Traditional Dress of Musei

Historical background and roots of tradition

Musei, whose name is the same in Sardinian, is a village in the Cixerri, in the province of Sud Sardegna, on the old road between Iglesias and Cagliari. The name has nothing to do with the Muses of Greek art: it probably comes from the Latin expression (Villa) Musei, which referred to an ancient Roman estate owned by a family or an individual of the gens Museius; other, less accepted local hypotheses trace it to pre-Latin roots or to legends about an ancient Jewish presence in the area. The area was inhabited in the Nuragic, Punic and Roman periods. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the Giudicato of Cagliari, in the curatoria of Sigerro, and then passed to various feudal lords, including the Carroz and the Cardona. The present village grew up in the 17th century around the late Baroque church and convent of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, built by the Jesuits, who stayed until 1773.

Women’s dress

The women’s festive dress includes a red satin bag-shaped cap, scuffia, which gathers the hair and is tied at the nape. Over it is worn the veil, velu, white tulle, square and hand-embroidered with floral motifs, folded into a triangle with the ends left loose.

The shirt, camisa, is white cotton, with embroidery on the square neckline and cuffs. The jacket, gipponi, is red velvet, fitted, trimmed with white braid at the cuffs and fastened at the front with hooks. The shoulders are covered by the shawl, perra ’e seda, green figured silk with golden floral motifs, triangular and with fringes along the edges: it is worn with the ends crossed over the chest and knotted behind the back, and a gold brooch is pinned on the chest.

The skirt, gunnedda, is red velvet, fully pleated except for the front panel, which is covered by the apron, panneddu, in black lace.

Men’s dress

The men’s festive dress consists of a white cotton shirt, camisa, and a black wool cloth waistcoat, cropettu. The trousers, cratzonis, are white cotton, and over them is worn a black wool cloth kilt, cratzonis de arroda. The dress is completed by black wool cloth gaiters, cratzas.