Traditional Greek costumes of modern Greece : Detailed analysis of the history of Greek dress

Ancient Greeks wore simple garments that draped over their bodies. The chiton and peplos were both simple outfits made from one-piece rectangles of fabric, with holes cut out for the head. The peploswas sleeveless, while the chiton covered part of the arms. Over this, people could wear a cloak called a himation. These outfits were usually made of wool, a fabric used frequently in Greek clothing, due to the prevalence of sheep farming in Greece and the country's surprisingly cool winters. Linen was also traditionally used for clothing worn during the hot Mediterranean summers. While Greeks today mainly wear modern "global" style clothing, they still don traditional regional costumes for festivals and national holidays. These costumes' styles vary between the mainland and the islands, but many contain some elements of the ancient draped garments, and they all have some similar components in terms of materials and basic construction. Once worn by fighters in the 1821 War of Independence, the traditional costume for men on mainland Greece features a kiltlike garment known as a foustanella. For example, the national costume today the uniform for the Evzones, the presidential guard includes a white foustanella that has 400 pleats, symbolizing the 400 years Greece was ruled by the Ottomans. That's paired with a wide-sleeved white shirt and topped off with an embroidered woolen vest. Long, white socks, a sash and pointed shoes called tsarouhia topped with their recognizable large pompons complete the outfit. On the islands, the men's traditional costume starts with a white undergarment and is layered with baggy pants, known as vraka, a white shirt, a sleeveless coat, a sash, a jacket and a tasseled cap. Traditional women's clothing in Greece also varies from region to region, but these outfits also contain similar elements. Most traditional costumes for women have a simple cotton dress as a base, with a sleeveless wool vest over it. To this, women may add aprons, sashes and, perhaps most importantly, large head scarves. One example of a traditional outfit for women is the karagouna. This traditional wedding dress from Central Greece is very colorful and can be quite heavy. Like some other traditional Greek costumes, it includes many layers, starting with a black-fringed white underdress. Over that, women wear a few different coats, starting with an embroidered wool coat, followed by a long white sleeveless coat and then another embroidered waistcoat. This is all topped by a red apron. A woman wearing a karagouna will also don a head kerchief and chains of gold coins across her forehead and bosom to signify wealth. Traditional costumes have their place, but so do traditional customs. Read on to learn more about traditional Greek culture.
Many 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. The history of Greek national clothing can be divided into several periods: ancient period, Byzantine period, Ottoman period and modern period. In the ancient period, Greek people indeed wore togas, chlamys, chitons and similar pieces, but such tradition is not preserved anymore. The Byzantine period brought bright colors and richly patterned cloths to the Greek fashion. During the Ottoman period, the clothes of people of different occupation and religious affiliation were strictly regulated. This period brought vraka (traditional breeches) and foustanella (traditional men's skirt) to the Greek fashion. In the modern period, the national attire of Greece became more casual but with a lot of features of Ottoman clothing. Today loose-fitting white cotton or silk shirts are worn, together with embroidered vests and jackets. Women use long chemises and skirts, men still wear vraka and foustanella. Both males and females prefer multilayered garments, colorful but with few decorations. Like in many countries around the world, Greek national clothing often shows such important characteristics of the wearer as age, class, marital status, a region of origin, occupation etc. Both men's and women's clothing tells a lot about their owner. For example, on the island of Skyros shepherds and farmers wear very different garments, so you can name the occupation of the man in front of you even without talking to him. Women in some villages of Peloponnisos use scarves called "mandili" of different colors to indicate their marital status. Young girls wear white mandili, young married women prefer yellow color, older women use dark-green or brown mandili, and widows use a black one. There are 2 main types of Greek traditional costumes: with foustanella (traditional men's skirt or kilt) as a main piece and with trousers as a main piece. In general, men's traditional attire of Greece consists of a foustanella or trousers (full cut or baggy trousers), a shirt called "poukamiso", a vest called "yeleko" or "meindani", a sash called "zonari", a hat, special leg coverings called "kaltses" and leg garters called "gonatares", and shoes called "tsarouhia". Foustanella skirt is very popular in many regions of Greece. It is a wide and short skirt, knee-length or above the knee-length. Usually, it is black or white. Sometimes it is connected to the upper part of a garment, in other cases, a foustanella is worn like a separate piece. This garment is very interesting and rather unusual for modern Europe. But historically many European countries used skirts as a traditional male clothing. European royalty (mostly men) even used tights, leggings, and stockings. So, the usage of foustanella and some kind of tights by Greek men is not as funny as some people might think. Actually, foustanella is worn in Greece since the 12th century. It's an ancient tradition which is kept even in 21st century. Foustanella skirt consists of 400 pleats which symbolize the years of Greece being under the Ottoman rule. Greek men's baggy trousers or breeches are called "vraka". They are popular mostly at the islands and the costal part of Greece (while foustanella is more often worn in mountain regions). Traditional male shirt poukamiso is loose-fitting. It is usually made from white silk or cotton. The neck and handcuffs are often embellished with lace. All that makes poukamiso very festive. Greek men cover their legs with very interesting pieces of clothing. First of all, they use kaltses (usually, white) with foustanella; it's something like tights. Shepherds and farmers wear thick woolen leg coverings to protect legs from cold and thorny plants. Such coverings are complemented with handmade leather shoes called "trohadia"; they look like sandals. But the most popular Greek shoes are tsarouhia. They are moccasin-like leather shoes with a large woolen pompon at the pointy nose. Such shoes are the official piece of Greek guards (Evzones) dress. But many people of different occupation use tsarouhia as well. Greek men often wear headdresses. The most widespread are fez and koukos. These are skull-caps, sometimes with tassels or other decorative elements. Some traditional clothing of Greek men is very masculine, convenient and casual; other garments are offbeat, eccentric and unique, but they still look very male.
