cotton

Embroidered piece of cloth made of off-white cotton fabric, with a loom-woven selvedge (kenar) on one long side and the other three edges. The two narrow ends are decorated with three groups of similar flower patterns. Each group comprises a three-stemmed branch with leaves and blossoms on top. The central stem rests on a thick embroidered line, forming the ground, which has three short vertical lines on one side of the stem, and four on the other side. Below it is a zigzag line; the short lines and the zigzag are embroidered with mauve thread, while the stem and the ground line in pale yellow. The flowers are mauve, lilac and light green. Green is also used in two leaves of one design. The other two patterns are exactly the same, also in colours, but differ from the first one in the colour combination: the central flower is again lilac, but the two on either side of it are blue and the leaves pink. The lines on the ground are repeated exactly the same, and below each of the patterns there are three embroidered dots, two of them yellow and the one in the middle mauve. Similar patterns and colour combinations adorn the other narrow end. The flower patterns are made with filling stitch (dolgu işi), the linear motifs with backstitch (iğne ardı).

Between the patterns two threads have been drawn for a length of 15cm, to mark the intended cutting of the cloth lengthwise, in order to make three similar girdles (uçkur/uşgur). Total width: 37cm; width of each division: 12.5cm, 12.5cm and 12cm, respectively. Length: 2.10m.

Waist girdle (uçkur/uşgur) made of loosely woven cotton cloth. Both narrow ends are embroidered at the ends with flower patterns – three groups of blue flowers at each end – consisting of two crossed sprigs with different flower motifs. The stems are embroidered with gold metal wire (tel). Under the flowers runs a wavy tendril (filiz) in blue. There is a machine-made seam on all four sides. Width: 16.5cm. Length: 2.00m.

Man’s chemise (gömlek) made of plain cotton off-white cloth with long sleeves. The whole front part is one piece 67cm wide, with a vertical opening, 39cm long, fastened with five white buttons – one of them bigger than the others and of a different design. The opening is reinforced with extra pieces, sewn lengthwise, and with a small rectangular piece (5x3cm) at its lower end. Around the neck the cloth is folded over 2cm and stitched to form a small collar. On the shoulders and at the back below the collar is an extra piece of cloth, 11.5cm broad. The back is made of one piece, 70cm wide, and its total length is 83cm. The sleeves, made of one piece each, folded and stitched lengthwise under the arms, are sewn vertically to the body and shoulder parts; they are 21cm wide on the upper part, tapering to 15cm with a simple seam at the lower end. Both sides of the chemise have an opening 7cm long. The chemise is machine-stitched and has been repaired with several patches.

Man’s chemise (poukamiso, turk. gömlek) made of silk-cotton crepe textile, white with light brown stripes, woven on the loom with wefts of different tensions, thus creating puckered stripes along the warp (taiston). The front is made of a piece 80cm long and 72cm wide, with the stripes set vertically. On the chest is an additional rectangular piece (46x20cm) with a vertical opening 39cm long, fastened by five buttons (one of them on the col­lar). Here the stripes are arranged horizontally and the cloth is gathered together with stitching forming a honeycomb pattern within a frame. The strip of cloth that borders the lower part of this piece has decorative zigzag stitches. An additional piece stitched to the lower edge makes the front part 17cm longer. On the shoulders is another piece of cloth, 13.5cm wide and 56cm long from arm to arm, with the stripes set horizontally. The back is one piece with the stripes arranged vertically, and is stitched to the shoulder piece and to the sides of the front piece under the arms. The back is also elon­gated with an extra piece of the same cloth, 8cm long, attached to the lower end. The edges are treated with machine stitching. Around the neck is formed an upright collar 3.5cm wide. The long sleeves (57cm) are sewn vertically to the body and to the shoulder piece. Starting with a width of 25cm at the shoulder, the sleeves narrow downwards to 13.5cm and end in cuffs 6cm wide, fastened by one white button. The stripes of the cuffs are horizontal. The chemise is of fine manufacture and well preserved. 

Man’s chemise (poukamiso, turk. gömlek) made of striped cotton cloth (alatzia, turk. alaca), with blue and red stripes on off-white background. The front part consists of two pieces of about 18cm width each. The length in front is 60cm. The piece of cloth forming the front continues as a single piece at the back for 39cm, then it is stitched to another piece 15cm wide. At the neck there is a two-piece collar. The front has a vertical opening fastened by five buttons of white and blue colour. Along the opening on either side there is an extra piece of cloth, each 7cm wide, the stripes of which are set obliquely. These extra pieces make the total width of the front 50cm (18x2+7x2cm). Additional square pieces, made of two triangular pieces of the same cloth stitched together diagonally (19cm), are inset at each underarm to give ease of movement. At the lower edge there is a slit on each side, 5cm long. The chemise is lined with white cotton fabric. On the right side it has a pocket (26cm high, 17cm wide) made of an extra piece of alaca with the stripes set horizontally. The opening of the pocket is 13.5cm wide. The long sleeves, which are sewn vertically to the body, end in cuffs, 7cm deep, fastened by one button.The cuffs are of the same alaca but with the stripes set obliquely. At the joint with the cuffs, the width of the sleeves is 12.5cm. At the opening of the sleeves, an oblique stripe is attached, 2cm wide. The seams of the chemise are made with the sewing machine. There is a hole at the lower part of the pocket and the lining near the edge of the back has been repaired with an additional piece of fabric. A rather similar striped silk and cotton chemise was brought to Athens for the Cy­priot Exhibition in 1901, as part of a traditional Turkish Cypriot costume, which also in­cluded the same richly adorned waistcoat (yeleko, turk. yelek) and pleated breeches (vraka, turk. dizlik) both made of blue broad ­cloth (turk. cuha salvar). 

