""One cannot deny that the frequent interchange made between the Maltese and Sicilians influenced local customs. Sicilian influence may be discovered both in the eating habits of the Maltese as well as in the costumes worn in Malta. The garb worn by the Maltese women is a case in point. The women of Malta wear a long black mantel that flows down from the head to the heels. Unlike in Sicily, the net "(strascino)" is not worn. Our women of the lower classes wear a mantel made of black wool. Noble women, the wives of the Professors of Law and Medicine and rich citizens wear mantels made of silk...""