Albania and albanians: 

Source: Pictures from the Balkans Book by John Foster Fraser - 1906

Ramblings on Beauty

Join be as I ramble about whatever it is I happen to find beautiful.

Fustanella is a white pleated skirt worn traditionally by men in Albania, Greece and other parts of the Balkans. I cannot begin to express how much I crave to wear something like that on a day to day basis. Would it be cultural appropriation? Probably... Would I look good in it? Absolutely yes! Just look at those depictions!

The last one is a portrait of Lord Byron in Traditional Albanian Dress, which he called "the most magnificent in the world". Complimented by golden waist coat and a jacket or coat, there is just something so virile about a garment that is essentially a white dress. Not to mention simply stunning. I bet it is excellent during hot Balkan summers. To reduce men's options when it comes to covering their legs to pants and pants only was a crime against diversity of taste.

30 personnes en costume traditionnel au 19ème siècle

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/30-personnes-en-costume-traditionnel-au-19eme-siecle/

30 personnes en costume traditionnel au 19ème siècle

“The Queen of Hearts

She made some tarts,

All on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts

He stole those tarts,

And took them clean away.” 🃏❤️

Were inspired from the Halloween posts that I & @greypetrel shared with each other, since both of us still love gothic macabre spooky stuffs & didn’t want Halloween to fully go away. ♥️🃏

The 1st card depicted the clothing that I often drew them the most:Bronze Age Cypriot-Mycenaean Greek version & Classical-Hellenistic Greek version.

The 2nd one depicts Aphrodite in the festive rouziettin dress that comes from Cyprus’ urban areas & its traditional rural counterpart. It bears similar to the traditional Amalia dress of mainland Greece, and a lot of traditional wedding dresses were also festive dresses, after all. For Ares, his military fustanella dress comes from the region of northern Greece (perhaps somewhere in Macedonia-Thrace since he had always been associated with the military aspects as ”the god of war” & the northern barbarians). He also wore his Pontic Greek clothing as the god himself was also mythologically associated with that area, too. (The story of the Golden Fleece came to mind, as well as Ares’ island and the Amazons, too.)

Happy STS, CJ! What's a cute moment/bit of lore (in backstory or present) that probably won't make it into your WIP but that you'd like to share?

This is part of Chapter 40 of the writing I did for all of those within Imperium...it gives the lore that is adorable, but is also a cute moment in itself. It shows the bond that Abriella and Cruz have. A bond that can never/will never be broken, and the tenderness that the scariest of the Horsemen can have for his sister.

~~ “Thinius!”  His voice boomed in the room as the summoning runes flared to life.  He could have called the demon telepathically but was afraid his head would explode.

 ~~

The demon appeared shortly in what can best be described as a fustanella, sans shirt.  “Whaaaaaat?”  The demon’s eyes were slits, clearly nonplussed at being summoned while he was trying to sleep.  

Abbadon’s brow rose in amusement, the demon never whined.  “I need you to get Cruz.”

The demon gave him an exasperated expression of *REALLY??* but nodded.  “You know, you need to hook him up with the summoning shit so I don’t have to play messenger boy.”  With that he disappeared.

A few moments later Cruz showed up in just a pair of jeans, looking tired as hell.  “Yah?”

“Would you happen to know why your sister keeps changing herself into one of your tee’s?  I change her into one of mine and instantly she’s in one of yours.  At first I was confused where they were coming from, but I recognize this one and it smells of your cologne, so I’m going to guess you wore it recently.”

Cruz scrubbed his hand over his face and then up into his hair letting out a tired chuckle.  He well knew why she was doing it, although he was surprise in her tired condition that she was able to do it.  She looked passed the fuck out.  “Yah, I dost know.”  He shuffled over to the bed and sat on the edge, taking one of Brie’s hands gently in his.

Tired eyes met Abbadon’s inquisitive ones, far more tired than Abbadon ever seen the male before.  “It dost go back to whence mine sister did first come to the Clave in Chicago.” A slightly nostalgic look came over Cruz’s face causing the corners of his lips to twitch up slightly, “thou wouldst not believe how diminutive and terrified she was then.  Whence I first lured her back to the safe confines of Sanctuary in Chicago, her own shadow did most assuredly scare her.  Thou can well imagine her reaction to Nephilim given this.  Twas Arch whom first did gain her trust, and did bring her in time to be able to trust me.   Whence she came unto us, she did so sans any possessions.  For reasons known only to her, Talia refused to assist in rectifying this matter.”  

A warm smile, a rarity for the elder Nephilim, formed on Cruz’s lips as he regarded his sister and memories of those times returned to him.  Not all were pleasant or easy, but they had been the beginning of the journey that brought them to where they were now. “In order that she not be perennially in the same garments in which she did arrive, I had one of the house faeries give unto her several of mine shirts.  Being so tiny, they were as dresses upon her.  The faeries wove her a belt from leather cording, and they did appear as such upon her hence forth till we had a female Nephilim tailor come to assist in clothing her.”  

Now Abbadon was the one with a slightly amused smile.  Having seen his bride in his own shirts, and him being approximately the same height and size as Cruz, he could imagine how this looked.  He nodded slightly when Cruz looked up at him to make sure he was following.

