Clothing in ancient Greece
Clothing in ancient Greece refers to clothing starting from the Aegean bronze age to the Hellenistic period. Clothing in ancient Greece included a wide variety of styles but primarily consisted of the chiton, peplos, himation, and chlamys. Ancient Greek civilians typically wore two pieces of clothing draped about the body: an undergarment and a cloak. The people of ancient Greece had many factors that determined what they wore and when they wore it.
Clothes were quite simple, draped, loose-fitting and free-flowing. Customarily, clothing was homemade and cut to various lengths of rectangular linen or wool fabric with minimal cutting or sewing, and secured with ornamental clasps or pins, and a belt, or girdle. Pieces were generally interchangeable between men and women. However, women usually wore their robes to their ankles while men generally wore theirs to their knees depending on the occasion and circumstance. Additionally, clothing often served many purposes other than just being used as clothes such as bedding or a shroud.
In ancient Greece the terms ἀκεστής and ἀκέστρια were used for people who patched and restored clothing.
The shoemakers had two kind of knives for cutting leather, the σμίλη or σμιλίον, which has a straight blade and the τομεὺς or περιτομεύς, which had a crescent shaped blade.
Textiles
Small fragments of textiles have been found from this period at archaeological sites across Greece. These found textiles, along with literary descriptions, artistic depictions, modern ethnography, and experimental archaeology, have led to a greater understanding of ancient Greek textiles. Clothes in ancient Greece were mainly homemade or locally made. All ancient Greek clothing was made out of trees. Linen was the most common fabric worn by both sexes until it was rejected by the men for more 'moderate clothes', as those worn by the Spartans. Wool was worn because of its warmth and ability to be dyed, unlike linen. Silk was also used for the production of clothing, though for ceremonial purposes by the wealthy. In Aristotle's The [History of Animals, Aristotle talks about the collection of caterpillar cocoons to be used to create silk. There is a lot of writing from ancient Greece discussing the use of silk because it was nearly transparent, revealing the body of the person wearing it, and, therefore, perfect for women to wear. Sindon was a fine, lightweight cloth used for summer clothing.Amorgina, were fine, muslin-like fabrics made from amorgis, a particular type of flax. This flax, named after the island of Amorgos, but was also grown in other regions. The fabrics produced from it were highly prized for their fine texture, being even finer than byssos and karpasos. These fabrics were almost transparent and very costly, as noted in various ancient texts. The use of the adjective ἀμοργινὸς in reference to these fabrics can sometimes cause confusion, as it is not always clear whether the term refers to the island of Amorgos or the flax itself.
Production process
In the production of textiles, upright warp-weighted loom were used to weave clothing in Ancient Greece.These looms had vertical threads or warps that were held down by loom weights. The use of looms can be seen in Homer's Odyssey when Hermes comes across Calypso weaving on a loom. Another example of the loom in Homer's Odyssey can be seen when Odysseus comes across Circe for the first time. The use of looms can also be seen being depicted on ancient Greek pottery.
Color and decoration
Clothing in ancient Greece has been found to be quite colorful with a wide variety of hues. Colors found to be used include black, red, yellow, blue, green, and purple. Yellow dyed clothing has been found to be associated with a woman's life cycle. The elite typically wore purple as a sign of wealth and money as it was the most expensive dye due to the difficulty in acquiring it. The ancient Greeks also embroidered designs into their clothes as a form of decoration. The designs embroidered included representations of florals patterns and geometric patterns as well intricate scenes from Greek stories. An example of this embroidery can be seen in Homer's Iliad where Helen is described as wearing a purple textile on which she embroidered a scene of Trojans in battle.There was the proverbial phrase Θετταλικαὶ πτέρυγες, meaning Thessalian wings, because the Thessalian cloaks had a small flap in each side which resemble wings.
Styles of clothing
The epiblema, periblema, amfelone were general terms for the outer clothing while the endyma was most often applied to the underclothing.The lope and lopos were also general terms referring to the mantle.
