National costume in Greece. Clothing of ancient Greece

Interesting data on the history of traditional costume in Greece is given in the book “Folk Dances and Their Teaching. Analysis of Rhythmic Pattern and Movements” Nikolaos Y. Vavritsas, Associate Professor, Teacher of Greek Folk Dance, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Based on the introductory remarks by M. Meraklis to the doctoral dissertation of M. Vrelli-Zakhu (2003), Vavritsas says that the history and development of the national costume are closely connected with the social life of a person; It is known that clothes characterized the personality. Its original purpose was protection from the weather, but over time, clothes began to reflect the social status of a person. Therefore, the costume as a social indicator is an important source of information about personal and social identity and can be studied from the point of view of history, economics, psychology, sociology and geography. Thus, “the evolution of the costume has always been closely connected with history and especially with changes in the life of society,” notes Vavritsas.

Like any manifestation of folk art, National Costume got his modern look after many changes from ancient times to the present day. In the Byzantine era, the change in Greek costume was especially revolutionary, not only due to the use of expensive fabrics embroidered with silver, gold and precious stones but also because of its durability and elegance.

In the Ottoman period of Greek history, despite all the persecution, ruin and robbery that the Greek population was subjected to, after the second half of the 18th century, wonderful creations began to appear based on the Byzantine ecclesiastical and secular tradition, in particular in jewelry art: in the workshops of Epirus and Arcadia they produced amazing things.

The great variety and beauty of traditional clothing in various regions of Greece, on the one hand, amaze those who decided to devote themselves to its study, and on the other, cause many difficulties. In ancient times, the type of clothing of each person depended on the occupation, age, gender, social status, geographical location of the region, and so on, resulting in a truly unique and at the same time a huge variety of types of traditional costume. “A special place in history is occupied by elements of women's costume, mainly those that were created by craftsmen, tailors and jewelers, representing the general artistic tradition of the region” (Kyriakidou - Nestoros, 1975, pp. 137-141).

The Greeks, writes Vavritsas, produced necessary materials for the manufacture of clothing, using unprocessed raw materials, mainly sheep and goat hair. Mothers began to sew traditional clothes for their children immediately after birth, including as a dowry. Every woman from the very early age I had to learn, among other things, how to process wool. She was required to be able to spin, weave, knit, sew, embroider, and generally handle raw wool. Women were solely responsible for the processing and production of the fabrics needed to create clothing. Handicraft production reached such a level that as a result real masterpieces were created, especially in the field of needlework and embroidery.

The process of processing the material required certain actions. First, wool was collected after shearing sheep and goats, then it was necessary to wash (and, if necessary, dye), dry the wool, disassemble, comb out. Following this, the wool was spun, the thread was pulled out and, finally, twisted into skeins. The finished yarn in skeins was wound on a special stick - a reel, after which the warp and wefts were made (together they form a weaving weave). The ducks were wound on a hand spinning wheel and thrown onto a shuttle, and then only it was possible to spin already on a loom, which was in every home. Usually, to make the process easier, the wool was dyed before it was made into thread. The fabrics that were made on the loom were then treated with a fuller to make them softer. Later, in the XVIII-XIX centuries, in addition to homespun materials, they began to use purchased materials (damask, velvet and other fabrics), which were brought to Greece from major European cities.

From the introductory speech of Ioannou-Yannara we learn the following: “The three most famous species Greek costume- everyday, festive and wedding - and a detailed analysis and study of the materials that women used to sew clothes, led Angeliki Khadzimihali to an interesting observation. She noticed that two main factors influenced the creation of the costume: the age of the person (girl, bride, young wife, married woman, elderly woman - and the same for men) and social status. These data determined the way each item of clothing was created, because everyone received a certain role in life, which directly depended on their social position. Having received a complete picture based on the analysis of the collected material, Angeliki Hadzimihali created a new classification, morphological, which is very significant for the entire study. According to her, the kind of clothes that each person wears, simply put, is a reflection of him. So, all women's clothing was divided into three main categories: a suit with shiguni (homespun dress), with kavadi (long winter clothes) and with a skirt. The same with men's clothing - fustanela or wide trousers.

Papandoniou (1973) divides the types of costumes in general into three (mountainous, lowland and island), and they, in turn, into urban and rural ones. According to her, most women's costumes consist of a shirt, a coat like a short coat, usually made of expensive material, and a dress (made from black homespun fabric, known in Greece since ancient times). In addition, any woman suit included wide trousers (underwear) and an elaborate headdress that women wore when they married.

