Foustanin

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.