The folk dress of Greek women is multilayered, modest and feminine. The main pieces of a female traditional costume are: a long chemise called "poukamiso", a sleeveless vest called "segouni", an apron called "bodia", a sash called "zonari", a scarf called "mandili", and shoes called "tsarouhia" (similar to men's shoes). The cotton chemise is the main part of the costume. It can be of any color or print. The vest is usually woolen or velvet. It can be long or short. The color is usually black or white, sometimes with some embroidery at the front part. The aprons are various, often bright and colorful, sometimes woven and sometimes sewn and embellished with embroidery or ribbons. The scarves are large and also colorful. They cover women's head and shoulders. In some cases only face is left uncovered, other women use the scarf to cover only the top of the head, leaving the hair visible. Greek women like to use many layers of clothing. There can be a long shirt (sometimes an undershirt is worn as well), a vest or coat, an apron, and a waistcoat on top. If the costume is for everyday usage, dark colors are often used; the material and patterns of attire are simple. If the garment is festive (worn on holidays, celebrations and special occasions), then it usually is bright, made from expensive high-quality materials, with embroidery and embellishment. Festive costumes are often complemented with some jewelry. Greek women don't use much jewelry, but the necklaces with gold coins are rather popular, as well as matching earrings.
Greek dress refers to the clothing of the Greek people and citizens of Greece from the antiquity to the modern times. Inside the Ottoman empire, Greeks were part of the Rum Millet. The administrators occasionally brought about legal regulations on clothes. The clothing of Muslims, Christians, Jewish communities, clergy, tradesmen state and military officials were strictly regulated during the reign of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Political crises of the 17th century were reflected as chaos in clothes. During the period, each area had its own different clothing style. The islanders, from the westernmost Ionian islands to the easternmost Cyprus, used to wear the Vraka, a type of traditional breeches. At the rural areas, a popular clothing was the fustanella, a traditional skirt-like garment. Fustanella was worn also by the klephts and the armatoloi, Greek warriors of the mountains. and predominantly by the Orthodox Arvanites of Greece as described by foreign travelers. Apart from them, the wealthy Greeks of the urban centres adopted the Western European-style dress. In the independent Greece, Otto and Amalia were the first to be interested in fashion matters. Amalia created a romantic folksy court dress, which became a national Greek costume still known as the Amalía dress. It follows the Biedermeier style, with a loose-fitting, white cotton or silk shirt, often decorated with lace at the neck and handcuffs, over which a richly embroidered jacket or vest is worn, usually of dark blue or claret velvet. The skirt was ankle-length, unpressed-pleated silk, the color usually azure. It was completed with a soft cap or fez with a single, long, golden silk tassel, traditionally worn by married women, or with the kalpaki (a toque) of the unmarried woman, and sometimes with a black veil for church. This dress became the usual attire of all Christian townswomen in both Ottoman Empire-occupied and liberated Balkan lands as far north as Belgrade. Otto adopted the fustanella for his personal guard, still in use by the Evzones, members of the Presidential Guard. Since then, the Greek fashion follows the Western European standards. However completely black clothing is worn for one year in mourning. A cliché depicts also the mountainous Cretans wearing black trousers, shirts, black stivania (Cretan type of boot), black sariki (Cretan type of woven headscarf), and gold neck chain.
Πηγή : https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/national-traditions/greek-tradition2.htm
http://nationalclothing.org/europe/42-greece/59-traditional-costume-of-greece-when-did-greek-men-begin-to-wear-skirts.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_dress