Skopelos Traditional Costume, Skopelos Culture, Skopelos Local Dress, Skopelos Wedding Dress, traditional dress, Folklore Dance Festival “Diamantis Palaiologos”, Northern Sporades, Greece
SKOPELOS TRADITIONAL COSTUME
Local dress is important for any place. In fact, it is a point of reference for understanding the economic, social situation, and culture of each state.
In Skopelos, the local costume is one of the most elaborate and impressive Greek costumes. The women’s costume of Skopelos has influences from the Byzantium and the Western Renaissance. This is due to the economic boom that the island experienced since the male population was engaged in maritime trade and shipping.
Moreover, people in Skopelos used to wear plush uniforms that fully covered their bodies as defined by the strictly conservative society.
SKOPELOS WEDDING DRESS
The Skopelos wedding dress, or Morko, Volta, or Kalo along with Stofa (embroidered handmade circle), is the formal costume of the island. The makeup comes from “moricaux”, which means really dark. Black color is the main one with the contrast of colorful embroidery and rich materials. The costume also has an inner white cotton shirt, a white silk shirt, four underskirts that give volume to the set, and a vest. Fabrics and embroidery are silk and the costume consists of many aspects. The bride adorns her ornate headdress.
Families that had a girl had to take care of along with the dowry and the preparation of the Stofa. Usually, the girls embroidered their wedding dresses with red, yellow, and green silk threads. The rest of the sections were embroidered with special embroidery. Only girls of affluent families wore Stofa. The girls whose families were not rich enough wore a red-brown dress on their wedding day.
Apart from bridal clothing, the married women wore blue dresses or Gerania and unwed white long dresses. The elderly chose a black underskirt otherwise called “kalovoli” or “volta”.
In the village of Glossa, the girls wore a white underskirt. Additionally, they had two more dresses called “tsitsia” or “’fountoma”.
Folklore Dance Festival “Diamantis Palaiologos”
At the 5th Folklore Dance Festival “Diamantis Palaiologos”, Petros Kaminiotis, presented his exhibition with Playmobil figures dressed in handmade copies of Greek traditional costumes. Skopelitissa had an honorary position.