The Czamara (from

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

; plural ''czamary''; also known in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

as Cracow/Kraków coat; originally , , ,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ''samur'' - fur coat) was a type of outer garment in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The czamara was introduced to the Commonwealth in the 16th century, likely through

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Initially, it was primarily worn by priests, but by the 18th century, it had gained popularity among burghers who were not of noble status. During the 19th century, the czamara became a prominent element of male Polish national and patriotic attire. The czamara itself was a type of

frock coat A frock coat is a formal wear, formal men's coat (clothing), coat characterised by a knee-length skirt cut all around the base just above the knee, popular during the Victorian era, Victorian and Edwardian era, Edwardian periods (1830s–1910s). ...

that reached the hips or thighs. It had a cut similar to a

kontusz A ''kontusz'' (, ; ; ; originally from , ) is a type of outer garment worn by the Hungarian and Polish–Lithuanian male nobility. It became popular in the 16th century and came to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth rule via Hungary from Tur ...

, a traditional Polish garment. The coat was lined with fur and featured long, straight, narrow sleeves, a lined narrow high collar, and decorative

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

for fastening. File:Чимари 1848.jpg, Men in czamaras File:Чимара 1848.jpg, Man wearing a czamara

Notes

Bibliography

* * ''Encyklopedia Polski'', Kraków 1996 s. 110. Polish clothing Lithuanian clothing Coats (clothing) {{Poland-stub