Speaking of men's costume, Papandoniou (1974) emphasizes that its history goes back to ancient times. Men wore clothes of strict colors and simple in terms of decorations. In general, clothing was of two categories: one was worn at sea, the other on land. As in the case with women's dress, each species was divided into urban and rural. According to Papandoniou, shirts and underpants, as well as a short shirt, were worn almost everywhere as underwear. There were also punduri in Thrace, a kind of dark woolen trousers. In Macedonia - black shirt and trousers. In the Peloponnese, in Attica and on mainland Greece as a whole, there is a fustanela - a white skirt with many folds, which has become an integral element of the national Greek costume. Also found in coastal areas and islands various options wide trousers.

Finally, according to the classification of Christos Brufas, women's clothing is of three types. Rustic, as a rule, homespun, with a cotton shirt, a dress made of coarse wool and a woolen vest on top. So they dressed in Alona (Florina), Corinthia and Karagun. Oriental urban clothing, with kavadi, long dress with or without sleeves (tsumbes), sewn from expensive fabrics. It used to be worn in Ioannina, near the Black Sea coast, in Konya (modern Turkey) and in almost all urban centers. The third type is more new suit Western urban pattern, the characteristic element of which was a long pleated dress made of expensive damask, replacing the kavadi, which was worn over a traditional cotton shirt. Outerwear was either homespun wool coat(shoguni), found in Metsovo, Vovusy and Vlasty, or a felt vest with fine gold embroidery, as in Veria, Naousa, Kastoria and Samarina.

Trikala: Text by the Correspondent of Apostolis Zois

Ancient Greece was located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula (its mainland), on the islands of the Aegean and Ionian Seas and on a narrow strip of the western coast of Asia Minor.
Mountain ranges and sea bays divided the territory of ancient Greece into regions isolated from each other. Such a geographical position served as a natural defense against enemy raids and contributed to the creation of quite independent cultural, economic and political communities (later - city-states). The poor soil was unsuitable for agriculture. But the sea, which washes Greece on all sides and connects it with neighboring eastern and southern countries, contributed to the development of navigation, as well as crafts, exchange and trade.
A characteristic feature of ancient Greek society was the absence of large-scale slaveholding. This, in the main, determined the emergence and development of ancient democracy. The great ancient Greek culture is the culture of free citizens. She was reflected in their appearance and costume.
The ancient Greeks created the perfect type of draped costume. It was made from rectangular pieces of fabric, identical in shape and size, but thanks to the many draperies that created their own special rhythm and dynamics, each suit was different from the other.
Initially, there were two versions of the Greek costume: Ionic and Dorian (the Greeks of Asia Minor were called Ionians, and the inhabitants of mainland Greece were called Dorians).
The clothing of the ancient Greeks throughout the entire period of their history remained the same in terms of the method of manufacture, only its dimensions, fabric, decoration, and decorations changed.
The Greek costume consisted of an undergarment and a cloak or cape. Everyone wore a tunic: men, women, and children. It was not cut out or sewn, it was made from a single long rectangular piece of fabric.
Chitons could be made of wool or linen - these fabrics were made by the Greeks themselves, or brought from the colonies. The fabrics had a loose structure and draped easily. Later, with the development of trade, Persian patterned fabric, Syrian silk, Phoenician purple fabrics began to be brought to Greece.
At the beginning of the Ionian-Attic period, only home-made clothes were worn, and mostly white. But with the development of weaving and dyeing, multi-colored fabrics with patterns appeared. The clothes of the Greeks are becoming more elegant.
The Ionians wore long, flowing robes with oriental motifs. But gradually the Asian style of ornament took on a different form and a beautiful, elegant Greek ornament arose. Noble Greeks, dressed in white clothes, decorated their collars, hem, sleeves. Ornaments were narrow at first, but when the Greeks began to use heavy expensive fabrics and clothes became more voluminous, the ornament also became wider and more massive.

Men's costume of ancient Greece

In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. men still walked in a loincloth, but wide chitons with short sleeves were already gaining popularity. Images of people in these clothes are preserved on Attic vases of the 6th century BC. BC.
The outerwear of the ancient Greeks was "himation" - a cloak made of a rectangular piece of fabric. They wore it in different ways: they threw it over the shoulders, wrapped it around the hips, throwing the end over the arm, or wrapped it completely.
In the ancient Greek democratic society, which developed in the 5th century. BC, restraint and moderation were valued - including in clothing. In the classical period, men wore short sleeveless chitons. They were made as follows: a rectangular piece of fabric was folded in half in the longitudinal direction, the edges were sewn together, and the fabric was fastened on the shoulders with "brooches" - special fasteners. The tunic was tied at the waist with one or two belts. The hem was hemmed. Unlined chitons were worn only by slaves or during mourning.
The chiton could have short sleeves- these were worn by free citizens. And the slaves had one sleeve, which covered only the left shoulder.
For travel, the Greeks had special clothes: a mantle cloak, decorated with ornaments, sandals or short boots with bent tops and a wide-brimmed petas hat. In the 5th century BC. the himation has increased significantly, and the way it is draped has become more perfect.

