The bicentennial of the Greek Revolution is being marked with a plethora of exhibitions and events, some of which are also dedicated to the sartorial side of developments and the symbolism of traditional dress.
A conference being organized by the Hellenic Costume Society in Athens in early October on the history, propagation and use of “national” dress is particularly interesting, especially given how it is still regarded as constituting a part of the national identity, whether in real or stereotypical form, often used to convey “Greekness.”
The conference will focus on the 200 years since the revolution as it seeks to trace how different styles and types of dress were used, what – if any – meaning they conveyed, and how this ties in to the modern Greek identity. It asks what “national dress” means, how it evolved through the decades, how the royals of the newly established Greek state made it de rigeur, and how it functioned as a means of communicating political stances, social commentary and personal ambition.
“There is a lot of confusion over what constitutes folk dress – meaning the clothes worn by people in the villages in the 19th and early 20th century – and what we call ‘national’ costumes. ‘National’ costumes are those created by King Otto and Queen Amalia for the purpose of imparting symbolism,” Xenia Politou, the president of the Hellenic Costume Society and curator of the Benaki Museum’s Modern Greek Culture Collection, tells Kathimerini.
