Clothing in ancient Greece

Clothing in ancient Greece refers to clothing starting from the Aegean bronze age (3000 BCE) to the Hellenistic period (31 BCE).^[1] Clothing in ancient Greece included a wide variety of styles but primarily consisted of the chiton, peplos, himation, and chlamys.^[2] Ancient Greek civilians typically wore two pieces of clothing draped about the body: an undergarment (χιτών : chitōn or πέπλος : péplos) and a cloak (ἱμάτιον : himátion or χλαμύς : chlamýs).^[3] The people of ancient Greece had many factors (political, economic, social, and cultural) that determined what they wore and when they wore it.^[2]

Clothes were quite simple, draped, loose-fitting and free-flowing.^[4] 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 (ζώνη: zōnē).^[4]^{[page needed]} Pieces were generally interchangeable between men and women.^[5] However, women usually wore their robes to their ankles while men generally wore theirs to their knees depending on the occasion and circumstance.^[4] Additionally, clothing often served many purposes than just being used as clothes such as bedding or a shroud.^[6]

In ancient Greece the terms ἀκεστής (male) and ἀκέστρια (female) were used for people who patched and restored clothing.^[7]

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.^[8]

^ Condra, Jill (2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33662-1.
^ ^a ^b Nigro, Jeff (1 February 2022). "Ancient Greek Dress: The Classic Look". Art Institute of Chicago.
^ Alden, Maureen (January 2003), "Ancient Greek Dress", Costume, 37 (1): 1–16, doi:10.1179/cos.2003.37.1.1
^ ^a ^b ^c Lee, Mireille M. (2015). Body, dress, and identity in ancient Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-05536-0.
^ Adkins, Lesley, and Roy Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. New York: Facts On File, 1997. Print.
^ "Ancient Greek Dress". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Sartor
^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Scalprum

[:06-1] Condra, Jill (2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History, Vol. 1. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33662-1.

[:2-2] Nigro, Jeff (1 February 2022). "Ancient Greek Dress: The Classic Look". Art Institute of Chicago.

[Alden-3] Alden, Maureen (January 2003), "Ancient Greek Dress", Costume, 37 (1): 1–16, doi:10.1179/cos.2003.37.1.1

[:127-4] Lee, Mireille M. (2015). Body, dress, and identity in ancient Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-05536-0.

[handbook-5] Adkins, Lesley, and Roy Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. New York: Facts On File, 1997. Print.

[:3-6] "Ancient Greek Dress". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 20 May 2023.

[7] Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Sartor

[8] A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Scalprum

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Clothing in ancient Greece

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