The traditional dress of Greece are a beautiful part of a very rich cultural history. This is just a brief overview of the subject and will include only a few representative examples of some of the costumes that were worn traditionally by the Greek people. Some of the characteristics of Greek folk dress can be traced back to elements in ancient Hellenic and Byzantine dress. In fact, many of the elements of the liturgical clothing worn today by the Greek Orthodox priests are related to the modern Greek folk costumes and have their origin in the clothing of the Byzantine Empire. There are some generalizations that can be made about the costumes and their styles and components. For example, the costumes of the mainland and of the islands are different.

Furthermore, the costumes of each area tend to have several elements in common. As with the music and other folkloric traditions of the Greeks, although all of the elements of this part of Greek culture are similar, the smaller, individual regions share certain different individual aspects and features.

All Greek folk dress share similar materials, construction, parts, and designs, but the costumes in the local regions share other individual characteristics which are often very different from those of the costumes of other regions. For example, we can identify costumes as being from Epirus, or Thrace or Macedonia; however, we can further narrow the identification of costumes to smaller areas within these broader geographical and cultural areas.

We can even identify a costume's village based on individual features such as the shape of a costume part, or the colors or the embroidery designs used. This is also true with respect to the various costumes worn by the Greeks of the islands and in fact of all regions of Greece.

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Below are some regional examples of traditional women's dress from our personal archives and collections.

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