Onanì

The Traditional Costume of Onanì

Onanì, known in Sardinian as Onanìe, is a village in the Barbagia di Bitti, in the province of Nuoro. In the Middle Ages it belonged to the Giudicato of Gallura and was part of the curatoria of the Barbagia di Bitti. A small village deep in the Sardinian interior, it has preserved over the centuries profound roots in ancient customs and traditions, still visible today.

Women’s dress

The women’s costume comes in two variants: the elaborately embroidered wedding dress and the simpler everyday dress. In the wedding dress, su mucatore — the silk shawl with violet and black fringe — is folded into a triangle and worn with the ends hanging freely at the sides. Sa camisa is made of cambriche (white cotton, the local name derived from the French chambray), embroidered by hand with geometric motifs su coro at the cuffs and chest, and enriched with filet, cutwork or crochet lace. Su tunicheddu, the cotton linen underskirt, has cutwork-embroidered lace along the hem.

Su solopatu is a sleeveless, open-fronted bodice made double-face: yellow-ochre cloth inside, blue velvet (su vernitzatu) outside, with su tzingu (a narrow green ribbon with red and yellow stripes) and embroidery in puntu ritzu, aveddas prenas and ispateddas; the back depicts a letter M in velvet, tzingu and puntu ritzu. Su coritu, the short jacket in red cloth double-face, is decorated on the sleeves with bordeaux velvet inserts, tzingu and vetas in sky-blue, brown and fuchsia; the front has blue and fuchsia velvet inserts with tzingu; at each fabric change, puntu ritzu, aveddas and ispateddas appear. The sleeves have a slit to reveal the embroidered cuffs of the shirt.

Sa ‘unnedda in orbace bears a blue velvet hem with two vetas joined by puntu ritzu. Sas màsculas, the vertical side openings, give access to the pockets (sas butzacas) and are decorated with blue velvet, tzingu and puntu ritzu running down to the hem. On the back, the deep pleats sas pìnnicas (about 8 cm wide) are gathered by s’intrintza, decorated with pink velvet, vetas and puntu ritzu. S’arda, the violet silk apron, is enriched with hand embroidery and silk vetas.

The everyday dress is simpler: sa ‘unnedda in orbace has a single blue velvet stripe with narrow vetas and sas màsculas; instead of a shirt, sas petorrinas (two rectangles of filet-embroidered fabric) are worn; su zipone (or janchetta de vernitzatu) is a close-fitting long-sleeved jacket in brown velvet with silk trimmings; su mucatore chintu, a brown or black silk kerchief, is folded into a triangle to frame the face.

Men’s dress

The white shirt is embroidered at the collar, sleeves and cuffs with su coro and cutwork embroidery; gold filigree buttons, a symbol of fertility, fasten the neckline. Su solopatu is a blue velvet waistcoat embroidered along the collar with three rows of puntu ritzu in yellow, green and red; the back is in red cloth with blue velvet inserts forming a letter M, also embroidered with three rows of puntu ritzu. Sos cartzones are white linen trousers; sas fracas is the pleated black orbace skirt with sas màsculas decorated with blue velvet; sas cartzas are black orbace gaiters. Sa chintòglia, the 7 cm wide leather belt, is enriched with raised embroidery. Sa berrita is the black cloth cap.