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The Greeks have been responsible for some wild parties throughout history. Early Greek and Roman costumes inspired the classic Toga parties so popular to this day with college crowds throughout the world. There are some potentially very sexy costumes that can be designed using the ancient Greeks as one's guide. Greek culture and history is incredibly interesting and has given the modern world so many amazing gifts, from the Olympics to many of our enduring myths and symbols.
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Clothes began as the skin of an animal or a rectangle of cloth from a loom. Clothes were often just these things wrapped around a body. Later clothes began to take more shape. The flounced shirt of the Minoans seems an exception to this. Minoan women are shown wearing a vest-like top that exposes the breasts and a girdle-like belt around the waist. Below this is a flounced skirt of an elaborate sort. Minoan men wore short pants which consist of a girdle around the waist with a strap between the legs and a half kilt on the rear. The tunic was an early garment worn by itself or as an under garment. Another possibility is a skirt make of hides. This is illustrated: Click here. The flounced skirt and girdle is illustrated: Click here.
The peplos was a later form of garment for women that consisted of a large rectangle of cloth folded around the body and hung from the shoulders. iIt was bound with a belt at the waist. The similar chiton is still more recent. A himation was a cloaklike garment also worn. Athletes went nude in the sports contests. One of the athletes tripped and strangled himself in his garments and from that time onward athletic contests were performed in the nude. Atalanta sometimes was nude when she raced and beat men.
The clothing of the Mycenaean culture is similar to the Minoan culture with formal clothing seemingly identical. Less formal settings saw men and women in robes. By the time of the Trojan war the Mycenaean culture was dominant.
Greek men at the time of the Trojan war wore different kinds of clothes than were present in classical Greece. When Athena dressed for war she sheds her soft embroidered robe and puts on a tunic in its place. In addition she has the Aegis, a helmet, and a spear. When Patroclus puts on Achilles' armor he puts on greaves, cuirass, sword and shield. This is probably because men always wore tunics. That women wore robes and men wore tunics is born out by the figures on the warrior vase unearthed by Schliemann himself. This vase is dated to 1200 B.C.E. or just after the Trojan war. The tunics were gathered at the waist as some warriors wore belts or aprons. The main armor during the Trojan war was leather. Most of the warriors wore leather helmets, shields, cuirass, apron, and greaves. Only a few warriors had bronze equipment. A good javelin could pierce the leather and this explains the deadly nature of that weapon as described by Homer. A bone overlay provided additional protection for some warriors. The helmet was not the Corithian or Athenian helmet of the classical period. Neither the face nor the ears were that well protected. The Hittite men of this period wore what might e described as a knee length, shirt-like tunic. The Greeks seemed to be wearing a similar but shorter tunic. The Minoan culture of before the Trojan war dressed their men in something like boxer shorts with a very tight girdle around the waist. They also wore a long skirt made of skin on some occaisons. Minoan men are frequently shown with no clothing above the waist. Rarely they are shown with robes on.
During the classical period men and women wore a combination of one or more of a peplos, a chiton, or a himation. A tunic or a girdle might be worn as an undergarment. A chiton might be worn on top of these or alone. A peplos might be worn alone or over a chiton with or without undergarments. A himation could be worn alone or over any other combination of garments.
During this period women became aware of the attractive nature of clothing and began to wear clothing that revealed the voluptous nature of the body underneath. This was especially true of the material from Amorgos. This material exploited a wild plant of the islands. This wild plant was used for the weaving of the flamboyant linen and silk robes of ancient Amorgos, prized items of the classical era, which were dyed red using the lichen Rocella tinctoria.
Weaving was an important tradition for women in ancient Greece. In the Iliad Homer mentions that Athena wears a dress that she wove herself. In the Odyssey when Odysseus arrived at the Palace of Alcinous Homer writes: "White-armed Arete (the queen) was the first to break the silence. For in the fine cloak and tunic she saw him wearing she recognized some clothes that she herself had made with her women's help." Then there is the story of Penelope who wished not to marry until she finished a shroud for her father-in-law. Each night she undid what she had woven during the day and thus postponed any thought of marriage. Weaving was an occupation of the ladies of the highest status.
