Boudoir – The Court Dress of Greece

Welcome to the – hopefully – regular edition, Boudoir! I kinda like regular stuffs, like weekly or monthly reports and articles, so I decided to do my own one. In Boudoir, I plan to write about fashion, clothing, accessories and maybe sometimes Cecile will share some tips about cosmetics and beauty-care (if she agrees to do, because I haven’t told her my plan yet). The first issue of Boudoir is about one of my favorite topics: the court dresses. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you the royal court dress of Greece.

The court dresses or court gowns were the traditonal – and sometimes compulsory – attire in the royal and imperial courts at important events (like weddings, opening ceremonies, coronation, etc.), mostly in the 19th century. The 19th century was the century of romanticism, nationalism and elegantism. The modern Greece was founded in 1832, and its first ruler was the Bavarian King Otto. I think it was really important to emphasize that he is the king of the Greeks, he cares for his people and respect their nationality, history and culture, since he was a „stranger”. The king adopted the dress of the Greek partizans, the fustanella as the court dress for males, and it symbolised the unified Greek nation as well as the heritage of the heroes of the war of independence. King Otto’s wife was the beautiful Princess Amalia of Oldenburg. It was the Queen, who created the female version of the Greek national dress – still known as „Amalía dress” in Greece.

It follows the Biedermeier-style, with a loose-fitting, white cotton or silk shirt, often decorated with lace at the neck and handcuffs, over which a richly embroidered jacket or vest is worn, usually of golden, dark blue or claret velvet. The skirt was ankle-length and colourful (originally green, but changed to azure blue). It was completed with a soft cap or fez with a single, long, golden silk tassel, traditionally worn by married women.

The „Amalía dress” and its male version became the official attire of Greek diplomats, nobles and the royal couple. Of course, the dress – and principally the female dress – changed with the time and with the new fashion trends. The next Queen Consort of the Greeks, Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia introduced a new court dress, which – in my opinion – more resemble the original rural or national dresses than the Amalía dress. It had a long skirt, a thigh-lenght coat with rich embroidery and a metal belt. On the head they wore a special headdress with white veil and little metal disks. This kind of dress then somehow got lost between regimes and fashion trends – but the last Queen Consort, Anna-María wore (photo here) a Greek dress in the late 1960’s, which was the mixture of the Amalía dress and the Olga style dress.

by Alla

Sources: Royal Court Dress and Fashions in Greece , Linda Welters: Ethnicity in Greek Dress, Wikipedia