Women's costume of ancient Greece

Women's clothing the archaic period consisted of a narrow chiton, long skirt and a short sleeveless blouse (the division of the costume into two parts - a bodice and a skirt - was influenced by the Cretan-Mycenaean culture). This costume was replaced by a pleated chiton, over which a draped scarf was thrown over one shoulder - “farce”. This garment was transformed into an Ionian tunic with long, wide sleeves.
The earliest Dorian costume was the peplos. They made it from a rectangular piece of fabric, which was folded in half in length, bent from above by about 50 centimeters, and even longer, and fastened with brooches on the shoulders. Lapel - "diploid", decorated with a border, draped. Diploidy could be thrown over the head. The peplos was not sewn together and when walking on the right side it swung open.
There were also "closed" peplos, consisting of a sleeveless tunic with diploidy. All the folds of the peplos were arranged strictly symmetrically.
In the 5th century BC. the costume of the Greek woman consisted of a tunic made of two wide pieces of fabric. The fabric was fastened with fasteners from the shoulders to the wrists. From the waist to the chest, the chiton was tied crosswise with a belt and draped, forming an overlay of deep folds - an “ear”.
Young Dorian girls wore chitons, in which a slit for the arm was made at the fold, and the upper ends of the fabric were fastened on the other shoulder with a clasp. The edges of the tunic were not sewn together.
The length of the clothes varied. The chiton could reach the knees, and among the noble Ionian and Athenian women to the very heels with sleeves to the elbow, and sometimes to the wrist.
As outerwear women used himation. Chitons and himations of Dorian women were made from woolen fabrics of blue, yellow, purple, and lilac colors.
On especially solemn occasions, women put on a long tunic and a Dorian peplos.
Young girls dressed up in short sleeveless chitons, convenient for gymnastic exercises. A pallula was worn over them and tied with a belt.
Slaves were not allowed to wear himations and long chitons.

On a man: tunic, cloak-cloak. On the feet are knemid shields and sandals

On a woman: peplos with a decorative border

On a man: a cloak with a fibula, a short tunic, sandals

On a woman: peplos with a double overlap, headband. Hairstyle - Greek knot

Costume of ancient Greek warriors

Warriors put on a tunic under their armor, and a mantle was thrown over the armor. The armor of the warriors was light: a metal cuirass with movable parts on the shoulders and hips; leggings ("knemids") that protected the legs; sandals with thick double soles ("crepes"); helmet, which could be of different shapes. The Boeotian helmet covered the head, cheeks and nose, the Dorian had a low visor, and the Corinthian almost completely hid the eyes.

Traveler costume: himation, long tunic and petas hat

Warrior costume: short chiton and armor-belt, helmet with casing and high crest

Shoes in Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks walked barefoot for a long time. But constant military campaigns, travel, trade with distant countries "forced" them to put on shoes.
The shoes of the ancient Greeks were sandals, which were tied to the feet with interlaced straps. The word "sandals" in Greek means "sole attached to the leg with straps." The straps could be cut from the sole itself. Shoes with thick soles, which were tied to the foot with straps or secured with leather cords, were called "crepes".
The Greeks also wore "endromides" - high laced shoes, in which the toes remained open. In endromides, it was convenient to move quickly, so hunters and participants in running competitions wore it. According to ancient Greek myths, Artemis, Hercules, Dionysus, and fauns wore endromides.
Ancient Greek actors went on stage in "cothurns" - shoes with very high and thick cork soles.
The Greeks were the first to make shoes for the left and right foot.
Women wore elegant sandals made of soft colored leather, most often magenta. They were more elegant than men's, fastened to the legs with belts with beautiful buckles. Women also wore red leather lace-up shoes.

