Albania In Albanian territories the fustanella was used centuries before
Ottoman rule. A fustanella is depicted on a 13th-century proto-
maiolica pottery fragment from Durrës. A 14th-century document (1335) listing a series of items including a
fustanum (a cloth made of
cotton), which were confiscated from a
sailor at the port of the
Drin River in the
Skadar Lake region of Albania. In the late
Byzantine period and the early
Ottoman period southern Albanians migrated in Greece and in southern Italy, bringing with them their own custom, language and clothing, which included the fustanella garment. In the 19th century the usage of the fustanella stretched through all Albanian inhabited lands, and it had become the
ethnic costume characteristic of the Albanian men. The Albanian traditional costume with fustanella had identified the special troops that Albanians constituted within the
Ottoman Empire, whose military prowess became renowned, especially in the era of the Ottoman Albanian pashas
Ali of Yanina and
Muhammad Ali of Egypt. The fustanella was regarded by foreign scholars and travellers as a typical Albanian costume, characterizing the Albanians from the standpoint of dress for many centuries, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1805
William Martin Leake reported that it was worn by the men at arms of Albanian beys in the
Morea, and that "The Albanian dress is daily becoming more customary, both in the Morea and in the rest of Greece". In 1807 Leake reported that the officials of the Albanian ruler Ali
Pasha of Yanina, including his sons, were dressed according to the Albanian tradition. In 1809–1810, within the area of contemporary southern Albania and northwestern Greece, British traveller
John Cam Hobhouse noticed that when traveling from the Greek-speaking area (region south of
Delvinaki) into the Albanian-speaking area (to the direction of
Gjirokastër and its surrounding environs), apart from different languages a change of clothing occurred. '' (1813) by
Thomas Phillips.
Byron purchased this dress when he arrived in Albania in 1809. In the early 19th century, other British travellers within the region noticed the Albanian costume, in particular in 1809
Lord Byron celebrated and described it as "the most magnificent in the world, consisting of long, white kilt, gold-worked cloak, crimson velvet gold laced jacket and waist-coat, silver mounted pistols and daggers". The renowned Albanian clothes were not official uniforms adorned with insignia, but traditional costumes with small differences depending on the regional location or personal preferences of the wearer. After its celebration and description by Byron, who was the most influential
Philhellene of the time, the Albanian traditional warrior costume became a principal visual symbol of Philhellenism in the 1820s, appearing in the widespread romantic iconography of
klepht and
armatole warriors of the Greek revolution. The Albanian traditional costume with fustanella was greatly favoured among the Balkan peoples, and it was imitated by many other peoples. Its spread among other neighbouring peoples such as the Greeks, and even the Turks, is documented by the historians of the time. depicted by
Edward Lear, 4 October 1848. In 1848–1849, British painter
Edward Lear traveling within the area of contemporary Albania observed that the fustanella was for Albanians a characteristic national costume. Other artists visiting southern Albania in mid-19th century depicted landscapes with Albanians in traditional costume with fustanella, such as
Henry Cook and
George de la Poer Beresford. During the 19th century the use of the fustanella was worn over tight fitting pants amongst male Albanian Ghegs by village groups of the
Malësorë or highlanders of the
Kelmend,
Berisha,
Shala and
Hoti tribes. During the 1920s, the fustanella began to go out of fashion among Tosks being replaced with Western style clothing made by local tailors. The Albanian fustanella 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). The jacket, worn with the fustanella in the Albanian costume, has a free armhole to allow for the passage of the arm, while the sleeves, attached only on the upper part of the shoulders, are thrown back. Nowadays among the Greek population in southern Albania, a
sigouni, a sleeveless coat made of thick white wool, is worn over the fustanella in the regions of
Dropull and
Tepelenë.
Bulgaria The Albanian traditional warrior costume with fustanella spread among Bulgarians, about two decades after it was dressed by the revolutionaries of the
Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, when its notoriety as a symbol of male courage and heroism expanded across the region. The Albanian-Greek attire became popular particularly among young men who wanted to take a picture in a heroic pose, although not being themselves involved in fights for independence.
Egypt The sizeable Albanian
guards and
janissary troops who
settled on the banks of the
Nile during the early rule of
Mehmed Ali' dynasty were noted for their swagger, their weapons and their costumes, particularly for the pleats of their typical white fustanellas. Those costumes played a major role in
Jean-Léon Gérôme's paintings. Albanian volunteers and
mounted infantry were called
Arnauts in Egypt, and they were greatly valued in the Egyptian Army, especially for their traditional role as
skirmishers, experts of
mountain fighting,
patrolling and
bodyguard units. Contemporary commentators about their dress described their fustanella as "a white many folded" and "a white linen petticoat of enormous size, hanging in numberless plaits from the waist to the knee". In the 1930s the fustanella continued to characterise Albanian guards in Egypt, as witnessed by Egyptian scholar
Magdi Wahba around the department stores in Cairo.
