DOLL IN RED VELVET COAT WITH BEIGE SKIRT. Souvenir doll dressed in folk costume. The doll has a red beret cap with a black tassel hanging from it. The doll has a beige pleated skirt and sleeves as its base layer of clothing. Over that, there is a red vest with silver sequins and brown beads attached to it. The same adornments are on the long, red, cap sleeve flaps that hand from each shoulder. Both the best and the shoulder pieces of fabric are outlined with gold, zig-zag piping. Around the doll's waist is a blue and white, alternating colored striping, rope. It is looped twice from the right side of the doll's hip. Around the doll's calves is wrapped black string - I believe to indicate socks or suspenders of some sort. On the doll's feet are traditional Tsarouhi - a Greek shoe worn by the Greek guards known as Evzones. They are colored red, white, and blue.

Although some scholars have claimed that the fustanella (skirt) was introduced into Greece by Albanians in the 15th century, archaeological evidence shows that the fustanella was already in common use in Greece as early as the 12th century, predating the arrival of Albanian speakers on Greek lands by several centuries. The fully-pleated Greek fustanella was worn originally as a military outfit and seems to have been reserved for persons of importance. 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.

According to Helen Angelomatis-Tsougarakis, its popularity in the Morea (Peloponnese) was attributed to the influence of the Albanian colony of Hydra and other Albanian settlements in the area. However, the Hydriotes could not have played a significant role in its development since they did not wear the fustanella, but similar costumes to the other Greek islanders. In the other regions of Greece, its popularity was attributed to the rise of power of Ali Pasha, the semi-independent ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina. Moreover, its lightweight design and manageability in comparison to the clothing of the Greek upper classes of the era also made it fashionable. The fustanella worn by the Roumeliotes (Greeks of the mountainous interior) was the version chosen as the national costume of Greece in the early 19th century. By the late 19th century, the popularity of the fustanella in Greece began to fade when Western-style clothing was introduced. In modern Greece, the garment is seen as a relic of a past era that most members of the younger generations don't identify with.

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