Hairstyles and headdresses in Ancient Greece

The Greeks wore different hairstyles, only hair care was obligatory. Thick lush hair was considered the main decoration (Homer calls the Greeks "big-haired"). In more ancient times, before the Persian wars, hair was braided or tied into a bun. The Spartans first wore short haircuts, but after the victory over the Agrivians, they did not cut their hair. In Athens and Sparta thick long hair and a beard were a sign of masculinity and aristocracy, and short hair indicated low descent. From the 4th century BC, under Alexander the Great, mature men began to shave their beards, and cut their hair short or curl it with small curls. Long hair was worn only by boys under sixteen and the elderly.
Usually the Greeks did not cover their heads. They wore caps or hats when traveling, hunting or in bad weather. The felt pileus had the shape of a cone. The Phrygian hat was like a sleeping cap with the top bent forward, it was tied with ribbons under the chin.
A petas felt hat with a flat crown and wide brim, fastened under the chin with a strap and could hang on the back. According to legend, the Greek god Hermes wore such a headdress.
Petas wore ephebes - free-born youths of eighteen to twenty years old who were preparing for civil and military service. Later, the Romans wore the petas, and in the Middle Ages this headdress became an obligatory part of the costume of the faithful Jews. It was ordered to be worn by the authorities of those European countries in which the Jews lived, apparently to remind people that they had a temporary status.
In Greek women, the hairstyle had to cover the forehead: a high forehead was considered ugly. The Greek women styled their hair in different ways: they combed it back and gathered it into a bun, pinning it at the back of the head; curled all over the head in curls and lifted up, tied with a ribbon; plaited into braids and wrapped around their heads. Women's hairstyles were in harmony with their clothes.
Getters wore more complex hairstyles, decorating them with diadems and golden nets.
The woman's head was covered with a veil that fell in thick folds, or large colorful scarves were tied around. During travels, the same petas hat protected the head, and later - a wicker hat.
On hot days, Greek women covered their heads with a himation, and a straw hat was attached on top.

ancient Greek women's hairstyles and head ornaments:

Jewelry and cosmetics in Ancient Greece

Greek women carefully monitored their appearance. They used cosmetics - whitewash, rouge, antimony; anointed with perfumes and oils. The body was rubbed with chalk powder mixed with white lead to make it white. From powdered fragrant flowers, powder was prepared. The face and body of their masters were looked after by special slaves, who were called "kosmet", which means "putting in order" (hence the word "cosmetics"). The ancient Greeks used massage and hygienic baths, various oils and ointments for skin and nail care, toothbrushes, hair coloring, and body aromatization with might and main.
The jewelry art of Ancient Greece came close to perfection. Women adorned themselves with elegant gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, gold hair nets, chains, earrings (often in the form of a falling drop), rings, rings with precious stones. Bracelets were worn on arms and legs. Hairstyles were decorated with gold pins. But the necklace was considered the most elegant and expensive decoration. It could consist of a chain with pearls and precious stones strung on it. Greek women used metal mirrors, umbrellas, fans of colored feathers, bone and metal combs.
In ancient Greece, only women wore jewelry. It was considered indecent for men to decorate themselves. In Sparta, a law was even issued forbidding men to wear jewelry.
The only thing that the Greeks allowed themselves was rings. At first, gold and silver rings with carved stones served as a seal, but gradually they became just decoration, and men began to wear several of them on one hand. In Sparta, men wore only iron rings.

Source - "History in costumes. From pharaoh to dandy". Author - Anna Blaze, artist - Daria Chaltykyan

Each of the great civilizations of the past had a hearth. Where it originated, developed and reached its peak, died out. The center of ancient civilization was the Mediterranean Sea with its peninsulas and islands, which in ancient times was called the Inner Sea. The meaning of this body of water is reflected in the ancient Latin name of the world “circle of lands” (orbis terraum), for these lands of ancient culture are located around the sea, at the junction of three parts of the world - Europe. Asia and Africa.

The whole history of ancient Greece is usually divided into periods:

Pre-polis (Homeric) period (XI-VIII centuries BC),
Archaic period (VIII-VI centuries BC),
Classic period (end of VI - first half of IV century BC),
Hellenism (IV-I centuries BC).

Discus thrower

How did the development of fashion in ancient Greece, in a country about which so much information has come down to us from written sources and works of art and objects of everyday culture.

In the early period of their history, the Greeks wore loincloths. During the cold season, they wore woolen cloaks called peplos. These were coarse woolen quadrangular panels that were used as blankets at night. They were thrown over the shoulders and stabbed with pins or buckles. The dense cloth fell in wide folds, sometimes a belt was tied around the waist. Peplos was preserved in later times, only acquired a brighter color, and was complemented by a border.

Clothing of the ancient Greeks

In warm weather, both men and women wore a chiton made of linen or fine woolen fabric. The chiton, like all the clothes of the ancient Greeks, was not sewn, but consisted of a rectangular piece of fabric, folded vertically along the left side of the person, fastened on the shoulders with brooches and girdled with a strap with an overlap (kolpos). The chiton was ankle-length, and skillfully laid pleats. From above, women threw a veil over when they went out into the street.

