cotton

Double-breasted zimbouni made of thick white cotton cloth. The garment is adorned with white embroidery and threaded beads.

Long vest (yelekkin) made of cotton striped cloth (alatzia), with alternating stripes in the following order: brown, white, green, white, red, white, green, white and brown. The front part consists of two pieces, while the back is made of a single piece joining at the sides, under the armpits, the two front pieces. There is a small standing collar and embroidery around the openings.

Foustanin, cotton dress made of striped alatzia fabric. Red, green, yellow, orange, and black stripes are formed in the weft against a black background. The garment comprises a wide skirt and a separate bodice, which are joined at the waist.

The white shirt is made of taisto fabric, with lengthwise puckered bands created by warp threads of two different tensions. There is a vertical opening at the chest.

Women’s headscarf made of kouroukla, dyed in a deep red colour called tzeramidin. It is decorated with printed floral motifs in red and yellow, with black outline. The designs – of the edges (kkenarin) and the four corners (the milia) – are similar to those of other printed headscarves of the workshop of Evris Michael (or Euripides Mantilaris) and Kakoullis Brothers. The edges of the headscarf are decorated with pipilla (lace). The pattern features tiny white flowers with green leaves, repeated in a row.

The headscarf shows signs of wear, and repair indicates that the pipilla lace had come apart in some places. Despite this, the clarity of its motifs and the brightness of its colours are well preserved. Similar samples exist in the National Historical Museum in Athens (Gangadi et al. 1999, 178, fig. 179, 180), in the Leventis Municipal Museum of Nicosia, in the Historical and Folklore Museum of Corinth, in the Municipal Museum of Folk Art in Limassol, as well as in private collections.

A sleeved waistcoat (zimbouni) made of cotton alatzia with burgundy and yellow stripes. The neck features a low standing collar. The front consists of two pieces, while the back is made of a single piece of fabric. The sleeves are sewn vertically to the body.

The shirt is made of taiston loom fabric (with puckered bands created lengthwise by warp threads of two different tensions) and is adorned with lace.  The sarka (waistcoat) with a deep opening at the bust and long sleeves, is made of black velvet and shows rich decoration of applied (sewn-on) gold cords.  

Private collection, Larnaca.

Costume of an older man (dress Inv. No. 247), comprising a vraka (Inv. No. EE 3835), a chemise (Inv. No. EE 3836), a zostra (Inv. No. EE 3837), a straw hat (Inv. No. EE 3838) and po(d)ines (Inv. No. EE 3839). The costume was donated to the Benaki Museum by “Demetra”, the Rural Local Union of Lysi, Cyprus, in 1973.

Inv. No. EE 3835: Black vraka of loom-woven cotton fabric, with a cut similar to that of the young man’s breeches. Each leg of the vraka consists of a fabric panel folded and joined along the inner side to the central piece, the vakla (sella). At the lower end the leg openings, 15 cm. wide, have three rows of plain stitches along their edges. At the outer part of the side pieces, two rows of stitches form a decorative band from top to bottom that gives the impression of a seam. The sella is made of two fabric panels with a vertical joint at the centre, reaching from the front to the waist at the back, where there is a slit 15 cm. long. At the waist the fabric is folded to form a hem, through which passes the vrakozonin, a white cotton lace, 1 cm. wide, braided in a fishbone pattern. The vrakozonin was used for tying the vraka at the waist; it was passed through the hem with the help of a wooden accessory, the vrakorechtis. The vraka is prosiasti (pleated), yet its pleats are not as dense as those of the young man’s breeches. Dimensions: Length of vraka: 73 cm. maximum width: 143 cm.

Inv. No. EE 3836: Grey shirt made of alatzia, with a low upright collar and long sleeves with cuffs that close with a white button. The single-piece back is joined at the sides to the two front pieces. A slit opening, 11 cm. long, is formed at the bottom of these side seams. The nomitis below the collar is made of a separate piece. A vertical opening along the chest closes with six white buttons up to the base of the neck. The sleeves are formed of a single piece with a seam at the inner side of the arm. All seams are made of black thread stitches. Dimensions: Length: 75 cm. Width: 57 cm. Length of sleeves: 57,5 cm. Width of collar: 3 cm.

