Female

The yileko is made of striped white cotton alatzia. The back and the front are made of a single piece of material, with no stitching at the shoulders. There is a vertical opening at the front.

At the sides, a vertical strip with weaving stripes placed horozontally, in the oposite direction to the back and front, is sewn beneath the arm with routzela stitch. The sides have slits at the bottom.

The yileko is lind with bleached cotton material.

The entire breast, on both sides of the opening, is completely covered with attached patterns worked in silk brisimi and green and red threaded patrou(d)es, and the back has a similar triangular pattern ending in spiral. The vertical opening has a row of loops of braided brisimi, with beads of various colours used for the buttons.

The yileko is made of the same materials and has the same style of decoration as the sarka inv.no 2299.

The sarka is made of striped cotton alatzia. The back and front are made of a single piece, with no stitching at the shoulders, and there is a vertical v-shaped opening in the front, fastened at the bottom with two loops. The long narrow sleeves are sewn vertically to the body and are open at the bottom.

The bottom of the sleeves is reinforced by striped alatzia on inside, and the interior of the sarka is entirely lined with bleached cotton material.

The sarka is lavishly decorated with embroideries. The opening at the front, the join of the two sleeves, and the back, are all adorned with a variety of patterns volutes, spirals, checks worked in naturally coloured silk thread, as well as threaded red and green petrou(d)es. The sleeve hems are also decorated with petrou(d)es, with large glass beads on the finishes. The garment is a rare example of the sarka worn in Karpasia, which is made of white cotton material with decorative petrou(d)es attached to it; similar attached decoration and baeds are also found un the white karpasiot sayia.

The costume of the village woman with festive dress consists of: the fustani (dress), the ypokamison (chemise), the sarka (sleeved jacket) and the headdress comprising two scarves.

In the case of this costume, too, the basic garment is the long fustani (dress). It is made of beige silk brocade with bouquets of delicate flowers interwoven here and there in gold-yellow and mauve colours. Is has a sleeveless narrow bodice, a deep round opening at the breast, and a heavily pleated skirt gathered at the waist. The hem of the skirt is decorated with five parallel mauve velvet ribbons around the edge.

The short chemise is made of pure silk material woven on the loom, interwoven with stripes of natural colour. The openings on the chest and the sleeves are adorned with rich pipilla of the same colour, with delicate styled flowers.

The sarka, a short mauve velvet jacket is worn over the chemise. It has sleeves sewn vertically to the body, a small upright collar, and a vertical opening at the front. The decoration is confined to a thin band of gold braids sewn to it, forming harmonious floral patterns at the edges of the openings.

The headdress, which indicates the social status of the woman wearing it, consists of two printed kerchiefs. The inner one, which is folded carefully around the head, is made of thin mauve cotton material decorated with delicate flowers in dark colours. The outer one, which is folded into a triangle and worn loosely and casually above it, is made of kouroukla (white cotton material), with black (karakalemi) printed floral decoration consisting of continuous, narrow wreaths of printed patterns around the borders (kenarin) and branches with flowers in the corners. Around the edges it is decorated with needlework pipilla (lace) made of silk thread in its natural colour, with a row of sequins (poulia) on the finish of the pipilla.

The costume of the woman of Karpasia with routzetti comprises the following dress items: a skirt called routzetti, the ypokamison (chemise), the sarka (sleeved jacket), the headdress consisting of two scarves, the skaletta (necklace) and podines (boots).  

The heavily pleated skirt, called routzetti, is made of woven cotton material dyed a dark red colour, and of a crinkled texture. It consists of eleven panels sewn together with a large number of tucks at the waist. These are covered by a strip of the same material, forming the sash at the waist. One side stitch is connected by a routzela stitch of coloured cotton threads, ending in tassels at the top, unstitched part. Towards the bottom, just above the hem, there is a horizontal pleat hand-sewn with yellow cotton thread. The inside of the hem has a strip of white cotton material, held in place by hand-stitching in the form of a zig-zag line of coloured threads. All stitching is done by hand, with orange thread.