The Greeks liked the clothes of blue, pink, purple, yellow. The most expensive fabrics were considered purple. On the dark background of the chiton, there was a beautiful ornament and pattern. It was the fashion of the archaic and early classics. They also wore chitons made of light fabrics and natural shades, often with bright ornaments.

Bark. 520 BC

Greek ornaments are used in clothes to this day - these are mepndr, "Cretan wave", ionics, palmettes.

Outerwear was a himation (it could be worn both on a tunic and on a peplos) made of woolen fabric. It was a rectangular cloth wrapped in various ways around the body.

All these clothes could be thrown off with one movement of the hand. A naked body was visible through their gaps. Clothes were removed during gymnastics, arenas, and solemn dances.

The Greeks transmitted and explained to us the concept of harmony. Harmony is a kind of divine order that opposes chaos. Everything in the world. According to the ancient Greeks. It found harmony - from the structure of the cosmos to works created by the human mind. The ideal of the Greeks is a beautiful and harmonious person in his proportionality and balance. Anything excessive is too loud or too quiet. Bulky or tiny - introduced disharmony and led to disorder and chaos.

The ancient Greeks were completely convinced of their own beauty. A beautiful person is the harmony of soul and body. An oval face with a straight nose, a rounded chin, and large eyes was considered beautiful. It should be divided in height into equal three parts: from the place of hair growth to the eyebrows, from the eyebrows to the base of the nose, and then the base of the nose to the chin line. The proportions of the human body must also correspond to the proportions of the "golden section". Polikleitos calculated these ratios6 the head should be 1/8 of the entire length of the body, the legs should be equal to half the height, the arms, in a straightened position, should reach the middle of the thigh.

Doryphorus. Polykleitos

The Hellenic idea of beauty was embodied in the costume too.

Ordinary men's suit was a short tunic to the knees. Noble Greeks wore an Ionic tunic, it was toe-length, and draped differently. Such a tunic was made from two pieces of fabric, chopped off on the shoulders with several hairpins. It was draped in such a way that sleeves were obtained, long to the elbow and the bodice area was fitted. Quite often, the male tunic was fastened on one shoulder. A simple version of such a chiton - exomis was worn by slaves and the poor. Philosophers, poets and other intellectuals preferred to wear the himation. Sometimes it was worn on a naked body, and at home it was draped around the hips. The clothes of travelers and shepherds were called mantle. It also consisted of a rectangular piece of fabric fastened at the shoulder with a fibula. A hat was supposed to go with the chlamys, which was a round felt hat with and without fields - it was called petas.

Women's tunic

Women wore a long tunic, in the most ancient Doric tunic, they resembled a Doric column. In archaic times, a skirt was worn over the tunic. The Ionic tunic was girded not only at the waist and hips, but also crosswise on the chest. Spartan women wore only peplos (they were called "hollow-thighed"). Often the Doric chiton was worn with a lapel (diploidy), the bottom of which was longer at the back than at the front, and its edge could be thrown over the head. On top they wore a himation, which was also called a calyptra. It is believed that the calyptra was smaller and thinner than the peplos. A round, almost flat hat with a pointed top was put on the head of a woman.

The shoes of the Greeks were made of leather, consisted of a sole and a series of straps attached to it. Similar sandals are worn by modern fashionistas. Ceremonial shoes were bright, dressed in gold and silver. The Greeks also wore soft half boots peach (borrowed from the Persians) and high strapped boots endromis and soft leather - crepes. Shoes were worn only on the street, when they came into the house they took them off. They preferred to go barefoot.

Before the Persian wars, the hairstyles of the Greeks were similar to those of the East. Men wore long hair and beards. Hair was braided or styled in curls. In the classical era, short hair was common, beards were either shaved or worn short.

Women's hairstyles were varied. The most popular was the Greek knot, and hairstyles based on it - “lampadion”, “karimbos” knot located low, almost on the neck. Young girls wore their hair loose. Aspasia (hetaera and friend of Pericles) invented a hairstyle made of hair laid in vertical slices from the forehead to the back of the head and tied with two ribbons. Women also wore the "bow of Apollo". Hair was dyed, curled, suffocated with incense. The Greeks paid great attention to hygiene and cosmetics. The baths were a popular public place. Ancient Greek women willingly used cosmetics. The word cosmetics came to us from Greece, where there were special slaves - cosmetologists, whose duty was to monitor appearance their masters.

antique hairstyles

Jewelry was mainly worn by women, men could afford a signet ring. In addition to traditional earrings, bracelets, diadems, pendants, Greek women used brooches, hairpins, straps, nets, chains, made with such skill and art that they were famous even among the Scythians.

Ancient Greece was located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula (its mainland), on the islands of the Aegean and Ionian Seas and on a narrow strip of the western coast of Asia Minor.

