Ancient Greek Clothing - Timeless elegance
Throughout history, Greece has been famous for its philosophy, art, literature, and politics. As a result, the classic Ancient Greek Clothing style of dress has often been revived. Societies that wished to gain the same respect of this civilization wore Ancient Greek Clothing in democratic government.
Ancient Greek Clothing became fashionable in France shortly after the French Revolution in the late eighteen century because the style was thought to express the democratic ideals that the revolution fought for.
Designers in the nineteenth century admired Ancient Greek Clothing because they thought it represented timeless beauty, the opposite of complicated and rapidly changing fashions of their time.
The basic garment of this era was called a Chiton. This was an unsewn tunic made of linen or wool and was worn by both men and women. It was a rectangular garment fastened at the shoulders. They used a fibula to fasten this Ancient Greek Clothing, the same as we now use a safety pin. When the Chiton was fastened with one fibula on each shoulder it was called a Doric Chiton. The Doric Chiton had an overlap of material with flowed down to the waist. When many fibulae were used it was known as the Ionic Chiton. The man’s chiton was very similar to the woman’s. It was left open down the side and sometimes belted around the waist. The only difference was that men’s chitons were knee length, and women’s chitons were ankle length.
Women dressed modestly in Greece, and in many areas they wore a veil whenever they left the house.
The basic outer garment worn during winter was called himation, a larger cloak worn over the peplos, a loose robe worn by women or chlamys, a cloak worn by men.
Greeks wore girdles that were tied around the waist, if one only was used, it was called peplos girdle. If many were used, it was called kolpos girdle.
Adornments that were added to Ancient Greek Clothing and came in several designs called motifs. These included a key, olive leaf and fruit, Aegean wave, key and dart, and a Corinthian leaf.
The prime material of Greece was leather. Greeks were talented in designing by hand and stitched and decorated leather into Ancient Greek Clothing. This was done particularly for the military. A Greek soldier was called a Hoplite. When going into battle, they wore a leather covering over a tunic and leather leg guards.