Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Qeleshe
Summary
The qeleshe, plis, qylaf or kësul is a white brimless felt skull cap traditionally worn by Albanians. It has spread throughout Albanian-inhabited territories, and is today part of the traditional costume of the Albanians. The height and shape of the cap varies region to region.
In Albanian: qeleshja or plisi, qeleshe or plisa, qeleshet or plisat.
The word qeleshe comes from the Albanian word for wool (lesh). According to Vladimir Orel, the word plis comes from Proto-Albanian *p(i)litja, related to Old High German filiz id., Latin pellis id. and Greek πῖλος id., Proto-Slavic *pьlstь id.; according to Michael Driesen, Orel's reconstruction of Proto-Albanian *p(i)litja is incorrect.
There are many ways to make the plis. The most common way, in Kosovo, is using soap on the wool. The plis is always hand made. In the bazaar of Krujë, it is constructed by first getting a small chunk of wool that is placed on a table. Then, an instrument similar to a bow is used to beat the wool by hammering the string with a stone or a sturdy piece of wood. The wool is beaten and pressed until the wool strands become knotted around each other. Finally, it is washed, and shrinks.
It is then pressed by a flat wooden instrument on top of it, multiple times, until the wool becomes completely flat and smooth. Then, it is sealed in a flattener for 24 hours and soaked in hot water and salt. The hat is made by two finished, flattened and pressed wool. The corners are removed to form a round shape. Afterwards, soap is added as a glue substitution to finely keep the fibres smooth while both pieces of wool are rubbed together. Then it is washed and beaten to strengthen the fabric, and placed on a wooden model.
The shape of the plis is determined by the wooden model on which it is left to dry, and then rubbed with soap again to fix the shape. The wool will be smoothened with a razor. Lastly, a wooden instrument is firmly rubbed on the plis.
The Albanian plis/qeleshe has been handed down from Illyrian times.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.