Greece

Greek shoes avaGreek men’s folk costume is very unique comparatively to many other national outfits around the world. Just look at the pleated fustanella skirt (Traditional male attire in Greece often includes fustanella) and you’ll understand what we mean. Another interesting part of Greek male attire is the traditional shoes with large fluffy pom-pons. In the past, thousands of men wore this footwear, but they are used even in the 21st century. Soldiers of the Greek Presidential Guard wear tsarouchi shoes, along with the rest of the folk costume.

Greek avaGreek traditional costumes are so charming that many outlanders have tried them on with pleasure during centuries. Kings and queens wore Greek folk outfits, celebrities, and, of course, ordinary tourists who are fascinated with Greek culture. We’ve gathered for you a few nice photos of different national costumes of Greece – male and female clothing, jewelry, etc. They will help you better understand this country and learn more about the Greek clothing tradition.

Fibula avaWe’ve already talked a lot about the clothing in Ancient Greece and it’s time to find out what accessories, jewels, and hairdos people used 3,000 years ago. Ancient Greece was a rather developed and highly civilized state, so even that long ago, there were many seemingly modern items available to them. Like brooches on clothing, comfy and open leather shoes, or hair jewelry. It’s amazing how long and complicated a history our familiar accessories may have!

Ancient Greece avaWe’ve actually got some knowledge as to how the Ancient Greeks dressed. We see it in Ancient Greek statues, wall art, and other similar art objects. But it’s not enough to fully appreciate their outfits. We know the design, the shape, the silhouette, but there are several aspects we can’t highlight. For one, the colors and patterns of the fabrics. It is hard to learn much about something that happened 3,000 years ago. Especially, when we’re talking about things as fragile as fabrics. But we can share with you the info we have.

Jewelry avaIn Ancient Greece, people just loved jewels. They used a lot of adornments, skillfully and artfully made. Many pieces were made from gold and elaborately embellished with gems like pearls, emeralds, amethysts, and semi-precious stones. A lot of these jewelry items are meticulously preserved and displayed in museums. Today, we’d like to show you some of them – necklaces, finger rings, bracelets, earrings, hairpins, fibulas, etc.

Mycenaean avaThe fashion traditions of this Ancient Greek culture brought us the tunic. They were the first – by the way, men, because Mycenaean women didn’t wear tunics – who used this garment and made it so popular that it was warn in Greek, Roman, Dark Age, and Medieval periods. More than that, a tunic is still a popular garment today. Of course, Mycenaean tunics or other garments haven’t survived till this day, so we can’t see them in a museum, but there are some pieces of wall art that we still are able to see and be convinced that Mycenaeans really wore tunics.

Minoan avaMinoan traditional clothes were very colorful and cheerful. Though in our time, these costumes would look scandalous and extravagant, we can hardly imagine such garments worn in daily life by ordinary people. But Minoans did dress differently than we do now – they were rather open-minded and didn’t have complexes about their half-naked bodies. Also, both Minoan men and women loved jewelry, especially gold and bronze bands.

Karpathos avaThe traditional outfit of Karpathos island in Greece is rather modest. Married women are dressed mainly in black, with a few bright spots – embroidered edges of their garments and floral patterns on their headscarves. Younger girls, of course, use much more colorful clothing – their garments are richly embroidered, decorated with beads, sequins, and bright patterns on the fabric. But still, the bodies of local females are fully covered when they wear folk costumes, which is actually not surprising because a lot of traditional outfits are modest and virtuous.

Crete avaAmong all the traditional costumes of the Greek islands, that of Crete is particularly pretty. It differs much from the classic Greek outfit. One of our favorite accessories of the Cretan folk clothing is the knife that adds some really authentic features to both male and female dress. And, of course, there are exquisite jewelry pieces made from coins – what Greek female costume goes without them?

Greek man avaGreek male costume is very interesting. There are several designs of the costume depending on the region of usage. But the most popular and recognizable around the world Greek outfit includes a skirt-like men’s garment called “fustanella”. Here is an example of the male national costume of Greece. It consists of a shirt, a fustanella (skirt-like male piece), a traditional short jacket with sleeves falling freely over the back, a wide fabric sash, white tights, traditional Greek shoes with large pom-poms called “tsarouchia”, and a fez with a tassel.

greek-couple avaMany people imagine Greek traditional costume as a toga (a piece of linen cloth wrapped around the body), but this is completely wrong. The national clothing of Greece is very modest, colorful, multilayered, and unique. Of course, there are some regional features and many variations of garments, but in general, the typical styles of Greek traditional costumes are related.