Inv. No. EE 3837: Zostra (waist sash) made of black woollen dimity. The only decorative element is a red line at the narrow sides, near the edges. Warp threads extend into simple fringes. Across one of the long sides the sash ends simply at the selvage, while on the opposite side the fabric folds into a narrow hem sewn with black thread in a fly stitch. Length: 232 cm. Width: 46 cm.

Inv. No. EE 3838: Wide-brimmed straw hat. A thin band of black fabric, 3 cm. wide, encircles the brim and the base of the projecting crown, which covers the head. Height: 9 cm. Diameter: 37 cm.

The straw hat made its appearance in Cyprus at the beginning of the British period; yet, as it accompanied European-style dress, it was more common in urban centres than in the countryside, where the prevailing types of headcover were the fez with a headscarf or the headscarf alone. The hat became rather popular during the 20th century.

Straw hats and European costumes are depicted in a photo by J.P. Foscolo, portraying the staff of the Ottoman Bank in Larnaca in 1895 (Foscolo 1992). Straw hats worn in combination with breeches are shown in photos dated to the last decade of the 19th century (Ohnefalsch-Richter 1994, tables 31: 1, 33: 1). The combination with breeches and boots is also met in a 1920 photograph, taken in Mesaoria (Michalopoulou-Charalambous 1993, 207).

Inv. No. EE 3839: Black podines (boots) of tanned he-goat skin, with a lining of yellowish sheepskin. At the upper end the leather folds outwards, forming a wide light-coloured band with a narrow hem of black leather, sewn with a zigzag stitch.

At the front end the toe box of the podina is slightly raised. Each boot consists of the following pieces: the front (the promouttin), sewn at the sides to the separate piece of the heel counter, a single piece that covers the calf, with a vertical seam along the outer side, and an additional triangular piece at the bottom of the calf and over the ankle, again at the outer side. All around the heel counter, a seam of stitches develops parallel to the joint. Overlaid pieces of sole leather form a thick sole without a heel. 14 iron flathead nails (rizes) made by a blacksmith are inserted at the tread. Their bent ends are seen all around the top of the sole. At the front of the sole there are three button-shaped nails with thin incisions on their round heads. A light-coloured seam extends at the joint of the sole to the boot leather above.

Instead of leather straps, the podines have a brown wool-knitted lace with a loop at one end, through which the other end passes. The lace is tightened by pulling. At the front part of the boots, down at the foot, decorative imprinted circles with a mesh design are arranged in three rows of five, six (at the centre) and five circles respectively.

The podines of the costume are entirely unworn. In Lysi, as in almost all the villages of Cyprus, there were skarpari(d)es, who made shoes, and tsagkari(d)es, who made podines (mentioned by name from 1885 to 1953 in: Xystouris 1980, 121). Height: 45 cm. Length of foot: 28,5 cm.

This later female costume (dress Inv. No. 245) comprises a dress (EE 3827), a tsemberi (EE 3828) and a pair of stivalia (EE 3829). Donated by “Demetra”, the Rural Local Union of Lysi, Cyprus, in 1973.

Inv. No. EE 3827: Dress made of European stamped fabric, with delicate pattern of five consecutive tiny triangles, repeated in two parallel rows. The white-, red- and yellow-coloured motifs appear scattered against a brown background. The dress consists of a separate, wide skirt made of three fabric panels, and a fitted top with narrow horizontal pleats forming a vertical decorative band at the chest. A vertical opening, formed along one of its sides, closes with clips. The dress has a round collar of the same fabric, and long sleeves with cuffs. The joint between the skirt and the top is covered by a belt of the same fabric.

The design of the dress follows pre-1950s’ fashion styles and denotes European influence. Such dresses were made by professional seamstresses, while simple traditional costumes were sewn and embroidered at home, by women themselves. Length of dress: 120 cm. Length and width of sleeves: 76x0,5 cm.