“After a while, whence ever mine sister would become frightened, I would return to mine quarters to find her dressed as such and huddled on mine bed as if it could protect her from that which did instill fear within her mind and heart.  It had been instilled in her mind from the moment I did find her cold and terrified upon the streets of the city that mine paramount concern was, and always would be, keeping her safe.  So when the demons of her past would return to prey upon her sweet soul, it was to mine chambers she would flee, to the safety that she knew she would always find within.  That which you must understand is that for the first year of her life in Sanctuary, fear did most assuredly live within mine sister ever presently.  It twas never far from the forefront of her mind, all the evils that had befallen her did not cease to have existed because she was now amongst her brethren where she had always belonged.  A dropped utensil could cause her to retreat into the fetal position, shaking with tears shedding.  Twould become her comfort to be clothed in mine shirts, a thing for which she has never relinquished.”  Cruz reached up to sweep a lock of Brie’s hair from her forehead where it had fallen as she had nuzzled into Abbadon’s chest while Cruz had been talking.  “Twould be mine belief that she dost desire such now again as a comfort.”

@saltysupercomputer @blind-the-winds @aziz-reads @touloserlautrec @sunset-a-story @toribookworm22 @outpost51 @spookyceph @writingmaidenwarrior @inkspellangel @clairelsonao3

What type of folk costume is used grevenà region?

The curious thing about the Grevena traditional costumes is that there is a lot of written information but too few photos on the Internet.

Men wore mostly fustanellas until 1930, when trousers became more popular. Old men wore white clothes while young unmarried men dressed in black.

In Smixi of Grevena, 1920

Vlachs coming from Samarina and Avdella, Grevena

Grevena, 1936

A woman's attire could also be more colourful. Some recent recreations below.

Unfortunately I am not sure about the exact areas of each of these.

However I found very detailed info about the attires of Spileo in Grevena, in Greek here.

Francois Sagat wearing fustanella, the traditional greek pleated kilt.. 

photos by George Kalfamanolis

for Greek LGBT mag Antivirus 

There’s a quieted grief that comes from God of War (2018) now after Ragnarok when you remember Kratos needed to cut off his entire cultural identity in order to hide his past from Atreus.

Not only is he speaking an entirely different language but his accessories/weapons/gear are all in some way Nordic with few Grecian traces remaining. Presumably, he doesn’t/rarely cooks and even if, he wouldn’t know many recipes anyway. No markets to trade goods. No local shops.

And then you see Atreus. Wearing his loincloth like a fustanella.

Specially shortened fustanella for Lena 'cause the magic wants her to show off her thighs.

I see you and raise you "fustanella that only shortens when Kara is around" lol

Allow me to introduce one of the heroes of my story, his royal highness - Month 🤴The moon disintegrates into 14 separate personalities at the new moon and as many at the full moon. The two cycles are endowed with their own character

Rising Month, when he receives light from the Sun, he becomes more gentle, calm, does not seek to arrange a revolution against the power of his mother, a romantic, an idle party boy, spends a lot of time talking about destiny with the silent stars, does not dare to confess his feelings for the Sun, secretly cherishing the image of his beloved, but even if he does confess - he will receive a guaranteed refusal, because everyone knows his dark side, no matter how much light you give, the result will be bloody. His mission at this stage boils down to recording the deceased on the planet Earth in the album of God, to prepare for the dance of fusion with the rest of the phases, to be reborn in a single moon at the full moon. Fear to die, for it is hard to part with a measured life. The aging month is the exact opposite. Strong, cruel, dictatorial, reckless, insane, unable to make clear plans. He is ready to fight for the right to rule alone as a fragment of the Moon. In the end, instead of a cohesive army, they kill each other, sinking into darkness

Character Description:

This is a short-limbed character who is tall, middle-aged, has pointed ears, chin and head, a twisted gaze, a straight long nose, a slight smirk on his face, lanky, wields weapons and the art of seduction, is easygoing, gracious but not averse to manipulation, able to pull himself together at the last moment and do his job well. In the power of the dark side is aggressive, unstable, cruel, can execute unwanted, uncompromising, goes on the push without much reason. In both cases he wears white gloves, fustanella (skirt), a starry transparent cloak, high boots and a sword

🌕 i really wanted to scribble something related to greek revolution and have fun around some fustanella so have a silly illustration of an oc!!

Teleus is the other half of this drawing. He gay.

Teleus is the captain of the guard and he takes his job way too seriously. He is also viciously loyal, to his queen his country and reluctantly, eventually, to the king. I completely disregared time period for his clothing, and i put him in a fustanella, which doesnt become a military symbol til about 300 years later against the ottoman empire.

The child in the bottom center is named pheris and he is not gay. But the private aspects of the relationship between relius and teleus are seen through his childish viewpoint of gross adults. Its cute.

Fustanella

A pleated skirt-like garment that is also referred to as a kilt worn by men of many nations in the Balkans. In modern times, the fustanella is part of Balkan folk dresses. In Albania it was worn by the Royal Guard in the interbellum era. Both Greece and Albania claim the fustanella as a national costume.

Albanian Women's Traditional Clothing

Albanian women's traditional clothing includes the iconic "Xhubleta" vest worn over a white blouse, symbolizing femininity and culture. They also wear a pleated "Fustanella" skirt with elaborate patterns, paired with a "Qeleshe" apron and adorned with jewelry and scarves for a stylish look.