dress

ΜΓ677

Long, long-sleeved foustanin of cotton alatzia with red, green and camel/orange stripes against an off-white ground.

The dress includes a bodice and a wide skirt, joined at the waist with a waistband.

The bodice consists of two panels at the front (width: 25-25.5 cm, height 28.5-29 cm), which extend slighthly sideways underarms and are joined to the back panels. Under the breast, on either side, the fabric tapers with a vertical pleat, sewn with double machine stitching in black. The back is formed by three pieces of fabric. The largest one, at the centre, is six-sided (height: 31.5 cm, width on the shoulders: 38 cm, width at the lower end: 5.5 cm) and tapers downwards, where it is adorned with a band, 1.5 cm-tall, wherein runs a zig-zag line. The decoration is crafted with black machine stitching. The oblong side pieces at the back, which flank the central piece and are joined to the two front panels, are made of bias-cut fabric (height: 25 cm. width: 10-10.5 cm). The seams of the pieces are accentuated with double black machine stitching.

A vertical opening extends from the neckline to the waistband, at a height of 21.5 cm. It fastens with two hooks, sewn internally, at its base. On either side of the opening, the wide reinforcing hem is adorned with a band that includes two interlaced zig-zag lines of black machine stitching, forming parallel decorative lozenges in a row. A black trimming band finish is featured along the edges of the opening. The trimming band on the right side continues horizontally along the waistband, until its left end.

The waistband, 3 cm-tall, is made of a separate piece of the same fabric, with horizontal stripes, and extends to an 11.5 cm long overlap to the left side, where it fastens with two hooks. At centre front, the waistband is adorned with a zig-zag line of machine stitching (total length of decoration: 23 cm). A 12 cm-tall vertical opening is formed under the fastening of the waistband, on the side of the skirt, featuring a hem secured with basting.

The sleeves of the dress are formed with a single fabric piece with an external seam along the middle. The stripes of the dress converge obliquely towards the seam. The joint of the sleeves to the body forms a curved line. The bottom edges of the sleeves are reinforced with a hem, accentuated on the long side with double black machine stitching. A black trimming band covers the edge of each sleeve inside and out (total width: 1.5 cm). The entire bodice, including the sleeves, is lined with cotton cabot.

The skirt is made of five panels of similar width (42 cm, 45 cm, 2x46 cm and 47.5 cm). The upper part features pleats, sparser at centre front and much denser on the sides and at the back. The fabric of the skirt is folded over at the waist, where there is also an internal reinforcing band of cabot. In the lower part of the skirt, a 7 cm-tall band of cabot is secured with handmade black stitching along the bottom, which features a finish of black trimming band. In the upper part, the band is secured with machine stitching using black thread. At 7 cm over the hem, a purple ribbon, 1 cm wide, is secured with handmade black seam. Slightly up, at 7 cm from the purple ribbon, a black ribbon, 1.5 cm wide, is also hand-sewn.

The dress is preserved in very good condition. It stands out for its beautiful, harmonious combination of colours into the weave, its meticulous sewing and fine decoration.

Height: 125.5 cm (bodice: 33 cm up to the waist, skirt: 95.5 cm).

Width: 38 cm on the shoulders, 114 cm at the hem.

Length of sleeves: 48 cm.

Width of sleeves: 20 cm on the shoulders, 13 cm at the cuffs.

Date of entry to the Collection: 16.1.1990

Provenance: Palaiometocho, Nicosia – Purchased from Ero Farmaka.

ΜΓ 676

Long, long-sleeved dress of thick striped cotton alatzia. Three purple stripes alternate with one orange stripe against a white background. At calf height, at the back of the skirt, the alatzia is embellished with additional, symmetrically arranged horizontal stripes into the weft, in maroon, green and orange. The horizontal stripes create a plaid motif with the fabric’s vertical stripes.

The dress consists of a bodice and a wide skirt, joined at the waist with a waistband. The bodice consists of two panels at the front and a trapezoid gore at the centre of the back, which extends to the shoulders (maximum width: 38 cm) and, further down, on the sides, it is flanked by two oblong pieces of fabric, 10 cm wide, obliquely sewn. The two front panels are joined to the central gore at the back with a seam on the shoulders, then extend sideways underarms and are joined to the oblong pieces of the back. All the joints of the different pieces are accentuated with double machine stitching of black thread. Double stitching with black thread is also discernible on an overlap under the breast.

