Home E An Island a Continent E TRADITIONAL COSTUMES IN SARDINIA>THE WOMAN’S COSTUME 

Headgear
There are countless variations on this article of clothing.
You can tell where it comes from by the way it is placed on the head.
We find a great variety of colours, embroidery and ways of fastening it to the head.
It may consist of a simple headscarf folded triangularly or a series of “pieces”, sometimes bandages, bonnets, veils and/or shawls.

Blouse (Sard. camisa, camija)
The blouse is of white linen or cotton.
Loose, decorated in various ways with lace or embroidery, especially on the front, sleeves and other visible parts.
The neckline (of varying cut) is often framed by lace and embellished with silver buttons.

Waistcoat (Sard. palas, imbustu, cossu)
The waistcoat is worn over the blouse.
It may consist of a corset (above all in
northern Sardinia) or a true waistcoat with different types of shoulder-straps (narrow or wide, with a strip of cloth, bows or ribbons); it may even be only strips of cloth which bind the body under the bosom, held up by narrow shoulder-straps.

Bodice (Sard. tzippone, corittu)
It is made of high-quality fabric.
Length varies: it can be short, just under the bosom, down to the waist or a little above the skirt.
Sleeves may be wide, open along the forearm to let the blouse show, or short and tight; again, there are numerous variations.   

Skirt (Sard. tunica, fardetta, munnedda, saucciu)
It is always long and often has a border of coloured or gold ribbon; in rough woollen cloth but also fabrics from the mainland.
Gathered at the back, it stays smooth in front.
The front part is often covered by an apron. 

Apron (Sard. franda, pannellu, antalena, farda)
Worn over the skirt, it is of different materials.  It may be made of high-quality fabric, silk or Sardinian wool, or everyday cloth.

  photos by Piercarlo Murru