lower part alatzia with blue, yellow, green and burgundy stripes (height of lining at the opening: 23 cm).

In the Registry of the Museum the dress has been entered as a wedding dress. The poorly preserved upper part of the dress suggests that, albeit originally formal, the garment had been overused.

Height: 125 cm (bodice: 33 cm, skirt: 92 cm).

Width: 36 cm at the waist.

Length of sleeves: 51.5 cm.

Width of sleeves: 13 cm.

Date of entry to the Collection: 8.7.1983

Provenance: Theletra, Pafos – Purchased from Despoinou Nikola.

ΜΓ 813

Youthfull (adolescent) short-sleeved, European type dress, remade from an older, refashioned lilac woven skirt with colourful stripes. These skirts made of sattakrouta, thick silk fabric, used to be made mostly in Nicosia as part of the traditional festive attire around the early 20th century (see examples in:…)

The dress consists of a skirt and a bodice, joined at the waist by way of machine stitching. The skirt, which widens downwards, comprises four panels with hand-sewn joints lengthwise, at the centre and on the sides of the skirt. White and green stripes form two broad horizontal bands (height: 9.4 cm) one higher and the other lower respectively. Each band comprises three fine stripes and three broader ones. In the middle of the skirt, front and back, two pleats made with simple machine stitching extend from the waist to the first white stripe of the upper band. Further down, the pleats open up free. In the lower part of the skirt, the hem is simple, hand-crafted, and broad (height: 6.5 cm), allowing for the dress to lengthen if required.

The bodice consists of the same fabric as that of the skirt, in combination with white cotton. At the front, fabric from the original skirt is employed, with the green and white stripes in vertical arrangement. The lilac fabric forms curved projections on either side, created with crude scissor cuts. A plastic button, shaped like a rosette, with a small green flower at the centre, is sewn to the top of the curved projections. The projections emerge on a white cotton fabric that covers the upper part of the breast up to the shoulders. The different parts of the front side are sewn together with machine stitching. Vertical tucks extend in pairs on either side of the central axis on the bust, along the entire length of the lilac fabric. Their inner sides are machine-stitched and their outer sides free. A collar with pointed tips is formed on the V-shaped neckline. Internally, the collar is reinforced with a fine band of purple fabric (two 1.5 cm-wide pieces, each flanking the centre) as well as with another two pieces of purple silk fabric at the triangular ends. The elements mentioned above are hand-sewn.

Two pieces of lilac fabric have been used for the lower part of the back, joined together by way of a handmade seam lengthwise at the centre, and to the front panels with machine stitching under the armpits. The upper part of the back up to the neckline consists of two symmetrical segments of beige cotton fabric, joined to the rest of the fabric pieces with machine stitching (along the shoulders, on the sleeves and in the lower part). A vertical opening, hemmed by hand, is formed at the centre, between the two pieces of cotton fabric, on the extension of the central seam. The opening fastens at its top with a plastic button, of the same type as those used on the front side of the dress.

The sleeves, slightly puffed with pleats, are sewn to the body in a curved line with the use of a sewing machine, and end in a handmade hem. The left sleeve consists of a single fabric piece with an inseam in the lower part. The right sleeve consists of two pieces, one of them smaller and rectangular, on the inside of the lower part. The two sleeves differ in terms of the yellow stripes at their ends, whereas on the right sleeve the stripes are not entirely aligned with the joints of the two fabric pieces.

On the left side, the dress features a 10 cm-tall vertical opening which reaches slightly above and slightly below the waistline. No fastening elements survive.

Height: 94 cm.

Length of skirt: 56.5 cm.

Width: 38.5 cm maximum on the bodice, 37.5 cm at the waist, 78 cm in the lower part of the skirt.

Length of sleeves: 20-20.5 cm.

Width of sleeves: 14.5 cm (in the lower end).

Date of entry to the Collection: 28.7.1994

Provenance: Nicosia – Purchased from Militsa Panayiotou.