The looms were upright with a frame attached to a wall and the weaver standing in front. As the work progressed the work was wound up in a roll at the top. Small clay weights were used to weigh down the ends of the warp. There were no spinning wheels, but use was made of the distaff and spindle and whorl. The raw material was held in a spinning basket. A rough clay semicylinder called an epinetron was used to prepare the wool. The results of this loom were high quality, as is demonstrated by the results illustrated in vase painting. You may also study the vase paintings for the patterns produced. There is a picture of Penelope with her loom at: Click here
Spinning and weaving goes back to the dawn of civilization to at least 8000 years ago. Spinning must have developed first with weaving later. The first materials were probably woven like a basket without a loom. The warp weighted looms used by the ancient Greeks were the oldest types so looms were probably developed during the Minoan period. At the beginning of that period cloth would have been scarce and very valuable. Pictures which show ancient Minoan women wearing flounced skirts are deceptive. Because of the difficulty of weaving without a loom these skirts were probably not made of cloth. They were probably made just of string. The material used in clothing should have been a minimum. The loom probably increased the quality and decreased the cost of the cloth made. After the loom was invented clothing covered more of the body, but since the loom produced cloth that was rectangular the clothing also had that shape. Since weaving was always the work of women it seems likely that a woman invented the loom.
A peplos is a pretty easy garment to make. It consists of two pieces of rectangular material that are pinned along the top. The Greek ladies used long pins like hat pins, but you should use safety pins. The material overlaps and is pinned through. These pins could be decorative like a brooch. The width of the rectangle is equal to the width between your wrists when your arms are spread out. The height is equal to the distance between your shoulders and your ankles. The pins should leave a space for your head in the middle. You slip the garment over your head so your head sticks through and the material hangs on your shoulders and arms. You gather the material at your waist with a sash or cord. The material should be a supple material such as silk or a knitted fabric like wool. The Greek ladies usually wore wool. Images follow:
The same style of garment was worn by rich and poor women. The rich woman wore finer material that was embroidered. Rich women would also wear a crown and fine jewelry.
They used many kinds of jewely made from precious and semi-precious stones. These were set in gold and silver. The pieces included: rings, earrings, clasps, necklaces, crowns, combs, and pins. A web site on Greek Jewelry is at: Click here
Jewelry was very important to a woman of ancient Greece. Jewelry often indicated a woman's wealth and status. Jewelry also included symbols which were important to religious beliefs. Some pictures follow which you click on to see:
Examples of gold jewelry follow:
A coin necklace is made with one or more coins. Ancient Greek Coins are quite decorative and desirable.
The ancient Greek ladies used mascara for their eyes and white lead for their cheeks. Redding could have been used for rouge. They used other red colors but I do not know what they were. They liked oils and lotions as well. Olive oil was available as was lard, tallow, bees' wax, and lanolin. Soap was a discovery of the Romans so they had no soap.
In the theater the actors wore masks that were painted. The Greek ladies used white lead (which is poisonous) to whiten their skin. Redding would have been used for rouge. Powdered charcoal would have been used for black. Tallow, Beeswax, lanolin, and olive oil were applied to the skin.
What they wore was light. Rouge was the most evident.
From Greek literary sources, Llewellyn-Jones shows that full veiling of head and face was commonplace. He analyses the elaborate Greek vocabulary for veiling and explores what the veil was meant to achieve. He shows that the veil was a conscious extension of the house, and was often referred to as 'tegidion', literally 'a little roof'. Veiling was thus an ingenious compromise; it allowed women to circulate in public while maintaining the ideal of a house-bound existence. Alert to the different styles of veils used, the author uses Greek and more modern evidence (mostly from the Arab world) to show how women could exploit-and subvert-the veil as a means of eloquent, sometimes emotional, communication.
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Questions and Answers about Clothing
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