Fashion and clothing in ancient Greece

Ancient Greece fashion and clothing

In ancient Greece, clothing was not merely used for protecting the body, It was used for many more purposes.

Clothing was a symbol of the status of the wearer and it served as a form of decoration.The wealthy like to wear very fine fabrics and wore elaborated jewellery.On the other hand, the poor used to dress in a basic form of clothing made up of coarse fabrics.

Whenever the men were engagement in an outdoor activity like sports or work in hot places they restricted wearing clothes, however if women were around them they wore cloths.

Rich women who were noble were supposed to wear a veils around their heads and lower face.

The most interesting thing about the Greek outfits was that they required minimal stitching, as they were quite simple and lots of styles and folds were created and experimented with these simple garments.

Most of the fabric, which was expensive and had high quality was decorated with embroideries edges and colours.

The Greeks preferred to be either barefoot or they wore sandals or boots in winter.

Men usually wore a flowing rope with its end draped very the shoulders.

The Greek women tie their hair into knots, braids or they wore curls or covered year hair with a scarf.

Men wore hats and looked after their beards by trimming, combing and oiling them.

They preferred a pale skin tone and cared about their skin.

Gold jewellery and bracelets were mostly worn to show off their skin colour.

Blonde hair was highly prized and upper class used to sun shade over the,

People who did not have blonde hair used to use a wash and make it appear to be blonde.

They also wore hair nets made up of gold threads.

 Clothing for women mostly consisted of a tunic (peplos and chiton) and a cloak.

The peoples was a large rectangle of heavy fabric, usually wool, folded over along the upper edge so that the over fold would reach to the waist. It was placed around the body and fastened at the shoulders with a pin or brooch. There were armholes were on each side, and the open side of the garment was either left that way, or pinned or sewn to form a seam.

The chiton was made of a much lighter material, normally linen. It was a very long and very wide rectangle of fabric sewn up at the sides, pinned or sewn at the shoulders, and usually girded around the waist. Often the chiton was wide enough to allow for sleeves that were fastened along the upper arms with pins or buttons.

Men in ancient Greece customarily wore a chiton similar to the one worn by women, but knee-length or shorter. An exomis was worn for exercise, horse riding, or hard labor. The himation (cloak) worn by both women and men was essentially a rectangular piece of heavy fabric, either woolen or linen. It was draped diagonally over one shoulder or symmetrically over both shoulders, like a stole.

Women sometimes even wore a shawl over their peplums or chiton.

Sandals, slippers, soft shoes or boots were worn by the men and women, otherwise they stayed barefoot.