ADORN
INSPIRATION AND RESOURCES
Anastasia Panagakos
I drew inspiration for ADORN from the works of Michael Pappas and George Tatakis, artists who use storytelling through photography and filmmaking to capture elements of Greek life and culture in ways that feel both deeply personal and universal. Explore their works on Instagram at @tatakisg and @michael_pappas.
As an anthropologist, I am interested in many different aspects of Greek culture both in Greece and in the diaspora. Currently, I am documenting the reproduction of traditional Greek dress in the western United States as performance costuming for folk dance competition. I explore how these costumes become an expression of Greek American identity and lived experience across generations through performance while also highlighting the “hidden labor” - the sewing skills, cultural knowledge, and creativity - required to produce such traditional clothing. Check out the Greek Folk Dance and Choral Festival website and FDF YouTube channel to see a wide array of folk dress as reproduced by the Greek American communities themselves or purchased/rented from professional costume makers in Greece.
There are many web and social media sites dedicated to traditional Greek dress and the preservation of fiber arts. These are some of my favorites:
Museums
- Benaki Museum
- Basil Papantoniou Foundation
- Victoria Karelias Collection of Traditional Greek Costumes
- National Historical Museum
Fiber Art and Artists
- Traditional kilim rug weaving: Tsakonika Ifanta (website) or @tsakonika_ifanta
- Geraki Weaving Collective Part 1 (video)
- Traditional costumes and embroidery: Aristotehnima - @aristeidistzon
- Greek traditional design and high fashion: The Greek Bar Jacket: The Making of a Dior Cruise Collection (video)
Traditional folk art and customs, both their content and meaning, have been well documented among anthropologists, historians, and folklorists among others. My own work builds upon their thoughtful research and perspectives.
- Barnes, Ruth, and Joanne B. Eicher, eds. 1992. Dress and Gender: Making and Meaning in Cultural Contexts. Oxford: Berg
- Dégh, Linda. 1984. “Uses of Folklore as Expressions of Identity by Hungarians in the Old and New Country.” Journal of Folklore Research 21 (2/3): 187-200
- DuBois, Thomas A. 1998. “Costuming the European Social Body: A Response.” The Journal of American Folklore 111 (440): 218-224. doi.org/10.2307/541942
- Entwistle, Joanne. 2000. The Fashioned Body: Fashion, Dress, and Modern Social Theory. Cambridge: Polity Press
- French, Erin and Kelly Reddy-Best. 2021. “Women’s Czech Folk Costume: Negotiating Ambivalence and White Ethnicity in the Midwest.” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 41 (3): 191-207
- Geering, Corinne. 2022. “Is This Not Just Nationalism?” Disentangling the Threads of Folk Costumes in the History of Central and Eastern Europe”
- Gradén, Lizette. 2014. “FashioNordic: Folk Costume as Performance of Genealogy and Place.” Journal of Folklore Research 51(3): 337-388
- Hatzimichali, Angeliki. 1999. Greek Folk Costumes: Costumes with the Kavadi. Athens: Melissa Publishing
- -----. 1999. Greek Folk Costumes: Costumes with the Sigouni. Athens: Melissa Publishing
- Küchler, Suzanne and Daniel Miller, eds. 2005. Clothing as Material Culture. Oxford: Berg
- Macha-Bizoumi, Nadia. 2023. Inspired by Dress: In Conversation with Ioanna Papantoniou and Angeliki Giannakidou. Athens: Hellenic Ministry of Culture
- Papantoniou, Ioanna. 2023. The Costumes of the Historical Greek Geographical Area. Nauplion, Greece. Basil Papantoniou Foundation
- Shukla, Pravina. 2008. The Grace of Four Moons: Dress, Adornment, and the Art of the Body in Modern India. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press
- Tarlo, Emma. 2019. “Landscapes of Attraction and Rejection: South Asian aesthetics in Islamic fashion in London.” In The Anthropology of Dress and Fashion, edited by Brent Adam Luvaas and Joanne Eicher, 263-272. London: Bloomsbury Press
- Welters, Linda. 1992. “Greek Folk Dress: Application of the Ethnohistorical Method.” Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 10 (3): 29-35
Kathryn Mayo
At its core, Adorn is a true collaboration, built on shared passions for storytelling and identity. This project explores how the clothes we wear become part of our personal and collective histories—shaping how we see ourselves, where we belong, and how we connect with others.
By investigating what people choose to wear, Adorn examines themes of memory, cultural legacies, and tradition, showing how our histories—both personal and shared—intertwine to shape identity. Through a mix of portraiture and oral history, the project amplifies voices that are often overlooked, highlighting the deeply personal yet widely relatable experience of navigating identity within complex histories.
Collaboration is at the heart of this work. Anthropology seeks to document and interpret human experience, while photography captures and preserves it in a way that feels both immediate and lasting. Working collaboratively has allowed me to see firsthand how artistic and academic approaches can bolster and lift each other, revealing new layers of meaning.
This project is an extension my artistic practice, which focuses on exploring identity through photography and contemporary narratives. More than anything, Adorn reinforces the idea that when we listen closely, look with intention, and approach each other with genuine empathy, we can start to dissolve boundaries—between disciplines, between people, and between the past and present.
One of my earliest memories is of holding a large glass negative to sunlight. As I peered through generations and the passing of time, I saw likenesses in the negative of my ancestors staring back at me. This powerful experience evoked both a familiarity and fascination with what is left behind by those that have come before and has continually informed the work that I create. Raised in a culture of storytelling and oral history worked to solidify the allure of the old and its continual existence among the new. This collision, blending and muddiness of old and new, creates the primary lens through which I see the world.
My work often looks at the connection between home and identity through portraiture and storytelling. I kept this in mind as I approached this body of work. I was particularly inspired by three photographers and their work: Irving Penn’s Small Trades, Richard Avedon’s In the American West and the work of self-taught itinerant photographer Hugh Mangum, whose groundbreaking turn-of-the-20th century work had been lost to the world for over fifty years, only to be rediscovered in a barn in Durham, North Carolina. All three photographers captured their subjects in ways that emphasized personality, vulnerability, and authenticity. Though separated by time and technological advances, each artist created images that feel timeless while at the same time being effective at breaking down perceived barriers. It is my belief that as we learn more about each other, communicate effectively and listen with empathy, we can begin to break down bias and deepen affection for one another.