The long sleeves of the dress are made of a single fabric piece with a seam on the external side, extending the seam that joins the gore at the back to the side panels. The sleeves are attached to the body with a curved joint. They taper at the lower end, where they end in a simple hem.

At the centre of the back and at the sleeves, the bodice is lined with thick beige cotton fabric, woven on a loom. The two panels on the breast, the side pieces of the back and the inside of the waistband are lined with a different alatzia than that of the dress, featuring colourful stripes (purple, green, orange) lengthwise on the warp and, in places, on the weft (see the plaid motif created on the left side of the breast and the back).

The circular neckline of the dress is reinforced with a piece of the alatzia lining, hand-sewn with beige thread. It extends to a vertical opening, 36 cm-tall, which continues below the waist, at a height of 8.5 cm. No fastening elements have survived. Black and beige basting threads survive on either side.

At the waist, a waistband, 4 cm-tall, is made of the alatzia of the dress with its stripes in horizontal arrangement.

The long and wide skirt comprises six panels, four of which measure 45 cm in width and the other two 21 cm and 19 cm. In the upper part, the skirt is folded over internally and gathers to form dense pleats, held in place with two horizontal rows of seams using white thread. The skirt ends in a simple hem, 0.5 cm-tall, hand-sewn with black and occasionally beige thread.

The dress reproduces the intricate design of other dresses in the Collection. It is made of several joined pieces. In fact, in this particular case it seems to incorporate pieces from different available alatzia fabrics. The colours of the dress appear faded and its overall condition suggests is has been quite heavily used.

Height:  133 cm (bodice: 43 cm up to the waist, skirt: 90 cm).      

Width: 36 cm on the shoulders, 37 cm at the waist, 134 cm at the lower edge of the skirt.

Length of sleeves: 44.5 cm.

Width of sleeves: 19.5 cm in the upper part, 12 cm in the lower part.

Date of entry to the Collection: 1989

Provenance: Palaiometocho, Nicosia – Purchased from Ero Farmaka.

ΜΓ 674

Long-sleeved foustanin of cotton alatzia with pairs of stripes alternating between green and red against an off-white ground. The peculiar stripes of the alatzia include double rows of tiny consecutive circles, green or red, and rest on yellow bands.

The dress comprises a bodice and a wide skirt which is held in place with a handmade stitch of thick beige thread within a banded waistband around the waist. The back of the bodice consists of a single fabric piece (width: 46 cm on the shoulders, 40 cm at the waist), which continues to the front until under the shoulders, at a height of 12-12.5 cm. The rest of the front is covered by two square pieces of fabric, one on either side of the breast (height: 21.5 cm, width: 20-21 cm), with a vertical seam under each armpit.

The simple neckline of the foustanin features a low banded collar of a height of 1.5 cm, from a separate piece of the same alatzia. A vertical opening reaches from the neckline to below the waist (total height of opening: 45 cm, 29 cm of which up to the waistband and 16 cm under it). The two sides of the opening, up to the waistband, as well as the front of the neckline, feature a black trimming band finish. Further in, a decorative edging features arches on a straight line. The sewn-on elements are secured with sparse handmade basting using black thread. Handmade fishbone stitch in brown runs between the trimming band and the edging. On the left side of the dress, the stitch continues to the middle of the back side of the neckline, at the nape.

The long sleeves are sewn vertically to the body. They consist of a single fabric piece with a seam along the centre of the external side of the arm. At the left armpit there is a small rectangular patch of a different fabric (height: 6 cm,  width: 2 cm). At the edge of the sleeves, the fabric is turned in to create internal basting, 2.5 cm in height. The same edging as the one adorning the opening on the breast has been secured with black thread around the basting. The entire bodice, including the sleeves, is lined with joined pieces of thick, off-white, loom-woven cotton fabric. The 2.5 cm-tall waistband is made of two bands of the same alatzia as the dress, albeit with its stripes in horizontal arrangement. The vertical joint of the pieces is discernible at the centre of the back, whereas at the centre of the front side the waistband fastens with a hook. Another hook is placed slightly higher up, at the base of the vertical opening on the breast.