Hemipharion was the half of an outer-garment, but the spelling of this rare and late noun varies across lexicons, with some offering hemipharion, while others suggest hemiphorion or hemiphoreion, yet none can settle on a definitive form.
Paryfi, was the border of a tunic or a scarf, primarily in women's clothing.
Doriazein, literally meaning "to dress like a Dorian girl," was a phrase used to describe the practice of being half-naked. This stemmed from the Dorian custom where girls would reveal their bodies at the side, as they typically wore chitons without girdles. In Sparta, however, it was not uncommon even for maidens to appear completely naked. This is how the Suda describes it.
In addition to tunics that had sleeves sewn onto them and were known as chiridota, sleeves were also worn as separate garments, not attached to the tunic.
The poderes or poderis is described as a long garment reaching down to the ankles.
Staple garments
Chiton
The chiton '' was a garment of light linen consisting of sleeves and long hemline. It consisted of a wide, rectangular tube of material secured along the shoulders and lower arms by a series of fasteners. The chiton was commonly worn by both men and women but the time period in which each did so depended. Chitons typically fell to the ankles of the wearer, but shorter chitons were sometimes worn during vigorous activities by athletes, warriors, or slaves.Often excess fabric would be pulled over a girdle, or belt, which was fastened around the waist. To deal with the bulk sometimes a strap, or anamaschalister was worn around the neck, brought under the armpits, crossed in the back, and tied in the front. A himation, or cloak, could be worn over top of the chiton.
Chlamys
The chlamys was a seamless rectangle of woolen material worn by men for military or hunting purposes. It was worn as a cloak and fastened at the right shoulder with a brooch or button.The chlamys was typical Greek military attire from the 5th to the 3rd century BC. It is thought that the chlamys could ward against light attacks in war.
The chlamys went on to become popular in the Byzantine Empire by the high class and wealthy.File:Delos House of Cleopatra.jpg|thumb|Statues at the "House of Cleopatra" in Delos, Greece. Man and woman wearing the himation
Himation
The himation was a simple wool outer garment worn over the peplos or chiton by both men and women. It consisted of heavy rectangular material, passing under the left arm and secured at the right shoulder. The himation could also be worn over both shoulders. Women can be seen wearing the himation over their head in depictions of marriages and funerals in art. Men and boys can also be seen depicted in art as wearing solely the himation with no other clothing. A more voluminous himation was worn in cold weather. The himation is referenced as being worn by Socrates in Plato's Republic.File:Caryatid Erechtheion BM Sc407.jpg|thumb|upright|Caryatid from the Erechtheion wearing a peplos. The blousing, or kolpos, is atop zone|leftPeplos
The peplos was a rectangular piece of woolen garment that was pinned at both shoulders leaving the cloth open down one side which fell down around the body. The top third of the cloth was folded over to create an over-fold. A girdle or belt was used to fasten the folds at the waist and could be worn over or under the over-fold. The overfold was called apoptygma. Variations of the peplos were worn by women in many periods such as the archaic, early classical, and classical periods of ancient Greece.Other garments
Allix
Allix and Gallix was a chlamys, according to Thessalians, which was fastened with gilt brooches.Ampechone
Ampechone, was a shawl or scarf worn by women over the chiton or inner garment.Amphimaschalos
Amphimaschalos, a specific type of chiton that was wider. It extended over the shoulders and arms, covering the armpits.The name amphimaschalos was misunderstood by later grammarians, who mistakenly believed it referred to a two-sleeved chiton. This misunderstanding led them to create the term heteromaschalos for a one-sleeved chiton, while the actual distinction for the ancient Greeks should have been between the amphimaschalos and exomis.
Aristophanes, uses it mockingly or evaluatively, implying that a "double-armholer" was a garment of higher status or refinement, something not granted to everyone.
Aphabroma
Aphabroma, was a garment worn by Megarian women.According to legend, when Abrota died, her husband Nisos commanded all the Megarian women to wear a garment similar to the one Abrota had worn, which was called aphabroma. It was still in use in the time of Plutarch.