Traditional dress of Cyprus

The traditional dress of Cyprus are an integral component of the culture of Cyprus. Each one is distinctive of a group of people who have lived on this east Mediterranean island, and who, despite their idiosyncrasies, maintained a uniform identity, keeping alive the consciousness of their common origin and history.

Study of the different types of Cypriot costume reveals the island's relations with neighboring and far-off lands, through trade or conquest. The costumes bespeak the Cypriot people's ability to assimilate foreign traits and to re-create them in its own way, consistent with its own tradition.

Each individual costume is a complex work of art, combining not only techniques of processing the raw materials, weaving and embellishment, but also skill and sensitivity in the manner in which it is cut and sewn. The costume is the true expression of folk artistic creation.

Compared with the costumes of the wider Greek world, those of Cyprus are simpler and display a greater degree of uniformity in view of the island’s limited size. There are, nevertheless, local variations, both in the kind of costume and its details: in the color of the cloth, the combination of its partial elements, the cut, and decoration in its accessories. Like Cypriot folk art in general, the costumes are characterized by conservatism, though this in no way detracts from their diversity and charm.

Traditional Wedding Costumes

The best festival costumes were associated with the institution of dowry, which has deep roots in Cypriot tradition. Indeed, in some regions, such as Paphos and Karpasia, where the custom of pastos and mana'ssa were observed, they were displayed along with the textiles and embroideries in the home of the prospective bride.

Some items of the costume, such as the bridegroom's silk chemise and kerchief, were of symbolic and talismanic significance, being offered as a gift by the fiancée. The female silk chemise was similarly important and was a precious component of the bridal costume. The materials used for the costumes were cotton and silk, the cultivation, processing and weaving of which have a long tradition on Cyprus.

Silk textiles, for which Cyprus has been famed since medieval times, were used in their natural hues for festival and bridal chemises and undergarments. Though the fabric varies from region to region, the fine pure silk and cotton taista and itaredes of Nicosia and the towns of Lapithos and Karavas in Karpasia are outstanding. White, hand-woven cotton cloth was used for everyday chemises.

Nicosia and its environs were renowned for its sattakrouta, a silk cloth dyed with natural color-ants in vivid shades. It was used for the skirts of the urban festival costume. Skirts of brightly colored striped and checked silk were also popular in the large villages with a long tradition in silk-weaving, such as Lapithos and Karavas.

By: Lamiya Sami

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