Extremely popular, this costume is now one of the world's most well-known
traditional garments. Vraka The word ''vraka'' means generally the male Crete
costume although this kind of trousers worn by the islands inhabitants of
Greece instead of a fustanella. The men’s costume is made of heavy wool felt
to protect against the cold and is embroidered with black cord.
In some island “vraka” was worn by women too and was long, to the ankles,
because during the Turkish occupation women wanted to hide their legs from
the eyes of the Turks.
The male Epirotan costume has also characteristic pair of pants, called “bourazana”
or “ panovraki”, which resembles the Macedonian “salvaria” or “vrakia”. The
pants are either white or black.
Women's Costumes
One general rule about the Women's costumes concerns the main parts of
their traditional dress.
Most of the mainland costumes in particular have a cotton chemise (poukamiso)
as the basic garment. On the body, over the chemise, there is a sleeveless
vest which is usually made of wool. These may be short or long.
Sometimes dresses are of homespun wool, but in some areas they are made
from finer factory woven wools. Colors are sometimes black, sometimes white.
Sometimes in urban areas, they are made from velvet.
Other important elements of the women's costumes are various types of aprons,
sashes, and head coverings. The head coverings are usually large scarves of
various materials and colors.
Women's dresses were handmade embellished with detailed needlework and decorated
in a rich and colorful fashion.
Although there are some generalizations that can be made about the women's
dresses and their styles and components, costumes of each area tend to be
different.