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (vraka, turk dizlik) made of ready-fabricated black cloth. The body part consists of two pieces which also continue to form the back. To either side of these are stitched the leg pieces which are folded lengthwise and end with an opening 16cm wide. These openings have four series of stitches at the edge. The seams are made with a sewing machine. All parts have the same length, 68cm, reaching down to the knee. At the waist a black girdle runs through a hem 3cm deep, and in the middle of the front, below the waist, is a vertical opening 19cm long. The total width of the dizlik is 2.00m. It is worn, repaired with patches, and the colour is faded.

Man’s baggy trousers (vraka, turk. dizlik) made of thick black cloth woven on the loom. The seams are machine-made. The body part consists of two pieces (86x86cm), which also form the back. At the waist the cloth is folded to a hem 4cm deep, through which runs an off-white girdle (turk. uçkur/uşgur). Below the waist in the middle of the front there is a vertical slit 24cm long, and another one of the same length on the back side. The body part is heavily pleated and baggy, extending to a length of 86cm, while the side parts are knee-length, 62cm long. They each consist of a single piece 40cm wide, which is folded lengthwise and ends with an opening of 20cm for the legs. The total width of the trousers is 2.12m. They are worn and repaired with patches. The garment comes from Kormakitis, a Maronite village. The fact that the middle baggy part is longer than the leg parts distinguishes it from the Turkish Cypriot dizlik, which has all its parts equally short, reaching to the kneeAvgousti, A.
(2020).  biblio test.
(Andreou, marios., Ed.).New Journal. 3(10), . 

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (turk. dizlik) of factory-made black cloth. The body part, 72cm long, is composed of two pieces stitched together (lengthwise) in the middle of the front side and continuing at the back with the same seam. Each part of the legs, 70cm long and with a total width of 30cm, is folded and stitched lengthwise. At the extremi­ties the cloth is sewn together for 15cm, leaving an opening of 15cm. At the waist it is supported by a black strip of cloth (turk. uçkur/uşkur), which runs through a hem 2.5cm deep. In the middle under the girdle is a vertical opening 20cm long. The breeches have been repaired with patchwork, and the black colour is faded.

Turkish Cypriot men’s breeches (vraka, turk. dizlik) made of white, loom-woven cotton cloth. Two equal pieces form both the front and back of the body part. At the waist they are gathered with pleats and held in place by a plain white girdle (turk. uçkur/uşgur) which runs through a hem 5cm deep. Below the waist, on both sides, is a vertical slit 17cm long. The total width of the breeches (turk. Dizlik) is 2.16m and the total height 70cm. The leg parts, which are folded lengthwise and stitched to the body piece, have the same height and reach down to the knee (turk. diz), according to the meaning of the term dizlik. At the extremities they have openings 20cm wide for the legs. The edges of these openings are reinforced and orna­mented with three series of machine stitches. At about the middle of the height of the leg piece, is a decorative horizontal band consisting of a zigzag line bordered by a series of stitches. This dress item is very well preserved.

Pleated baggy trousers (vraka, turk. şalvar) made of white cotton cloth. The middle part consists of six pieces stitched together. Each piece is 50cm wide and the whole length is 1.48m. Each side part, for the legs, is made of four pieces sewn together by hand. The upper part of each side is 47cm wide and 15cm long. The lower part is one piece of the same width (47cm) and 20cm long, while the lowest part, which is attached with a thicker join with stitches, consists of two rectangular pieces of the same dimensions (each piece 23.5cm wide, and 42.5cm long), connected lengthwise. This part narrows downwards be­cause of the gathering and ends to the opening for the leg, which is 21cm wide. Next to the main opening, on the inside, there is a small slit, 5cm long. All around the opening are handmade braids (Turk. kaytan/gaytan) of the same cotton material. Another braid forms a wavy line and this is stitched to a double outer braid. At the waist the cloth is turned and stitched to form a casing through which to pass the drawstring/band (Turk. uçkur/uşkur). It is made of a length of dark beige cotton fabric, 10cm wide, whose ends are decorated with silks forming two flowers with leaves, in or­ange, lilac and blue colours. The embroidery is simple and naïf. Many of the pleats are still sewn together, indicating that the vraka was not used. Tradition has it that the reason for this was that the person to whom it belonged died soon after his wedding. It was not a wedding vraka, but it was brand new, made as part of the groom’s clothing. After his death nobody wanted to use it. The white colour was typical for the baggy trousers of the Turkish Cypriots.