The chemise is made of striped silk material woven on the loom in a natural colour. The back and the front are made of a single piece of material, with no stitching at the shoulders. On each side there is a straight panel the full width of the material, which extends in a single piece along the entire lower part of the sleeve. The upper part of the sleeve consists of a separate straight panel. The edge of the neck, the opening on the front, and the sleeve hems are trimmed with silk pipilla (lace), forming an elaborate garland of flowers.

The sarka is made of black felt. Is fastens by means of four hooks and-eyes set vertically beneath the breast, leaving a deep opening. The narrow sleeves flare at the bottom. The hems of all the openings are trimmed with garland consisting of twisted gold braid threads worked into a floral motif, spirals, volutes, and plaits, with border of a continuous scroll. The scroll is a decorative feature found in many Cypriot sarkes, of which it is a characteristic finish. The sarka is lined with white cotton material, and the sleeves with red.

The headdress consists of two thin square cotton kerchiefs. The inner, which is wound to form a cap, has black printed floral decoration against a white ground and a border around the four edges of fine papilla (lace) and sequins. The outer kerchief has multi-coloured printed decoration on a light red ground.

The neck is adorned by a silver necklace, known on Cyprus as skaletta. It consists of three triangular meshes of filigree quatrefoil flowers linked together. The top sides of the triangles continue in the form of a chain of similar flowers that ends in a fastening hook. The three sides of the triangles are decorated by rows of small pendent balls.

The female black podines (boots) have a small heel and pointed toes. The heel, which consists of several layers of leather, is fastened on by small iron nails, and the sole is attached by iron and wooden nails. On the stitching at the sides there is an additional strip of leather of the same colour, and two leather loops are sewn to the tops with white cotton thread. The podines come up to the middle of the shins. Their only decorative feature is the white cotton stitching around the heel and three rows of fine stitching, two straight and one wavy, on the finish at the top.

The costume consists of a silk ypokamison (chemise), elaborately embroidered vrakia (pantaloons), a sayia made of alatzia, printed kerchiefs for headdress, several pieces of jewellery and leather shoes.

The chemise, made of taisto striped cotton-silk with single or double red stripes woven into it, has separately made striped cotton sleeves sewn vertically to the body. The back and front are made of a single piece, with no stitching at the shoulders. On the chest there is a vertical opening. All the stitching is by hand. The neck is trimmed with a handmade braid of red, yellow and green cotton thread.

The vrakia (pantaloons) are made of white calico. They are gathered at the waist, and the podinaria reach down the ankle, where they, too, are gathered. The povratzia are made of a separate piece of thick cotton material woven on the loom and embroidered with gold and silk threads of dark and light red, green and terracotta-red. The pattern is embroidered with different stitches (typical of the tsevres embroidery) and consists of large and small stylised flowers and leaves. The pattern is repeated in two bands extending the full width of the material, leaving very little of it undecorated.

Above the chemise and pantaloons was worn the main garment, the sayia, which is made of thick cotton material (alatzia), in which are woven stripes and checks of multi-coloured threads. A different pattern is woven into a single piece at the bottom of the back. The back and the front of the sayia are made of a single piece of material. There is a semi-circular opening on the chest. The sayia is open vertically at the front and both sides. The long narrow sleeves are sewn vertically to the body, are open from the elbows down, and are lined with red cotton material. On the right side, beneath the breast, there is a semi-circular opening forming a pocket. All openings of the sayia are adorned with small needlework loops of twisted red cotton and silk threads, a simple form of papilla (lace). The chest and side openings are trimmed with a band of bright red felt, which is sewn on and flanked by gold and wool embroideries in the form of flowers and crosses.

The headdress consists of two square kerchiefs, wound skilfully around the head. They are made of fine cotton material called kouroukla, one bright red and the other green. They are decorated with a row of printed floral motifs all around the edges, with a bouquet of flowers in each of the four corners. The outlines of the pattern are printed in black colour (karakalemi), and the flowers and leaves in red (tekkirin) and yellow colour. All around the edges, the kerchiefs are decorated with pipilla (lace) with the design of a cypress tree (kyparissoudi), worked in green and white silk thread. The slim waist is emphasised by a similar kerchief of a red colour.

