yelekkin

Inv. No. EE 4324: Man’s waistcoat (yelekkin) made of striped cloth (alatzia) in blue, yellow and light brown (siettarin) colours. The back of this sleeveless overgarment consists of a single piece of cloth that is stitched at the sides, under the armpits, to the two front pieces, leaving two small openings at the lower part. The waistcoat has a vertical opening at the front, along the chest, and a small collar, all bordered with a blue twisted string that also forms loops for the fastening buttons, again in blue colour. The string also extends along part of the horizontal lower edge of the yelekkin. A similar string decorates the opening of a pocket, placed at the middle of the opening along the chest. The edges of the arm openings are stitched with blue thread. Both sides of the vertical opening of the waistcoat, as well as the collar, are decorated near their edge with a sewn-on weft band. The latter consists of red, yellow and blue threads and is bordered by a zig zag line made of blue thread. A similar line also borders the decorated pocket opening. The waistcoat is lined with white cotton cloth, while the pocket has a striped cloth (alatzia) lining, featuring blue, red and white colours. Dimensions: 20x20 cm. It belonged to the collection of Angeliki Pieridou and was donated to the Benaki Museum by George and Marina Pieridou , in 1981.