Inv. No. EE 3828: Tsemberi (headscarf) of kouroukla (thin cotton fabric), with stamped decoration on a brown background. The all-around print, the kkenarin, consists of a repeating floral pattern, formed with the use of oblong wooden moulds. The corners are also adorned with a milia pattern, a neoclassical-type wreath with leaves and flowers. The outline of the designs, the kara-kalemi, is black, with red and yellow as complementary colours, printed with different moulds. The design, which resembles that of other stamped headscarves in the Benaki Museum Collection, remained in use at the workshop of Kakoullis brothers until 2004.

The tsemberi is trimmed all around with continuous kamares (arches) of green thread, and knots of white thread. Dimensions: 70x70 cm.

Inv. No. EE 3829: Stivalia, pair of female black boots, made by a skarparis (shoemaker) (for their way of manufacture, see Ionas 2001, 471, 477). Their toe box is round, and their heel is low and curved (“Louis”), made of overlaid pieces of sole leather. Their shaft widens upwards, reaching up to the middle of the calf. They are fastened with 13 round leather buttons, arranged in a vertical row at the side of the shaft. Each boot consists of six pieces: two at the front, covering the toes and the upper part of the foot, one at the heel counter, two at the sides of the shaft and a strip bearing the buttonholes. The joints are machine-sewn, decorated with stitches and rows of small holes. Machine-made stitches form straight and zigzag or wavy lines, as well as stylized anthems. Two leather strips, sewn vertically along the entire front and back of the shaft, protrude at its upper end. They are decorated with stitches, forming consecutive rhombuses bordered by lines. Prokkouthkia (small nails) are employed at the heels.

The stivalia are accompanied by a small metal hook with an elongated shaft, curved into a loop at its back end. The hook, 11 cm. long, was used to fasten the boots. Height of boot: 36 cm. Width of top opening: 25 cm.

Inv. No. EE 1589: Foustanin, cotton dress made of striped alatzia fabric. Red, green, yellow, orange, and black stripes are formed in the weft against a white background. The garment comprises a wide skirt and a separate bodice, which are joined at the waist. The back consists of a single piece of fabric, with a seam at the back of the shoulders. At the front, two separate pieces, sewn to the sides, form a deep opening, which leaves most of the chest uncovered and continues with a vertical slit reaching just below the waist. The opening closes with three hook-and-eye clasps. The sleeves are narrow and long, with the stripes of the fabric arranged in a horizontal position. Their edge is adorned with a sewn-on a black cord. Similar decoration is found in the middle of the skirt, covering the joint of the upper and the lower parts, and at the hem. For ease of movement, under the armpits there is an additional square piece of alatzia consisting of two small, diagonally joined triangles. The side seams on the bodice and the sleeves are covered by a double cord, straight and zigzagged. The opening of the chest is adorned with brown ready-made lace. The entire bodice and the sleeves are lined with white cotton fabric.

The long skirt consists of two pieces joined in width, without matching of the stripes, with the seam covered by a black cord. The only vertical joint is formed in the extension of the breast opening.

The hem is reinforced with a strip of cotton fabric, 35 cm. wide.

Similar dresses were worn in rural areas of Cyprus, such as Mesaoria and Paphos, in combination with vratzia, namely baggy trousers (see for example Tarsouli 1955, "Harvester of Paphos", opposite p. 384; The Cypriot Costumes 1999, 152-57; Papademetriou 1991, 106 fig. 70).

Dimensions: Length of the dress: 130 cm. Length of skirt: 92 cm. Length of sleeves: 45 cm.

Donated by Fokion Tanos in 1948.

Inv. No. EE 4326: Female, festive sayia from Karpasia, made of thick cotton thread worked on the doulappin (spinning wheel). The garment is adorned with whitework embroidery and threaded beads. It was worn over a chemise.

The back and front parts consist of a single straight fabric panel, seamless at the shoulders. At the front, a vertical slit extends all the way down. A deep opening is also formed at the bust, leaving a large part of the chest uncovered. Just below the chest, the sayia closes with six knitted loops, which corresponded to now missing buttons. A little lower an additional oblique piece of fabric is sewn on each side, widening downwards. Adding these gores served the cross-over fastening of the garment at the front. Two gores have also been added to the sides, where slit openings 34 cm. high allow ease of movement. A small patch of thin cotton cloth has been added at the end of one of these openings.