The jewellery comprises the following:

A gold-plated splinga (pin), which might be worn either on the kerchief or on the chest to close its opening. It has a head in the shape of a cross with stepped arms, with a ring at the end, from which a gold coin (grossi, piaster) was suspended. One side of this coin has a bust of the Queen Victoria and the other a crown and the date 19… Around the circumference can be seen the inscription CYPRUS (at the top) and PIASTRES (below).

The breast is adorned with a myrmidi, a pectoral ornament consisting of interlinked thin gold chains. From the neck hangs a gilt filigree cross with toutounia , small hollow filigree balls, which alternate with coral-coloured beads. The cross itself consists of a central rosette with an inlaid glass stone at the centre and four teardrop-shaped arms with the pointed end outwards. Tiny totouunia are suspended from the ends of the three arms of the cross, and the spaces between them are adorned with red beads attached to calyx-shaped settings.

The costume is completed by black leather shoes. They have a low curved heel and pointed toes. The sole is nailed around the edges with wooden nails and the heel has little iron nails. The front part of the shoe ends in a row of delicate decorative tongues. On the inside there is a tongue with its left side sewn to the top of the shoe, where side pieces join and are fastened with a black lace. At the stitching and the openings there are hand-sewn stitches in straight and wavy lines.

The costume consists of ypokamison (chemise), foustani (dress), two headscarves and a kerchief for the waist, a necklace and podines (boots).

The chemise is short and made of taiston cotton fabric (woven material with crinkled stripes running lengthwise). The back and front are made of a single piece, with no stitching on the shoulders. A straight piece of the full width of the fabric is used for each side, and extends to form the lower part of the sleeve, while another straight piece is used for the upper part. The V-shaped opening, and the hems of the sleeves are adorned with pipilla (lace) made of thick white cotton thread, and have a red finish.

The fustani is made of striped cotton alatzia, with green, white and red stripes in the warp and a blue cotton weft. It is entirely hand-sewn and has a body with a large semi-circular opening, passing beneath the breast, which is covered by the chemise. The long sleeves are attached to the body by sleeve-seams, as in modern garments. The long skirt is made of five pieces of material sewn together, with a thick gathering at the waist. The body and sleeves are lined with fine cotton fabric. The edges of the breast opening, the sleeves and the hem are decorated with a thin band consisting of two wool gaitania, one straight and the other wavy.

A kerchief of printed cotton fabric is tied around the waist. Around the edge of this is a coloured band of flowers against a white background. The rest of the kerchief is decorated with blue and red lahuri pattern, amongst which are branches with white flowers set against a red back ground.

The head is covered by two square kerchiefs, one tied like a cap and the other worn loosely over it. The former is made of red cotton cloth with white floral decoration, and the latter is made of white cotton fabric with black printed decoration consisting of wreaths of flowers and branches.

A necklace is worn at the neck consisting of pieces of unworked coral strung on braid of thick cotton thread.

The podines (boots) come up to the middle of the thighs and are made of black leather with thick soles made of several pieces of leather. Each sole has 20 broad-headed rizes (iron nails), the ends of which are bent up at the edge of the sole, and secure a white and red decorative gaitani. The leather at the top of the front is folded back, ending in three points. A red gaitani is sewn to the finish of the boot and extends to these points, where it forms tassels. In the side stitching a white strip of the leather inside can be seen, and somewhat lower down, on the same line, there is a decorative element of red and white cotton thread. The heel is adorned with white stitches.

The costume of the “village woman with sayies”, comprises the following items: vrakia (pantaloons), ypokamison (chemise), sayia (long, sleeved garment, open all the way down at the front), sarka (sleeved jacket), two kerchiefs and jewellery.

The vrakia, the basic item in the costume, are made of white cotton material gathered at the waist. The povratzia, the separately-made bottoms of the podinaria (the lower part of the pantaloons), are made of linen material loom-embroidered with coloured silk and cotton patterns arranged vertically.

The long, austere chemise is made of striped linen-cotton material woven on the loom. It is formed of a single piece of material with no stitching at the shoulders, and has a vertical opening for the trachilia (piece of fabric covering the chest). On either side, a straight panel extends the full width of the material and forms the bottom part of the sleeve, the upper part of which is made of a separate piece.

