The folk costume of Lefkada

Lefkada's women folk costume is characterized by its simplicity, unpretentious and elegant line than for the innumerable embroidery, the many jewels, and the fancy presence, which characterize many other areas' costumes. All the peasants stubbornly wore it until the end of World War II. After the war, of course, things began to change. The civil war, the economic crisis, led to immigration, and, of course, the women who emigrated threw away their local clothing and wore European “clothes”. Here we should note that immigrant men had no problem with their costume because men's traditional clothing had long ceased to be worn. In the city, they stopped wearing it from the middle of the 19th century, while in the villages they wore it until 1920-25. The wars of 1912-22 were a decisive factor in stopping the villagers from wearing the traditional breeches. Under these conditions, the local folk costume finally lost the battle and is now considered as something outdated. Only the elderly women of the villages wear it today. The important thing is that at least the costume is still worn today, and the descriptions that will follow are based on the real picture and not on conjecture. ​ Similarities   Significant similarities have the Lefkada traditional costume with the Spanish of the Pyrenees region, with the Toulouse from the South of France and much more with the city of Foggia from the South of Italy, where here we have a resemblance to the men's costume. The influence of the newest women's costume of Lefkada from western standards is obvious. This influence took place through Venice as Western standards began to claim a place in Lefkada’s costume at the end of Venetian occupation in Lefkada. Foreign travellers testimonies In 1795, the French diplomat Andre Grasset Saint — Sauver visited Lefkada. In his notes, we read: “Women, beautiful and generally free, have a weakness for ornaments and luxury. All their dresses are embroidered with gold, silver, and silk “. In 1822, the English poet and painter William Blake arrived in Lefkada as a traveler. The visit coincided with the celebrations on the weddings of Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra. On the evening of the official celebration, a dinner was given at the Governor's premises, where the nobles of the city and the dignitaries of the villages were invited. He describes the costumes he saw that night: “Some ladies wore the traditional costume, and they were more interesting. The costumes they wore were more Byzantine than Greek. The dresses were made of silk but without a wide variety of colours. On the hem, they had gold embroidery half an inch wide. The dresses were not worn with crinoline, but they were felling richly into the ground. Behind their neck, a second d dress began something like long feathers, with gold embroidery of the same kind and the same width. The sleeves had strange shapes, and from the elbow to the wrist they were very narrow. In the elbow, there was a double gold piping shaped differently from the others in the dress. Above the elbow, the sleeve was shaped like a small balloon with many facets. The headscarf was a long fabric made of thin linen and lace, hanging behind and below the waist. On the left side of the head, there was a gold ornament or fez, like a shell, and placed so that it is part of the decoration of the hair “.