Mountain ranges and sea bays divided the territory of ancient Greece into regions isolated from each other. Such a geographical position served as a natural defense against enemy raids and contributed to the creation of quite independent cultural, economic and political communities (later - city-states). The poor soil was unsuitable for agriculture. But the sea, which washes Greece on all sides and connects it with neighboring eastern and southern countries, contributed to the development of navigation, as well as crafts, exchange and trade.

A characteristic feature of ancient Greek society was the absence of large-scale slaveholding. This, in the main, determined the emergence and development of ancient democracy. The great ancient Greek culture is the culture of free citizens. She was reflected in their appearance and costume.

The ideal of beauty.

In ancient Greece, a huge role in the education of a citizen and a person was played by Physical Culture and the cult of the trained body was natural. The ideal of beauty is based on unity, harmony of spirit and body. The Greeks considered size, order and symmetry to be a symbol of beauty. Ideally beautiful was a man in whom all parts of the body and facial features were in a harmonious combination. The artists found and left behind a measure of beauty - the so-called canons and modules.

The body should have been soft and rounded. The standard of a beautiful body among the Greeks was the sculpture of Aphrodite (Venus). This beauty was expressed in numbers: height 164 cm, chest circumference 86 cm, waist - 69 cm, hips - 93 cm.

A face that could be divided into several equal parts (three or four) was considered beautiful. At three, the dividing lines passed through the tip of the nose and the upper superciliary edge; with four - over the edge of the chin, along the border upper lip, along the pupils, along the upper edge of the forehead and along the crown of the head.

According to the canons of Greek beauty, a beautiful face combined a straight nose, large eyes with a wide inter-century slit, arched edges of the eyelids; the distance between the eyes should have been at least the size of one eye, and the mouth one and a half times more eyes. Large bulging eyes emphasized by a rounded line of eyebrows. The beauty of the face was determined by the straight lines of the nose, chin, low forehead, framed by curls of hair with a straight parting.

According to the canons of fashion of that time, the dress was not cut. Tailored costume, in the modern sense of the word, Greek clothing did not know. This time is characterized by the identification of the plastic properties of fabrics in the complex rhythms of draperies. Rectangular pieces of fabric, fastened in some places with fasteners, did not emphasize the shape of the body, which slightly showed through under the clothes. These robes were called differently: chiton, himation, toga, tunic.

Already in ancient times, colors had their symbolic meaning; so, for example, the white color was assigned to the aristocracy, and black, purple, dark green and gray expressed sadness. Green and brown were the usual colors of the villagers.

Aristocrats had in their wardrobe belts made of precious metals, pins made of gold and ivory, necklaces, bracelets. This testifies not only to the refined taste, but also to the technical maturity of that era.

Men's suit.

In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. men still walked in a loincloth, but wide chitons with short sleeves were already gaining popularity.

Served as outerwear for the ancient Greeks "himation"- a cloak made of a rectangular piece of fabric. They wore it in different ways: they threw it over the shoulders, wrapped it around the hips, throwing the end over the arm, or wrapped it completely.

In the ancient Greek democratic society, which developed in the 5th century. BC, restraint and moderation were valued - including in clothing.

In the classical period, men wore short sleeveless chitons. Chiton tied at the waist with one or two belts. The hem was hemmed. Unlined chitons were worn only by slaves or during mourning.
The chiton could have short sleeves - such were worn by free citizens. And the slaves had one sleeve, which covered only the left shoulder.
For travel, the Greeks had special clothes: a raincoat mantle, decorated with ornaments, sandals or short boots with bent tops and a wide-brimmed petas hat. In the 5th century BC. the himation has increased significantly, and the way it is draped has become more perfect.

The Greek costume consisted of an undergarment and a cloak or cape. Everyone wore a tunic: men, women, and children. It was not cut out or sewn, it was made from a single long rectangular piece of fabric.
Chitons could be made of wool or linen - these fabrics were made by the Greeks themselves, or brought from the colonies. The fabrics had a loose structure and draped easily. Later, with the development of trade, Persian patterned fabric, Syrian silk, Phoenician purple fabrics began to be brought to Greece.

At the beginning of the Ionian-Attic period, only home-made clothes were worn, and mostly white. But with the development of weaving and dyeing, multi-colored fabrics with patterns appeared. The clothes of the Greeks are becoming more elegant. The Ionians wore long, flowing robes with oriental motifs. But gradually the Asian style of ornament took on a different form and a beautiful, elegant Greek ornament arose. Noble Greeks, dressed in white clothes, decorated their collars, hem, sleeves. Ornaments were narrow at first, but when the Greeks began to use heavy expensive fabrics and clothes became more voluminous, the ornament also became wider and more massive.