ΜΓ 812

Long, long-sleeved dress of pink silk fabric with separate elements of similar orange fabric and details of ready-made off-white lace.

The formal garment comprises a bodice and a skirt, joined at the waist with a waistband. On the front side, the upper part is made of two side pieces of pink fabric: the one on the right extends to the back whereas the second one on the left reaches under the armpit, where it is joined to another narrow piece of the same fabric. The rest of the back is made of a single piece of pink fabric. The centre of the breast is covered with a broad vertical band of orange silk fabric, sewn to the pink fabric on the right side of the breast. The other side of the band, on the left, is unsewn, forming an opening that closes with four springs. Two double, opposite-facing vertical tucks, 3-4 cm wide, are formed on either side of the central panel, on the edges of the two pink pieces. The tucks are sewn with machine stitching lengthwise, almost halfway, whereas both their edges are free. The orange band of fabric is adorned at the height of the breast with a horizontal band of lace, 3.5 cm in height, secured top and bottom with machine stitching. A green narrow horizontal band, hand-sewn with basting using a thread of similar colour, extends higher up. Internally, the part of the orange band that features sewn-on decoration is reinforced with a rectangular piece of thick beige cotton lining (loom-woven fabric). The horizontal side of the neckline, at the top of the orange band, is also decorated with lace, similar to that used on the breast.

The shoulders, front and back, are covered with a wide marine collar of orange silk fabric. Lace, 2 cm in height, similar to the one used elsewhere on the garment, trims the entire collar.

The long sleeves form a slightly curved joint to the body. They consist of a single fabric piece with an inseam. An added band of fabric, 10 cm in height, trims the entire lower part of the left sleeve. Lace, 3.3 cm in height, similar to the lace that adorns the body, is sewn to the edge of each sleeve with machine stitching.

At the waist of the dress, an added wide waistband of orange fabric fastens to the left of the centre with a hook and a spring, with the catch missing. An added band of the same fabric, sewn so as to form a bow, covers the fastening of the waistband. The opening of the dress extends from the bodice to the skirt (total opening height from the neckline: 38.5 cm, 25 cm of which up to the top edge of the waistband).

The skirt is pleated in the upper part and widens downwards. It consists of three panels, ca. 58 cm wide each, joined with machine stitching. The hemline features the same type of stitching, and is adorned all around with lace sewn in the upper part by hand. The lace, which slightly projects from the fabric at the bottom, is different than that used elsewhere on the dress, in terms of both width (5.5 cm) and design.

The dress features an intricate pattern, incorporating construction and stylistic elements of the first decades of the 20th century. It is almost entirely made with the use of a sewing machine, stands out for the daring combination of vibrant colours (pink, orange and, in places, green) and includes elements of European fashion such as the tripartite design of the body, the marine collar, the bow at the waistband and the lace trimmings. The combined use of silk, shiny fabrics and lace adds to an air of luxury and lends formality to the dress. The dress is in all likelihood dated to the 1910s-1920s.

Height: 110.5 cm (bodice: 33.5 cm up to the waist, height of skirt: 77 cm).

Width: 33 cm on the shoulders, 34.5 cm at the waist, 86 cm at the hemline.

Length of sleeves: 47 cm (including the lace).

Width of sleeves: 20 cm in the upper part and 13 cm in the lower part.

Date of entry to the Collection: 28.7.1994

Provenance: Nicosia – Purchased from Militsa Panayiotou.

ΜΓ 802

Waistcoat of striped loom-woven silk fabric, dark red with fine yellow stripes, and beige cotton lining (cabot fabric). It is preserved in very good condition.

