Notes for a history of Maltese costume

Abstract

In this study we have brought together, some material that will he found useful for the study of the development of Costume in Malta. The subject has not been adequately studied so far, and it is hoped that the present notes, which provide a fairly large body of information, will serve as a first guide to other students in this field. The material collected is the by-product of years of reading undertaken for an entirely different purpose. Impressed by the number of allusions to Maltese costume, I thought it worthwhile to extract what is most valuable and the least accessible data gathered together from many out-of-the-way sources, documents, rare books, deeds, etc. The evidence of the historians of the past and of the old travellers, together with some laws and regulations dealing with dress and costume and a few selected marriage contracts, are appended to this introduction in an order corresponding roughly to the historical development of the subject. The linguistic aspect has not been ignored .and a list of 18th Century words dealing with male and female costume, local drapery and textiles, etc., is appended forming, as it were, a living document of ancient Maltese folk-life.