People in Lesvos, till the 50’s were dressed with their traditional costume, called “vraka”, a kind of “pantalon bouffant”. 
This vraka was always black for men and colored for women. Its quality depended on its use: For everyday life the tissue was cheaper, for celebrations or for the marriage it was made from silk or imported materials.
The upper part of the costume was black too, with a white shirt, for men, while it was nicely elaborated for women. Women also had necklaces made with silver or gold coins. Men were wearing a small black hat. Women had always a scarf protecting them from the sun or the wind. This kind of dressing was the most suitable for their rural or other work.When Queen Amalia came in Greece, !835, women, immitating her way of dressing, started to wear also long skirts.
Les costumes sont très beaux et le texte nous explique dans quelles circonstances ils étaient utilisés!!! Bravo pour cet article!
The costumes are beautiful and this text explains to us in which circumstances they were used! Well done for this article!
Great post. The costumes are just superb and I really like your “pantalons bouffants” worn by ladies and they must have felt comfortable wearing them in their everyday life in the fields. The embroidery is very sophisticated on the jackets.
European costumes were so diverse then ( up to the 1950′s!) and that was a turning point in all European rural communities ( they were about to disappear in Brittany too!)
La disparition des ” vrais paysans” a engendré la disparition des costumes et traditions ancestrales pour une uniformisation toujours plus grande. Est-ce un bien ou un mal? Je ne sais!
Costumes look very nice ! and modern
Sorry that European people don’t wear national costumes everyday (not only in folklore festivals)
Very nice ornaments .. oh … I adore all those fine works made by hand !!!
Splendid! Thank you Vicky! Do you wear this pretty costume yourself, from time to time? The blue vraka on the last photo reminds me the “sarouel” from North Africa. It looks very comfortable as Marie-France says!
I am always amazed by the quality of traditional (often home-made) clothes (I am not gifted at all with a needle…!), and it’s a pity to see them disappear (and everybody wearing the same tee-shirt with a logo
In Brittany, some people try to keep traditional techniques alive. There are many resemblances between Greek and Breton embroidery! Take a look!
http://paul.balbous.free.fr/index4.html
Thanks Isabelle. Beautiful Breton ornaments and lace ! Really … here are similarities with Greek costumes …
Great work that of preserving national costumes. Brittany’s dresses and hats are wonderful. There are many beautiful costumes all over Greece, too. The one of Lesvos is influenced by ottoman period.
Personally, I have given many hours in stiches on linen tissue, quality “fleur Bleu”, when I was young. And many of them had French names: point de riz, point d’ombre, point de chaine, rococo etc. That means I used to love needle and thread. Not any more, though.
You learn all these stitches! I didn’t go further than point de riz and point de chaîne at knitting!
I am not surprised that your costume was infuenced by the ottoman period, I recognize the “Pantalon bouffant” I saw on Turkish postcards. Lesvos was re-inhabited by Greek people coming from Turkey, wasn’t it? Do I remember well? And on top of that the geographical location of Lesvos explains the ottoman influence too, doesn’t it?
You are absolutely right!
Wow Vicky! What a post! Your informations are very interesting and yes, in Brittany too people had a costume for everyday life and one for Sundays and special ceremonies. The Greek costumes on the photos are so beautiful and becoming, graceful too! The necklaces with gold coins are very original . I love the embroidery and all the fine work on the men’s costumes.
Thank you again Vicky!
Good post! Your costumes are very original, just to read your article shows your love for your traditions and they are important to you !
Traditions must be important for your country and for you a lot. That gives me a
warm feeling.