The front side consists of four pieces: two equal-sized triangles (gores) on both sides of the opening (bottom side: 18 cm, inner long side: 46 cm, outer long side: 48 cm), crossing diagonally to create a V-shaped opening on the breast; and an additional two pieces that complete the facades and extend to a single piece on the back (height: 55 cm on the front and the back [overall:110 cm], width: 43 cm at the bottom end of the back). The seams of the garment are handmade. On the sides there is a 7 cm slit. Decorative rows of herringbone stitch with olive-green thread frame the upright collar (height: 3 cm), and also run along the two outer sides of the front pieces, up to 10-12 cm from the hem. An interrupted row of the same type of stitch also adorns the middle of the collar lengthwise. The collar is garnered with braid, which continues along the front opening, double and with an added row of kombouthkia [small knots of looped cord], at a height of 29 cm on the left side and 38 cm on the right side.

On the right side of the breast there is a rectangular inside pocket (height: 13 cm, width: 10 cm) with a pointed lower end. The pocket is sewn internally with green thread. Its horizontal opening, 8.5 cm long, is framed by black braid and a continuous row of herringbone stitch.

The waistcoat is double-breasted but in its current state it closes only on one side. Four fastening cords survive, one on each of the two opening edges, another one internally at the base of the pocket and a fourth one externally on the left side, at the middle of the rectangular piece of fabric, 16 cm above the hem. The waistcoat fastens only when crossing over from right to left, by tying together two of the cords internally and the remaining two cords externally (the cord on the left edge is tied to the inside cord and the cord on the right edge is tied to the outer cord on the left side).

The long sleeves are sewn vertically to the body and consist of two segments joined widthwise. The upper segment, which is sewn onto the body of the waistcoat, is an elongated rectangular piece, 10 cm wide and 17 cm high both at the front and the back side (overall height: 34 cm). This oblong piece is joined at the bottom to two triangles that form the armpit, sewn together lengthwise (length: 16.5-17 cm). The lower part of the sleeves features a 14 cm long curvilinear opening, and has a lining of imported silk fabric featuring two red bands with leaved flowers woven into the construction of the weave, and more narrow bands with rows of stitches and purple geometric patterns (height of lining: 10.5 cm). The opening of the sleeves is garnered with double braid. A row of kombouthkia has been added along the horizontal edge.

Height: 55 cm.

Width: 43 cm on the shoulders and at the waist (37 cm when folded).

Length of sleeves: 57 cm.

Width of sleeves: 16.5 cm in the upper part, 15.5 cm at the bottom.

Date of entry to the Collection: 15.7.1994

Provenance: Nicosia – Purchased from Maria Kizouridou.

ΜΓ 124

A woman’s long, cream silk (loom-woven koukkoullariko) chemise with short sleeves.

It consists of two half pieces, 40 cm wide, reaching from the front to the back and joined vertically across the middle of both sides. Each piece extends to a short sleeve with a hemless edge. The sleeve inseam carries on under the armpit and extends downwards to the simple hem of the chemise. In the upper part, the round neckline features a low band collar, 1.5 cm high, of double fabric. The opening of the collar, at the centre front, closes with a ready-made mother-of-pearl button, paired to a handmade buttonhole. The opening continues vertically at a height of 32 cm, at the extension of the vertical seam joining the two fabric panels on the front of the chemise. On either side of the vertical opening, the fabric is folded over, forming a more solid placket finish. On the back of the chemise, a pleat at the base of the collar crowns the central vertical seam.

The garment is exclusively machine-made.

Height: 93 cm.

Width: 78 cm at the base.

Sleeve length: 14 cm (from the armpit).

Sleeve width: 18 cm.

Date of entry to the Collection: 1978

Provenance: Yeroskipou, Pafos – Purchase.

A sarka, woman’s waist-long jacket with a deep opening at the front, close-fitting bodice and long sleeves. It is made of imported silk fabric with floral patterns, branches with leaves on a lilac background interspersed with golden dots. A thin golden ribbon decorates the front opening all around the neck, and the hemline of the jacket. The lining of the sarka is made of beige cotton fabric. Geroskipou Folk Art Museum (inv. no. 19).