Vest (yelekkin)

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 of a single piece joining at the sides, under the armpits, to the two front pieces, leaving two small openings at the lower part. There is a small standing collar and a vertical opening at the chest, lined with a braid of cord with 12 facing loops and 12 corresponding buttons, which constitute a later addition. On the right side of the chest, there is a horizontal opening for an inner pocket, which is lined with checkered alatzia in blue and red. The opening of the pocket is accentuated with black zigzag cord with small sewn-on pieces of red fabric and three tassels, two light-blue and one red. The vertical opening at the front is emphasised on both sides with a decorative band of zigzag lines and a floral motif, all made of thick blue cord. The patterns resemble stylised branches, embroidered in opposite directions, in a horizontal position. This decoration is enriched with scattered, sewn-on tiny pieces of fabric in red and blue. The shoulders, the collar and the arm openings are also emphasised with the zigzag line of blue cord. The garment is lined with beige cotton fabric. This type of rural vest is made of homemade alatzia woven on a loom. It is encountered frequently, varying according to the colours of the weave of the alatzia and the variation in handmade embroidered decoration (see for example a similar type of waistcoat from Mesaoria, in the Cyprus Folk Art Museum: Papademetriou 1991, 107, figure 72; see also the waistcoat in the Cypriot ethnographic collection of the Benaki Museum: Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou 2010, 112-113, no. 80).   Dimensions: height 50 cm., width 43 cm.   Purchased for 132 drachmas or 4.50 Cypriot pounds.