warrior wearing Foustanella, by Dupré Louis.]]
Fustanella (for spelling in various languages, see
chart below) is a traditional
skirt-like garment worn by men of many nations in the
Balkans, similar to the
kilt. In modern times, the fustanella is part of traditional
Albanian and
Greek dresses, worn mainly by ceremonial Greek military units (such as the
Evzones), Albanian and Greek
folk dancers. The dress was also worn by the
Royal Guard of Albania (1924–1939).
History
The fustanella is derived from a series of ancient garments such as the
chiton (or tunic) and the chitonium (or short military tunic). The
Roman toga may have also influenced the evolution of the fustanella based on statues of Roman emperors wearing knee-length pleated kilts (in colder regions, more folds were added to provide greater warmth).
Byzantine Greeks called the fustanella, or pleated kilt, podea. The wearer of the podea was either associated with a typical hero or an Akritic warrior and can be found in 12th century finds attributed to Manuel I Komnenos. During the Ottoman period, the fustanella was worn by the armatoloi and the klephts. The fustanella was originally thought to have been a southern Albanian outfit of the Tosks and introduced in Greece during the Ottoman occupation that began after the 15th century.
Evolution
Albanian version
The Albanian fustanella appears for the first time in a document of 1335, which regards a sailor in the port of
Drin river in the
Skadar Lake, to whom were confiscated, among other things, the following items: his tunic, mantle, and his
fustanum. The Albanian version has around sixty pleats, or usually a moderate number. It is made of heavy home-woven linen cloth. Usually, this was done by the men-at-arms (called in Albanian
trima).; others speculate that it is derived from
Fostat, a suburb of
Cairo where cloth was manufactured. The Greek plural is
foustanelles (φουστανέλλες) but as with the (semi-correct)
foustanellas, it is rarely employed by native English speakers.
Name in various languages
Native terms for "skirt" and "dress" included for comparison:
{|id="toc" align="center"
!Language
!Kilt/short skirt
!Skirt
!Dress
|-
|
Albanian
|fustanellë/fustanella
|fund
|fustan
|-
|
Aromanian
| fustanelã
| fustã
| fustanã
|-
|
Bulgarian
| фустанела
(fustanela)
| фуста
(fusta)
|
|-
|
Greek
|φουστανέλλα
(foustanélla)
|φούστα
(foústa)
|φουστάνι
(foustáni)
|-
|
Italian
|fustanella
|gonna
|
|-
|
Megleno-Romanian
|fustan
|
|fustan
|-
|
Romanian
|rochiţă
|fustă
|rochie
|-
|
Serbo-Croatian
|фустанела
fustanela
|фистан
fistan
|фистан
fistan
|-
|
Turkish
|
|
|fistan
|}
Gallery
Notes
Further reading
}}
}}
}}
External links
Albanian Folk Costumes
The Fustanella in Greece
Category:Albanian clothing
Category:Greek clothing
Category:Skirts