Greece ,
Greece. It has been suggested that the fustanella was already in common use in Greek lands as early as the 12th century. On Byzantine
pottery sherds from Greece,
Cyprus, and
Chersonesus,
warriors are shown bearing weapons and wearing the heavy pleated fustanella. This is also confirmed by the
Medieval Greek acritic songs of the 12th century; it has been suggested that 11th-century
illuminated manuscripts of the songs served as prototypes for later depictions. It was frequently worn in conjunction with
bows,
swords, or
battle-axes and frequently shown covered with a jointed
corselet, or with a vest of
chain mail. lord who impressed him by his politeness, dexterity, noble brow and proud look, as well as his costume and weapons. Southern Albanians introduced their traditional costume with fustanella when they migrated in territories of present-day Greece, subsequently becoming part of the national dress of Greece as a consequence of their settlement in the region. The Albanian warrior dress with fustanella spread among armed irregulars –
klephts and
armatoles – in the pre-revolutionary period, and was worn by revolutionary fighters during the
Greek War of Independence. In the early 19th century, the costume's popularity rose among the Greek population. During the era of post-independence Greece, parts of Greek society such as townspeople shed their Turkish-style clothing and adopted the fustanella which symbolised solidarity with new Greek democracy. Philhellene enthusiasm for the fustanella survived knowledge of its Albanian origins. The Albanian-style costume with fustanella was used in the
Ionian Islands by the Albanian warriors, initially within an Albanian militia that was raised by the
Russians in 1799, and which was transferred to the French in 1807, after the recovering of the Ionian Islands. On 12 October 1807
Napoleon also approved the recruitment of roughly 3,000 Albanians who had moved to the Ionian Islands, for the most part refugees fleeing the Albanian coast because of the harsh authority of the Ottoman Albanian ruler
Ali Pasha of Janina. On 12 December 1807 they were organized as the
Albanian Regiment. Local Greeks, Italians and Dalmatians were additionally recruited, however the regiment never achieved its official establishment of 3,254. , first commander of the
1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry of the British army, wearing the regimental uniform based on the Albanian traditional warrior costume and a
dragoon helmet, 1813. The
Aromanians, a Latin-speaking people who lived within Greece also wore the fustanella or trousers depending on the region. The men of the Greek presidential guard, founded in 1868, wear the fustanella as part of their official dress. By the late 19th century, the popularity of the fustanella in Greece began to fade when Western-style clothing was introduced. men in Western Macedonia, Greece, 1935.|alt=|left The fustanella film (or fustanella drama) was a popular genre in the
Greek cinema from the 1910s to the 1960s. Some early films featuring Greek fustanella were the 1915 Greek agricultural-themed film
Golfo and the 1929 film
Astero. This genre emphasized on depictions of rural Greece and was focused on the differences between rural and urban Greece. In general it offered an idealized depiction of the Greek village, where the fustanella was a typical image. In Greece today, the garment is seen a relic of a past era with which most members of the younger generations do not identify. The Greek fustanella differs from the Albanian fustanella in that the former garment has a higher number of pleats. For example, the "Bridegroom's coat", worn throughout the districts of Attica and Boeotia, was a type of Greek fustanella unique for its 200 pleats; a bride would purchase it as a wedding gift for her groom (if she could afford the garment). A fustanella is worn with a
yileki (bolero), a
mendani (waistcoat) and a
fermeli (sleeveless coat). The
selachi (leather belt) with gold or silver embroidery, is worn around the waist over the fustanella, in which the armatoloi and the klephts placed their arms. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the skirts hung below the knees and the hem of the garment was gathered together with
garters while tucked into the boots to create a "bloused" effect. Later, during the
Bavarian regency, the skirts were shortened to create a sort of billowy
pantaloon that stopped above the knee; this garment was worn with
hose, and either
buskins or decorative
clogs. This is the costume worn by the
Evzones, light mountain troops of the
Hellenic Army. Today it is still worn by the ceremonial
Presidential Guard.
Moldova and Wallachia accompanied by an Albanian bodyguard in traditional costume, 1845. In the 18th and 19th centuries many foreign travellers recorded that the bodyguards of the princely courts of Moldova and Wallachia were dressed with the Albanian fustanella.
Turkey In the
Napoleonic era (1799–1815) the Albanian mercenary troops (Muslim
Arnaut), whose traditional costume included the fustanella, were counted among the paid Turkish Government Troops, along with the
Janissary troops. In 1808 Albanian Troops of Bayraktar Mustafa Pasha marched beside the new Sultan
Mahmud II along
Divan Yolu, the Imperial Road that led to the Imperial Council from Constantinople, following the
Sultan's Sword Girding. In the 1820s the authorities of the
Ottoman Provincial Governments overall preferred Arnaut mercenary troops over any of the standing army troops. After 1826 these Albanian troops were employed in various armies as frontier battalions when the new
Mansure Army was established within the Ottoman army by Mahmud II. In the 19th century Albanian warriors found immediate employment remarkably in
Istanbul, hired as
guards of foreign embassies and the homes of the wealthy. They wore their traditional dress with fustanella, which evolved from an untidy costume into a formal uniform that exhibited the status of their employers. In the
Baklahorani annual carnival of the Greek community in Istanbul the traditional fustanella was among the popular costumes worn by the Greek youth.
United States In the
United States, the fustanella is identified with Albanian and Greek populations. It can be frequently seen in Albanian and Greek folk festivals and parades across the country. ==See also==