Czamara

Czamara (from Polish language; plural czamary; also known in the English language as Cracow/Kraków coat;[note 1] originally Spanish: zamarra, French: chamarre, German: Tschamarre, Arabic: samur - fur coat) was a type of outer garment in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was worn there from the 16th century and came to the Commonwealth via Hungary from Turkey. It was first worn mostly by priests, and in the 18th century became a popular attire of (non-nobility) burghers. In the 19th century, the czamara became a notable element of male Polish national and patriotic attire.

Czamara was a kind of a frock coat reaching up to the hips or thighs in a kontusz-like cut, lined with fur, with long, straight, narrow sleeves, and a lined, narrow, high collar, and decorative frogs.

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  Men in czamaras
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  Man wearing a czamara

Notes

1. A portrait of Tadeusz Kościuszko in czamara is described in Pan Tadeusz; George Rapall Noyes translates it as Cracow coat, Bill Johnston as Kraków coat.

Bibliography

• Kubalska-Sulkiewicz, Krystyna; Bielska-Łach, Monika; Manteuffel-Szarota, Anna (1996). Słownik terminologiczny sztuk pięknych. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. ISBN 83-01-11785-0.
• Encyklopedia Polski, Kraków 1996 s. 110.