Local variants

In some Maltese villages (most notably, Żabbar and Żejtun), women

wore a variant of the għonnella known as a ċulqana, which was typically

blue, decorated with white polka dots or a white floral embroidery.

In Għargħur, the għonnella was known as stamina.
 
The colour of the għonnella was always very dark, mainly black.

But there was another type of għonnella called ċulqana , bluish in

colour with white polka dots, worn by the peasant women of Żabbar

It was dotted with small white floweret’s for Żejtun womenfolk. This was not made with the same care and finesse as the għonnella.  In fact it was an outer garment worn on the head and covering three quarters of the back and sides of the body. It is said that the ċuqlana preceded the għonnella. In the 18th century the għonnella worn by rich or noble ladies was white and sometimes coloured.
 

Origins

The origins of the għonnella are unknown. It has been described as a "western garment, worn in an eastern fashion." Maltese historians

Ciantar and Abela were of the view that the għonnella had evolved from traditional Sicilian dress: "One cannot deny that the frequent interchange made between the Maltese and Sicilians did not influence 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

dismissed as a fairy tale in a National Geographic essay about Malta (1935).
 
According to yet another legend, the għonnella developed due to the strict

Canonical requirement (pre-Vatican Council II) that women veil their head

before entering a Catholic church. It is said that poorer country girls, who

could not afford a cloak or shawl, met the veiling requirement by placing a

spare skirt over their head, which gradually evolved into the għonnella.

Others speculate that it is a vernacular modification of the eastern veil,

in which case it likely dates back to the period of Arab rule over

Malta (869-1127 C.E.). It could also be a local variation of the Spanish

mantilla, in which case it could date back to the period of direct Spanish

 rule over Malta (1283-1530 C.E.).
 

Historical References

There are references to the għonnella in the early records of the Knights

of St. John (Order of Malta), and in eighteenth century travel books.

Louis De Boiseglin, historian of the Knights of Malta wrote as follows:

"The Maltese women are little, and have beautiful hands and feet.

They have fine black eyes, though they sometimes appear to squint,

owing to their always looking out of the same eye; half of the face

being covered with a sort of veil made of silk called Faldetta, which

they twist about very gracefully, and arrange with much elegance. The women even of the

 highest rank, unlike their husbands, constantly preserve their costume; and any

one who should adopt the French fashion would make herself very

ridiculous. They are extremely fond of gold and silver ornaments,

and it is not uncommon to see even the peasants loaded with trinkets

of those metals."
 
Victorian illustrator and traveller, William Henry Bartlett, was clearly

intrigued by the Faldetta, describing it as follows in 1851: "Next, 

tripping lightly down the steps behind, is a Maltese lady, enveloped

in her elegant black silk mantilla, a costume of which it may be said

that it renders even the ugly attractive, while the pretty become

positively irresistible: so grave, and yet so piquant, so nun-like,

and yet so coquettish, are its rustling folds, tastefully drawn

round the head, so as to throw additional expression into