The wide skirt of the foustanin gathers at the waist in dense pleats, formed as the fabric is folded over inwards (height: 2.5 cm) and secured with two thick beige parallel threads that cross through the pleats all around. The skirt consists of two superposed panels. Each panel has a height of 48 cm, 2.5-3 cm of which correspond to basting in the lower panel and in the upper panel to the internal folded-over part within the pleated area. The vertical seams of the two panels, using thick beige thread, extend to the middle of the front side, on the same straight line as the opening of the breast. There is basting around the hemline whereas a black/brown trimming band runs along the edge of the skirt, externally and internally. Fine red lace, now surviving in fragments, is sewn with brown thread at a height of 2.7 cm above the basting. Higher up, at a distance of 20 cm from the basting, ready-made black lace, 3 cm wide, with schematized rosettes, outlines the skirt. The upper part of the lace is sewn with basting and its lower part is unstitched. The same edging as that adorning the sleeves and the opening on the breast runs around the joint of the two superposed pieces of the skirt, at 45 cm over the basting. The various types of seams used on the dress are exclusively handmade.

Height: 126 cm (height of bodice: 33.5 cm,  height of waistband: 2.5 cm, height of skirt: 90 cm).

Width: 46 cm on the shoulders, 40 cm at the waist, 120 cm around the hemline.

Length of sleeves: 43.5 cm.

Width of sleeves: 17.5 cm in the upper part, 14 cm in the lower part.

Date of entry to the Collection: 1989

Provenance: Palaiometocho, Nicosia – Purchased from Ero Farmaka.

ΜΓ 404 

Long, long-sleeved foustanin that reaches almost to the mid-calf, made of thick cotton alatzia with fine stripes alternating between red and green against a beige background. According to the Registry of the Yeroskipou Museum, the alatzia was woven in Farmakas by Vaseilou Ioannou, between 1928 and 1930.

The foustanin consists of a bodice and a wide skirt that gathers densely around the waist. The joint is covered by an added waistband, sewn to the body. The upper front part of the dress consists of two panels with seams on the shoulders (height: 29.5 cm, maximum width: 30 cm), that extend sideways underarms. The rest of the back is covered by a single trapezoid gore, 36.5 wide on the shoulders and 24 cm wide at the waist, above the waistband. The circular neckline of the dress fastens at the base of the neck with a spring and extends down to a vertical opening, 21 cm in height, which fastens with another two springs.

The added waistband, 3 cm in height, is created with the same fabric, its stripes in horizonal arrangement. Its right end extends to a length of 10 cm beyond the central vertical opening and fastens with a hook on the left side. On the same side, beneath the waistband, the skirt features a vertical, 11 cm-tall opening.

The sleeves consist of a single fabric piece with an inseam. They are sewn to the body along a curved line and taper towards the edges, where they end in a broad hem. The entire bodice, including the sleeves, are lined with beige fabric.

The skirt comprises five joined vertical panels. Two panels are 38 cm wide, while the rest of them are 33.5 cm, 39 cm and 38.5 cm wide. The skirt ends in a 2 cm-tall hem. Two parallel horizontal bands of red woven textile, 1 cm in height and 1 cm apart, made through a combination of red and white yarn, are sewn-on at 10.5 cm over the hem. At 3.5 cm from the upper red band, the fabric of the skirt is folded over inwards, creating a horizontal 1.5 cm-tall tuck all around, unstitched at the bottom end.

Fine stripes of the same red fabric run around the waistband, whereas a band of the same fabric reinforces the neckline externally and continues vertically to the right side of the vertical opening on the breast. The opening is flanked by another two vertical bands, 1-1.5 cm wide, of a different bias-cut fabric, with dark-coloured and deep red stripes. At the edge of each sleeve, a cuff is crafted with a sewn-on band of the same fabric.

All seams are machine stitched, using mostly black thread. The bands of red woven textile on the neckline, the vertical breast opening and the skirt are secured with stitching using white thread.

The foustanin stands out for its meticulous making. The decoration featuring textiles in vibrant red is paired with the red stripe on the alatzia.

Height: 113 (bodice up to the waistband: 33 cm, skirt: 80 cm). 

Width: 36.5 cm on the shoulders, 93 cm around the hemline.

Length of sleeves: 51 cm.

Width of sleeves: 18 cm in the upper part, 11.5 cm in the lower part.

Date of entry to the Collection: 13.6.1984

Provenance: Farmakas, Nicosia – Purchased from Vaseilou Ioannou.

ΜΓ 71

Formal foustanin of striped glossy imported fabric with gold-yellow, blue and white-burgundy stripes. The colours differ at the back in that blue outweighs yellow on the gold-yellow stripes.

The upper front of the dress consists of two pieces, one on either side of the breast. The entire back consists of a single piece of off-white cotton fabric. Beige cotton fabric, more sparsely woven, also lines the entire bodice and the long sleeves, except from their edges.