Woman suit.

Women's clothing of the archaic period consisted of a narrow tunic, a long skirt and a short sleeveless blouse (the division of the costume into two parts - a bodice and a skirt - was influenced by the Cretan-Mycenaean culture). This costume was replaced by a pleated chiton, over which a draped scarf was thrown over one shoulder - “farce”. This garment was transformed into an Ionian tunic with long, wide sleeves.

The earliest Dorian costume was the peplos. They made it from a rectangular piece of fabric, which was folded in half in length, bent from above by about 50 centimeters, and even longer, and fastened with brooches on the shoulders. Lapel - "diploid", decorated with a border, draped. Diploidy could be thrown over the head. The peplos was not sewn together and when walking on the right side it swung open.

There were also "closed" peplos, consisting of a sleeveless tunic with diploidy. All the folds of the peplos were arranged strictly symmetrically.

In the 5th century BC. the costume of the Greek woman consisted of a tunic made of two wide pieces of fabric. The fabric was fastened with fasteners from the shoulders to the wrists. From the waist to the chest, the chiton was tied crosswise with a belt and draped, forming an overlay of deep folds - an “ear”.

The ancient Greeks created the perfect type of draped costume. It was made from rectangular pieces of fabric, identical in shape and size, but thanks to the many draperies that created their own special rhythm and dynamics, each suit was different from the other.

Originally there were two versions of the Greek costume: Ionic and Dorian.

The clothing of the ancient Greeks throughout the entire period of their history remained the same in terms of the method of manufacture, only its dimensions, fabric, decoration, and decorations changed.

Young Dorian girls wore chitons, in which a slit for the arm was made at the fold, and the upper ends of the fabric were fastened on the other shoulder with a clasp. The edges of the tunic were not sewn together.

The length of the clothes varied. The chiton could reach the knees, and among the noble Ionian and Athenian women to the very heels with sleeves to the elbow, and sometimes to the wrist.

Himation was used as outerwear by women. Chitons and himations of Dorian women were made from woolen fabrics of blue, yellow, purple, and lilac colors.

On especially solemn occasions, women put on a long tunic and a Dorian peplos.

Young girls dressed up in short sleeveless chitons, convenient for gymnastic exercises. A pallula was worn over them and tied with a belt.

Slaves were not allowed to wear himations and long chitons.

Costume of ancient Greek warriors

Traveler suit: himation, long tunic and petas hat
warrior costume: short chiton and armor-belt, helmet with casing and high crest

Shoes.

The Greeks also wore "endromides" - high laced shoes, in which the toes remained open. In endromides, it was convenient to move quickly, so hunters and participants in running competitions wore it. According to ancient Greek myths, Artemis, Hercules, Dionysus, and fauns wore endromides.

Ancient Greek actors went on stage in "cothurns" - shoes with very high and thick cork soles.

The Greeks were the first to make shoes for the left and right foot.

Women wore elegant sandals made of soft colored leather, most often purple. They were more elegant than men's, fastened to the legs with belts with beautiful buckles. Women also wore red leather lace-up shoes.

Hairstyles and headdresses.

Getters wore more complex hairstyles, decorating them with diadems and golden nets.

The woman's head was covered with a veil that fell in thick folds, or large colorful scarves were tied around. During travels, the same petas hat protected the head, and later - a wicker hat.

On hot days, Greek women covered their heads with a himation, and a straw hat was attached on top.

Usually the Greeks did not cover their heads. They wore caps or hats when traveling, hunting or in bad weather. The felt pileus had the shape of a cone. The Phrygian hat was like a sleeping cap with the top bent forward, it was tied with ribbons under the chin.

A petas felt hat with a flat crown and wide brim, fastened under the chin with a strap and could hang on the back. According to legend, the Greek god Hermes wore such a headdress.

Petas wore ephebes - free-born youths of eighteen to twenty years old who were trained for civil and military service. Later, the Romans wore the petas, and in the Middle Ages this headdress became an obligatory part of the costume of the faithful Jews. It was ordered to be worn by the authorities of those European countries in which the Jews lived, apparently to remind people that they had a temporary status.

Cosmetics.

Greek women carefully monitored their appearance. They used cosmetics - whitewash, rouge, antimony; anointed with perfumes and oils. The body was rubbed with chalk powder mixed with white lead to make it white. From powdered fragrant flowers, powder was prepared. The face and body of their masters were looked after by special slaves, who were called "kosmet", which means "putting in order" (hence the word "cosmetics").

The ancient Greeks used massage and hygienic baths, various oils and ointments for skin and nail care, toothbrushes, hair coloring, and body aromatization with might and main.