The long and narrow sleeves, sewn vertically to the shoulders, have two additional triangular pieces joined diagonally below the armpit to facilitate movement. The two sleeves have a bottom opening measuring 22 and 23 cm., respectively, while in their entire length they are lined with white cotton fabric. The back part below the neck is also lined with white cotton fabric; the same applies for the part surrounding the chest opening, which is embellished with whitework embroidery in delicate scrolls or zigzag patterns, enriched with threaded red and green petroues (beads). The same embroidery covers the seams of the sleeves at the shoulders and, in a thinner band, the shistres of the sayia, namely the side openings. Threaded beads are also employed at the opening of the sleeves. Particularly interesting is the embroidery at the back of the hem: three narrow embroidered bands with threaded beads are defined by lourouthkia (thin stripes) of siettarin-coloured (light brown) thread. Two more brown stripes, 0.05 m. wide, border the decoration of the fringe.

In her description of Karpasia embroideries, Angeliki Pieridou also mentions dress decoration: “The same embroideries with beads also adorned women’s clothes, white sayies. They were woven using the thick cotton thread worked on the doulappi, and the embroidery, which was usually arched, was limited to the edges, which were easy to embroider on the loom. The embroidery on the chest, the sleeves and the side openings was needlework with threaded beads for [further] decoration" (Pieridou 1980, 28).

See a similar sayia in: Ohnefalsch-Richter 1994, table 65: 2; Papademetriou 2000, 110 cat. 1.

Length of the sayia: 113cm. Length of sleeves: 58 cm.

It belonged to Angeliki Pieridou and was donated to the Benaki Museum by George and Marina Pieridou in 1981.

Inv. No. EE 1622: Sayia made of alatzia with white cotton background and stripes in blue, light blue and light brown colours in the warp. Brown stripes also run through the weft at intervals, thus creating plaid. At the back of the hem there are denser plaids with brown and blue horizontal stripes. The sayia has a small upright collar, a deep narrow opening at the chest and a vertical slit all the way down. At the base of the chest opening, it closes with two knitted buttons, one red/reddish-brown and the other yellow/honey-coloured.

The back of the garment consists of a single fabric panel, which extends to the front. Two gores (loxes) have been added from the base of the chest opening to the hem, one on each side, made of the same fabric. Similar gores on both sides of the garment’s lower part bear the side openings, each 0.24 m long. The sleeves, long and vertical, are fixed to the shoulders with their stripes arranged in a horizontal position. They end in an opening 0.16 m. long, lined internally with a piece of the same alatzia. The usual square piece of fabric has been added under the armpits to facilitate movement.

In term of colours, the rich decoration of the sayia agrees with the woven fabric. The finish of the collar and of the chest opening, extending to the upper part of the vertical opening, consists of a cord braided with honey-coloured and reddish-brown threads. A similar cord adorns the opening of a small pocket on the right side of the chest, the inside of which is lined with purple silk. At the side openings and the sleeves, the cord also includes green thread. Parallel to the cord, a zigzag line is formed of black thread. This simple design is the only decorative element at the lower part of the vertical slit and at the hem.

More elaborate decoration encloses the opening of the chest, which is trimmed with sewn-on green and rose cord forming a wavy line. A zigzag line of reddish-brown and metal threads runs internally along the green cord. All around the opening, lattice-filled triangles embroidered with reddish-brown silk alternate with black triangles, of which only traces are preserved. Small lozenges around the collar, made of black thread, are also worn. A zigzag line, with lozenges on every other of its points, borders the seam of the sleeves. The line consists of twisted metallic and black threads. Black thread, alternating at intervals with reddish-brown one, is also employed for the fly stitch of the seam.

The sayia has no lining. Only the part under the appliqué decoration, all around the chest opening, is lined with the same alatzia.

Embroideries similar in patterns and colours, characterise many surviving sayies from Karpasia (see for example Papademetriou 1991, 100-101 fig. 64, 65, 114-116; The Cypriot Costumes 1999, 170-173, 176-177). Donated by Fokion Tanos in 1948.

Length of the sayia: 116 cm. Length of sleeves: 50 cm.