Fustanella have also influenced the evolution of the fustanella based on statues of Roman emperors wearing knee-length pleated skirts (in colder regions, more folds were added to provide greater warmth). Folklorist Ioanna Papantoniou considers the Celtic kilt, as viewed by the Roman legions, to have served as a prototype. Sir Arthur Evans considered the fustanella of the female peasants (worn over and above the Slavonic apron) living near the modern Bosnian-Montenegrin borders as a preserved Illyrian element among the local Slavic-speaking populations. In the Byzantine Empire, a pleated skirt known as the "podea" (Greek: ποδέα) was worn. The wearer of the
Men's skirts The men's lavalava have only traditional symbols. A blue lavalava is the official skirt for the police officers uniform of Samoa. In Sikhism, a faith that originated in the Punjab, there is a traditional dress which is worn by both men and women, called a 'baana' or 'chola'. This dress has a skirted bottom and is worn over long white undershorts. It was traditionally worn in battle by Sikh warriors as it allowed free movement and remains a part of the traditional Sikh dress and identity. For the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslim men wear the ihram, a