The sayia is made of striped silk fabric in natural white, bright red and light pink. The back and front are made of a single piece, with no stitching at the shoulders. As usual with sayia, there is a vertical opening at the front for the full length of the garment, and a semi-circular opening, which leaves part of the breast exposed. There is an upright collar at the back of the neck. A separate oblique panel starts at the base of the semi-circular opening and broadens out towards the bottom. This added loxa, as it is called, is used to cross-fasten the sayia at the front. The opening is fastened beneath the breast by five knitted buttons, made of bright red silk, and five loops. Slits at either side give the wearer of the sayia some freedom of movement. There is an inner pocket on the right side, below the waist. The long narrow sleeves are open at the bottom and lined for a short distance with silk material, in which coloured designs are woven against an olive-green background. This lining is visible when the sleeves are turned back.  The sayia itself is completely lined with fine cotton fabric made on the loom. The openings of the sayia are trimmed with coloured silk braids and gaitania, and there is a small cross embroidered at the left side below the breast.

The sarka is made of silk material, woven with alternating dark red and gold stripes, separated by stripes of white and blue. Is has slits at the sides and a semi-circular opening on the breast, and is fastened by a small cross-piece at the bottom of the front. The long, narrow sleeves are sewn vertically to the body, and have a small opening at the end, from the wrist up. This part is lined with red cotton material. The opening and hem at the breast, and the finish at the bottom, are decorated with twisted dark-red silk threads. The sleeve openings are trimmed with a thin light-green seiriti around the edges. The sarka is lined with thick cotton material woven on the loom, sewn to it by green and blue threads that are visible on the outside.

The headdress consists of two square kerchiefs, one tied around the head and the other thrown loosely over it. The inner kerchief is made of fine white cotton material and has a coloured printed floral pattern. The outer kerchief is made of dark red material called bouchasi, which is the same as the lining of the sleeve openings of the sarka. The kerchief has a border of delicate pipilla (lace), needlework made of coloured silk threads and gold sequins at intervals. There is an undulating cross made of similar sequins on the corner.The jewellery, worn for ostentation and to indicate superiority, stamped the woman’s identity and was the main means of marking her social and marital status.The belt and the buckle is also found in rural costumes with sayies. The red, lined-silk belt, enlivened at intervals by gold, blue, yellow and mauve silk threads, is fastened at the waist by means of a silver buckle with an apparently triple front piece, known in Cyprus as poukla.

The buckle has a variety of decorative techniques. All three parts have metal border, are covered with twisted filigree work forming spiral patterns, and are adorned with appliques in the form of rosettes and flower calyxes. The entire buckle is adorned with small squares, and at the middle of the centre piece, which resembles a pomegranate or a crown, is a granulated six-point star enclosing a rosette. Three chains start from one side of the buckle and end at a pin which is in turn fastened to the other side. At the back are pieces of metal by which the linen-silk belt is secured.

In addition to thin, gold, interlocking chains, the breast is adorned by a pin called splinga. The pin has a filigree toutouni (small hollow filigree ball) at the top, which is crowned with a glass stone held in position by wire. Nine silver chains threaded with red beads at the end and thin circular metal plaques, or hanging Turkish coins, called paraouthkia, hang from rings attached to the toutouni. The jewel is completed by four leaf-shaped objects of a decorative and apotropaic character, which are suspended from four of the chains. The piece of jewellery could also be worn as a kerchief pin.

The costume is completed by a pair of leather podines (boots) with heels and rounded toes. The heel consists of several layers of leather, with round-headed nails in them, and has an iron horseshoe attached with thick nails. The sole has two rows of wooden and iron nails; there are small nails around the edges and larger ones with conical heads decorated with engraved rays set along the front part of the underneath of the sole. There is an extra strip of leather at the junction between the front and back parts. A leather loop is sewn on top of the stitches on each side. The finish at the top has decorative stitching with straight and wavy lines, which continue in the form of a vertical stitch. There is also a row of decorative stitches in white thread around the heel. The podines come halfway up the shins, as was usually the case with women’s boots.

