Fustanella in ancient times was called chiton, χιτών, χιτῶνος. Chiton is also mentioned in the Bible.
However, many of the Greek artifacts/vases found of ancient warriors wearing the chiton are more ancient.
In Greek mythology, there are plenty of characters that wear the chiton, χιτών, sometimes long or short. The short was called the masculine tunic, a short type of skirt. Here is a list of ancient Greek costumes, including the chiton Le costume grec à la villa Kérylos
Many ancient Greek fighters wore chiton/χιτών. Albanians did not exist at the time of Menelaus
They came late in the Balkans and I will write about this in another post. Below is seen Menelaus in chiton.
Chiton, χιτών or later called fustanella is portrayed in the ancient Byzantine pottery
Hellenic ancient fighters are portrayed wearing chiton in ancient Greek vases
This is a grave Steele of Dexileos/Δεξίλεως , who died in the war against Sparta in 394 BC. He is seen wearing a chiton. This Steele was discovered in the Dipylon/Δίπυλον cemetery in Athens.
As the textile industry developed in Cairo, Cairo produced the greatest world, linens, and silk. The word Fustanella comes from the word Fustian, a material that was made at al-Fustāt, or el- Fostat, the oldest Arabic name of Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
Fustian was a fine material originally made of linen, then corduroy, and silk that many of the European aristocracies ordered from Egypt.
Franz Philipp von Lamberg, an Austrian soldier and statesman, held entire collections of Greek fighters in their Chitons/Fustanellas. He studied the Greek wars and battles. The picture below is from his book collections.
Fustanella is nothing but the imitation of the ancient Chiton
Luigi Pennazzi, was an Italian rich count who traveled all over the world and was born overseas, not in Italy. In 1878, he tried to get together a number of Italian fighters to help Epirotes to unite with Greece, but he did not succeed. He says that the fustanella is nothing but a memory of Ancient Greece. He also says that: “Albanians do not have names for cities and do not have songs compared to the Tragoudie of Greece and homeland has no meaning to them”.
Gillieron describes the Albanian mountaineer, slender with a proud gaze...” his floating fustanella is the chiton of Ancient Greece”.
In the Gazette Medicale D’orient it is mentioned that "The Tosque wears the fustanella of Hellas" Author calls the Tosques Pelasgians but he has in mind Epirotes. Guegues (Northern Albanians) - the author calls them Alains - Romans called them the most beautiful barbarians. Alans or Arrans or Aryan are the Caspian Albanians.
Albanian armed kavasses - armed guards of Turkey adopted the fustanella from the Northern Greeks (from National Geographic Magazine)
