costume with sayia

Inv. no. 210: Costume with sayia, typical of the Karpasia region. It consists of a woven shirt embellished with silk pipilla (needle lace) and fine embroidery of light blue flowers at the visible part of the chest. The sayia is worn on top of the shirt. It is made of silk-cotton striped alatzia with alternating white and burgundy stripes, and has gold thread decoration at the edges. The garment is long-sleeved and open at the front. The lower part of the sleeves is lined with a colourful printed fabric, which is visible in the opening of the sleeves and on the small pocket on the right side of the chest. The sayia is long enough to cover the knees, revealing the rich loom embroidery on the lower part of the cotton pantaloons, which are worn as underwear. The sayia closes at the waist with a colourful sash made of striped fabric. The costume is completed with white socks and black laced shoes, as well as with the headscarf no. 218 (for sayies made of a similar striped fabric, see Cypriot Costumes 1999, 133, and Papadimitriou 1995, 112).