Kouroukkles: fashion and survival
In Cyprus
a scarf was more than fabric. It was identity, protection, and survival woven into cotton threads. The kouroukkles could brighten a wedding, shield a field worker from the sun, or turn a young woman into an elder in the blink of an eye when danger loomed.
Young women draped the black scarves over their heads to disguise themselves as elderly women, turning clothing into a shield, a disguise, and a quiet act of defiance against an invading force, saving their lives.
Fashion has had a strange, often macabre, relationship with the body. It has too often been twisted into an excuse for abuse: too short, too tight, too revealing, and suddenly someone’s wardrobe becomes a justification for someone else’s cruelty. It’s a grim comedy of judgment, where fabric is blamed for violence it could never commit. But in 1974 Cyprus, a piece of cloth, the black kouroukkles, flipped this script entirely. Here, fashion was not a cowardly justification for harm, as it never should be, but a tool of survival.
In traditional Cypriot dress, the scarf was a vital element that completed both women’s and men’s attire. Known as kouroukkles, these scarves, worn by women either on the head or around the waist, were made of fine cotton fabric with loose weaves and came in various colors chosen according to the occasion. The color of the scarf reflected a woman’s age and social status, with white, black, or red each carrying a distinct meaning.
Red scarves, intricately dyed by skilled artisans, most often men, were typically worn by young women during celebrations and by newlyweds. These scarves were often adorned with elaborate floral and botanical patterns by mantilarades, master craftsmen who used wooden stamps to imprint designs. This unique technique was passed down through generations until the last known artisan passed away in 2004.
White scarves were worn mainly by women working in the fields. They covered their faces up to the eyebrows to shield themselves from the harsh sun, which accompanied them daily through the strenuous demands of rural life.
Black scarves, on the other hand, were worn by women in mourning or those of older age.
Beyond its cultural and practical significance, the scarf also became a symbol of protection during one of Cyprus’s darkest times, the Turkish invasion of 1974. A single piece of cloth, whether richly decorated or simple, carries with it the stories, struggles, and resilience of an entire generation. It stands as a powerful symbol of memory and a quiet, enduring resistance in the face of an uncertain future.
In the face of escalating violence, many young women donned black scarves to disguise themselves as older women, thereby evading potential assault and sexual abuse by Turkish forces. This act of subterfuge was a desperate yet resourceful response to the atrocities unfolding around them. In 2025, the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee (FEMM) visited Cyprus to hear firsthand accounts from survivors of sexual violence and other atrocities committed during the conflict. These testimonies shed light on what these women endured and on the very much controversial relationship that fashion might have held with war crimes.
“They put us in the school hall at Voni, along with the rest of the family. There entered whenever they wanted, they chose girls and took them out to satisfy their sexual desires. I was wearing my grandmother`s clothes to look old but they could see my face. I only went out when I needed to go to the toilet. I was wrapped up most of the time in a quilt, had children sitting all over me and around me so that the soldiers will not drag me out to rape me.”
— testimony to CNA from a woman belonging to a village in Kyrenia district
The exhibition ‘Printed Scarves and the Last Mantilaris’ presented the history of the art of printed scarves in Cyprus showcased these pictures and honored the relationship between fashion and survival.
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