A long oval opening on the breast (height: 30 cm, maximum width: 17 cm), reaches vertically below the breast to the waist, fastening with four hooks, whereas it continues below the waist (total opening height: 24 cm, 8 cm of which up to the waist). On the inside of the dress, short fine strips from the dress fabric have been added to more or less the middle of the oval opening, perhaps intended as repair.

The long sleeves, sewn vertically to the body, consist of a single fabric piece with a joint on the inside of the arm. Two gussets are sewn into each armpit (joint length: 14 cm) for ease of movement. The lower end of the sleeves, featuring a bias-cut, 13 cm long opening, is lined with the same fabric as the dress. The lining would be discernible with turn-up sleeves (lining height: 12 cm).

The wide skirt of the dress consists of four panels, each of them approximately 64 cm wide. The upper part of the skirt, densely gathered all around, is joined to the bodice. The hemline is hand stitched.

A ready-made gold band, featuring a base of thick yellow thread and adorned with fine metallic bands that form consecutive lozenges and trianges, is sewn with a gold-coloured thread to the hem of the skirt, the waist, the breast opening and the opening on the sleeves. The edges of the sleeves and the breast opening are trimmed with a ready-made gold thread piping ribbon, held in place with brown thread. The piping includes a straight sparse plait, upon which rests a curved band forming consecutive arches. Sarkes included in the Collection, worn with this type of dresses, are similarly trimmed. In this particular dress, the sarka was required to cover the back which is made of simple cotton fabric.

In spite of the simple design of the dress, the type of its fabric and its trimmings create the impression of a flamboyant formal garment.

Height: 129 cm (bodice: 39 cm, skirt: 90 cm).

Width: 49 cm on the shoulders, 40 cm at the waist, 124 cm around the hemline.

Length of sleeves: 51 cm.

Width of sleeves: 16-16.5 cm at the upper end, 10 cm at the lower end.

Date of entry to the Collection: 20.4.1953

Provenance: Ktima, Pafos.

ΜΓ 40

Long foustanin, sleeveless, from striped silk-cotton imported fabric with alternating broad and narrow vertical stripes in green, brown, beige-yellow, lilac and orange. In the Registry of the Yeroskipou Museum it is reported that the foustanin was worn with a sarka, whereas its fabric is identified, with a question mark, as “mecidiyes” (for this particular type of fabric, see Hadjittofi and Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2024,...) The design of the fabric evokes the traditional loom-woven alatzia, and it may have been chosen for a foustanin with a traditional design precisely because of this resemblance.

The garment consists of a bodice and a skirt, joined around the waist. The upper part of the back (height: 15 cm) and the two front panels are made of a single fabric piece. The lower part of the back consists of a white cotton fabric, of the type that lines the entire upper part of the foustanin. All the joints on the bodice as well as the lining are hand-sewn.

An oval opening on the breast reaches vertically below the waist (total opening height: 16.5 cm, 10 cm of which below the waistline). The vertical opening fastens with two hooks, one at the middle and the other at the top of the opening. An upright collar at the back of the neck is made of an added band of fabric of the same type, with horizontal stripes. Blue cotton trimming band, hand-sewn with yellow thread, outlines the edges of the oval opening and the collar.

The generous skirt gathers at the waist in small pleats. A reinforcing band of lining, which also gathers like the skirt, has been added all around the waist, along the internal joint of the bodice to the skirt. The skirt consists of six panels, 42 cm wide, joined with handmade seams. A reinforcing band (fasa) of the same white cotton fabric as the lining, 4 cm wide, has been added to the inside of the hem. The edges of the skirt, both internally and externally, feature a trimming band finish of three different fabrics: blue, red and one of colourful stripes. Apart from its decorative function, the trimming band protected the hemline from fraying.

Albeit not skillfully sewn, the dress appears elegant. It is combined with a sarka, which explains the use of white fabric in the lower part of the back, intended to be covered. The fabric of the dress has worn in several places.

Height: 128 cm (bodice: 34 cm, skirt: 94 cm).

Width: 40 cm on the shoulders, 39.5 cm at the waist, 114 cm around the hemline.

Date of entry to the Collection: 10.11.1948

Provenance: Goudi, Pafos – Purchase.

Christening dress made of fine silk taffeta fabric. It has a round neck opening, short sleeves and a belt tied at the waist. The lower part of the dress is adorned with three horizontal bands of cutwork embroidery.

Private collection, Larnaca.