If someone asked what Greek people wore in ancient Europe, the first clothing item that probably came to mind was the toga. The toga originated from the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that predated the Romans. When the Romans conquered the Etruscan lands in northwest Italy, they adopted the toga, which later became a powerful status symbol among the Romans.
Interestingly, ancient Greeks didn’t wear togas. Their fashion was dictated by economic, political, social, and even religious factors. This article explores ancient Greek clothing, popular materials and colors, and how different genders wore their clothes.
Ancient Greek clothing material and color
Material
Typically, in ancient Greece, people wore oversized rectangular garments made from wool, linen, or silk. Silk was introduced by Alexander the Great after his exploits in the Far East, and it was only by royal or wealthy Greeks.
Linen is made from the fibers of the flax plant, and it was mainly imported from ancient Egypt. It was an excellent fabric for the hot summer weather in Greece. On the other hand, wool, being warmer, was worn during the winter months. Wool was spun from the fleece of their sheep, and making garments was a job for women and enslaved people.
Color
Much of what we know about ancient Greek clothing comes from marble sculptures and images of pottery. From Greek art and sculptures, it’s easy to think they only wore white or monochrome clothing. However, historians now know Greek clothing had a dash of various colors.
They mostly extracted their dye from shellfish, insects, seeds, plants, and urine. For example, red dye was extracted from the madder plant or insects called cochineals. Plants like saffron and crocus provided yellow dye, while blue dye was extracted from the woad plant. The “royal purple” dye was obtained by crushing sea snails (a species of murex). Getting the purple dye was expensive and extremely difficult, so it was only reserved for royalty.
What did Ancient Greek men wear?
Art and sculptures mostly show Greek men wearing nothing or next to nothing. They indeed did gymnastics in the nude, and nudity wasn’t frowned upon at drinking parties (known as symposia). However, some activities such as horse riding, hunting, and military service necessitated clothing.
It’s important to note that ancient Greek men never wore trousers because they believed they were a dress of barbarian non-Greeks. However, men and women sometimes wore underwear called the perizoma.
Chiton
The chiton was the most popular clothing among ancient Greek men. It consisted of two oversized garments held in place by brooches (fibulae) on the shoulders and a belt at the waist. It was mostly made from linen or silk for the wealthy. Men wore shorter clothes than women because they mostly spent their time outdoors.
Himation
Think of a himation as an outer garment like a cloak. It draped over the body like a toga, and men draped it over the left shoulder and under the right — their right arms were left bare. People in ancient Greece believed those who left their left arms bare were uncivilized and barbarians.
Himations were mainly made from wool and could reach the knees, sometimes longer. They were commonly worn over the chiton, but sometimes men wore them alone. However, it was frowned upon if your himation dragged on the ground.
Chlamys
Men exclusively wore the chlamys. It was a blanket-sized short cloak clasped at the right shoulder but covering the left. This cloth was commonly worn by soldiers or men going hunting. Later, the chlamys became longer, made of silk, and decorated with gold and other precious stones. As such, it was reserved for emperors and royalty.
What did ancient Greek women wear?
Peplos
The peplos are the earliest known clothing worn by ancient Greek women. They were oversized rectangular tunics held by a belt around the waist and pinned by brooches or fibulae on their shoulders. This clothing, mostly made of wool, was usually folded down over the belt to appear as if the woman was wearing two pieces. Sometimes, the women wore a belt called a strophion (which resembles a modern bra) on their chest so that the folded-down part would be higher.
The good part about the peplos is that the length of the tunic didn’t matter because the extra length would be folded at the waist. The Greeks also had a religious ceremony where girls were chosen to make sacred peplos to dedicate to the virgin goddess. The young unmarried women could take up to 9 months to make their peploses.
Chiton
Men initially wore this garment, but women adopted it around 550 B.C. Unlike the shorter chitons worn by males, women’s chitons were longer. Women also had two different styles of chiton: the Doric and the Ionic chiton.
The Doric chiton, also called the Doric peplos, was simple. It was made from a large rectangular fabric pinned at the shoulders and wrapped around the body; once in place, it was usually belted to have the drapery effect.
Over time, women adopted the Ionic chiton, which was more elaborate. It didn’t need brooches at the shoulders, had elbow-length sleeves, and was belted at the waist. Sometimes, women wore an ornamental peplos over their chitons to show their status.
Himation
The himation was usually worn over the peplos or the chiton. It was worn in different ways depending on the fashion trends at the time. This garment also came in various colors and designs that were either painted or woven into the fabric. Sometimes, women wore this cloak over their heads like a veil if the weather was bad.
One of the most common ways to wear the himation was wrapping it around the whole body and tucking a fold into the belt. You can see this trend in the caryatid statue columns on the Acropolis of Athens.
Epiblema
This garment was usually worn over sleeveless chitons like a shawl. Women mostly wore epiblemas when running errands outside their homes. Senior men, like senators and government officials, also wore some version of the epiblema while in office.
What do ancient Greek children wear?
Younger children usually didn’t wear anything, especially at home. But as they grew older, they wore small clothing around their waists. Then, when they approached their teens or school-going age, they began wearing smaller versions of chitons.
We can see that ancient Greeks didn’t walk around nude or wear long white sheets. It’s evident that ancient Greeks were quite fashionable and influenced fashion over the ages.
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