Fustanella | aaarticle.com

The fustanella is the pleated white kilt of the Greek and Balkan mountains, worn by the klephts and later by the royal guard. It became the national dress of men in newly independent Greece and the uniform of the evzones.

Overview

A fustanella is a full, knee-length skirt of many narrow triangular gores sewn into a mass of fine pleats, worn with a white shirt, an embroidered waistcoat, a sash, and long stockings. The pleats of the ceremonial version are counted in the hundreds.

How it is worn

It is gathered around the waist over the shirt and stockings and worn with a fez or cap, a fitted jacket, and tsarouchia, the pom-pommed shoes. Fighters wore a shorter, plainer version; the palace guard wears the tall, brilliant-white ceremonial form.

History

The fustanella was the dress of the armatoloi and klephts who fought Ottoman rule and was adopted as court and national costume under King Otto after independence. It survives now chiefly as the ceremonial uniform of the Evzones of the Presidential Guard.