biographies

Male costume
The formal male costume worn on Crete is known as salvaria or vrakes. It consisted of a thickly-pleated blue felt pair of baggy trousers (the vraka) a black or white shirt a double-breasted or straight-cut waistcoat (the yeleki) a tight-fitting sleeved topcoat (the meïdani) and a cape (the kapoto) thrown loosely over the shoulders.

A woven silk sash or belt (the zoni) was wound around the middle, and was used to hold the knife and other weapons, a tobacco pouch (kapnosakkoulo), a purse (paradosakkoulo), a key and occasionally a watch.

The high boots called stivalia or stivania were black, white or less often russet or yellow, and were worn over black knitted stockings (kaltses) bound above the knee by woven silk garters.

On their head Cretan men sported the Sfakiot or soft fez. This later gave way to a head cloth usually made of black silk (the sariki or kroussalidato mandili), which was wound around the head.




Cretans in local costume, 1900 (R. Behaeddin, Vikelaia Municipal Library, Heraklion)
A Cretan in a gilotta (military style baggy trousers) (Stephanos Stavroulakis)
A young man in Cretan baggy trousers (Stephanos Stavroulakis)
Traditional man's costume featuring a cape (Constantinos Grammatikakis Collection)
Old man in traditional dress, early 20th century (Ioannis M. Tzanis Collection)
Young Cretan children in typical costumes, early 20th century (photograph: Hamza Rustem, Ioannis M. Tzanis Collection)