The costume worn by Cypriot ladies in the towns consisted of a fustani (dress) worn over the ypokamison (chemise), a sarka (long sleeved jacket), a fez and shoes.

The pleated fustani (dress) is sewn in dark-mauve silk brocade with dark-coloured flowers, set vertically, woven into it. The long fusta (skirt) is gathered at the waist and has a tail at the back. The sleeveless bodice, made of a single piece of material, has a deep neckline, which is covered by silk trachilia (a piece of cloth which covers the chest), adorned with elaborate pipilla (lace). The separately made silk sleeves come down to the wrist and end in lavish lace flowers.

A short embroidered jacket, the sarka, is worn over the fustani (dress). Made of blue velvet, it has a deep opening on the chest and long sleeves that flare at the wrists. The openings are richly trimmed, with attached gold embroideries of palmettes and floral motifs that match the silk trachilia and the light lacy lower parts of the sleeves, which are visible beneath the sarka.

The most important form of adornment in this costume as with most traditional costumes is the headdress.

Fez made of red felt turned inside out. The fez is adorned with a black silk tassel that entirely covers it. Starting from the top, this tassel is sewn by hand with stitches forming concentric circles and creating a tepeliki (turk. tepe = hill, summit) on top of the head. The brim of the fez is encircled by a black velvet band with attached gold thread and tirtiri (braids), forming garlands of flowers. The band starts from the right, goes round the fez and ends on the left side, where the two tongue-shaped ends meet. These tongues are trimmed with gold thread and tirtiri (braids). The band is lined with waterproof black cotton material, as is the hem of the fustani (dress). The long tassel, made of black silk thread is adorned with two garlands of gold thread twisted into flowers, spirals, and other curvilinear patterns. The garland is fastened to the fez at both ends and in the middle, and hangs freely above the tassel. In the middle of the inside of the fez there is a linear pattern worked in white thread. On the right side, a square, folded kerchief is fastened. It is made of delicate linen fabric, which is trimmed around with multi-coloured silk embroidery in the form of vegetal and floral motifs.

On the top of the fez are placed the fiora (flowers). These are an elaborate ornament in the form of a wreath of gold twisted wire, with delicate pearls around it interwoven with thick white silk thread to form a light composition of leaves, buds and flowers.

The neck is adorned with a pearl necklace, consisting of twenty-three strings of pearls strung on yellow cotton thread and forming a bunch with knots at the ends. At one end there is a red tassel.

The costume worn by town ladies is completed by skarpinia (shoes), which are very elegantly and delicately made. Handmade, with heels and pointed toes, they are of soft leather reinforced by thicker leather at the toes and heels, and sheathed in cotton - silk material in the natural colour of silk. A triple bow made of grey silk ribbon is sewn to the opening at the front. The side joints are hand-sewn with five stitches, and a thin strip of the same material is sewn with stitching around the opening. The sole is attached by wooden nails around the edges, and the heel by small metal nails. The entire sole is covered with embossed dots in the form of lozenges. On the inside, a second sole is stuck to a piece of blue material and decorated with lozenges, with an embossed rosette at the centre. The maker's stamp can be seen on this sole: HAGI GAVRIL BOOT-MAKER,

TO H.E. THE HIGH COMMISSIONER NICOSIA - CYPRUS. 

The portrait of a lady is painted on the wooden case of a grandfather clock. She wears a fine-spun white shirt trimmed with lace at the edges, over the shirt she wears an anteri (open gown) made of a fabric with floral pat­terns. It has a big round opening on the chest is closed with a series of buttons down to the waist. At the waist it is secured by an embroidered belt with round buckles. On top of the anteri she wears a tzouppe (long robe) lined with spot­ted ermine fur. The fabric show delicate reddish flowers on a background in shades of green. A high, headdress swathed in flower-patterned scarves, as well as jewellery (earnings, pearl and other necklaces, bracelets), complete the attire. Part of the hair is projecting from the headdress along the temples. A red flower is attached to the scarf decorating the right part of her face. Her eyes are outlined with holla (kohl), and the lips are painted red.