The beauty was strict and noble. Above all valued Blue eyes, golden-haired hair and light, shiny skin.

To make their faces whiter, privileged Greek women used whitewash, light blush was applied with carmine - red paint from cochineal, powder and lipstick were used. To line the eyes - soot from the combustion of a special essence. Women of the people for whom cosmetical tools were inaccessible, they put on a mask of barley dough with eggs and seasonings at night.

Decorations

The jewelry art of Ancient Greece came close to perfection. Women adorned themselves with elegant gold and silver necklaces, bracelets, gold hair nets, chains, earrings (often in the form of a falling drop), rings, rings with precious stones.

Bracelets were worn on arms and legs. Hairstyles were decorated with gold pins. But the necklace was considered the most elegant and expensive decoration. It could consist of a chain with pearls and precious stones strung on it. Greek women used metal mirrors, umbrellas, fans of colored feathers, bone and metal combs.

In ancient Greece, only women wore jewelry. It was considered indecent for men to decorate themselves. In Sparta, a law was even issued forbidding men to wear jewelry. The only thing that the Greeks allowed themselves was rings. At first, gold and silver rings with carved stones served as a seal, but gradually they became just decoration, and men began to wear several of them on one hand. In Sparta, men wore only iron rings.

Fashion History: Antiquity. Roman grace

One of the characteristic features of ancient Greek society is the complete absence of large-scale slave ownership. This is what influenced the development of democracy in this state. The greatest ancient Greek culture is the culture of the free citizen. The costume of the ancient Greeks could not but inherit this trait. In addition, the freedom of citizens was reflected not only in their clothes, but also in their hair and jewelry. The following is a summary of ancient Greece.

Costume of ancient Greece

The cultivated craving for simplicity led to the fact that clothing in the ancient state was, perhaps, one of the few ways to stand out from the crowd compared to other people. It should be noted that the ancient Greek dress only seems natural and simple. Although, at first glance, what could be easier - fold in half and wrap a couple of pieces of fabric around the body? However, in fact, the fashion of ancient Greece consisted in all kinds of chipping, drapery and a varied manner of wearing the same thing. This was considered a real art, which was brought up in the family from an early age. In addition, this skill was part of good manners and etiquette.

Color and fabric

The ancient Greeks, whose clothes previously consisted only of pieces of fabric, relatively early began to sew suits to measure. Ionian linen was soon supplanted by woolen threads introduced by the Dorians. They were painted in blue, purple, red and yellow colors. A complex multi-colored ornament could be achieved by weaving with threads of a different color or by embroidering on the main background. As a rule, the Greek tunic was embroidered along the border with geometric patterns, and leaves, stars or flowers could be embroidered on the field. In addition, there were various figurines of gods and animals, scenes of battles and hunting.

Especially popular in ancient Greece were pink or white clothes, which were edged with a contrasting red or black border.

The history of clothing tells that in the early period the Hellenes preferred large drawing. However, starting from the turn of the 5th-4th century BC, plain fabric began to prevail in the wardrobe of the Greeks. Often the costume of ancient Greece was either brown, or was decorated with a blue or yellow border, as well as an ornament that was a broken line with curls. It was called meander.

Chiton

The basic clothing of the ancient Greeks, whose name is a tunic, as already mentioned, was distinguished by simplicity and convenience. Chiton is the main garment of the Greek. It was a piece of fabric, which had a hole for the hand on one side, and on the other it was attached to the shoulder with a buckle or fastener. Less often it was simply sewn together. Before the start of the wars with the Persians in ancient Greece, it was customary to tightly tighten the waist. The belt played a special role in the ancient Greek costume. It had two functions: firstly, to pick up a tunic, and secondly, to make it the required length. The short version - to the knees - was more loved by the Dorians, and the Ionians preferred to wear a tunic to the heels. A little later, the fashion changed, so even the Athenians began to wear a shortened Dorian version of this clothing.

There were few slaves in Greece, but for them there was a special version of the chiton: it differed in that the right shoulder of the slave always remained open.

Himation

Himation, or himation - a spacious cloak that the ancient Greeks threw over the tunic. The clothes were fastened on the chest just below the left shoulder, and then the fabric was simply thrown behind the back.

Himation was also worn by women when they left the house. They could throw the edge of this cloak over their heads. The terracotta figurines and multiple designs on the vases show an endless variety of ways to wear the himation. If the weather was hot outside, then it served as nothing more than a scarf, which was thrown back over the arms bent at the elbows. But if desired, the girl could easily wrap herself in it entirely in such a way that even part of her face was hidden from view.

mantle

In addition to the long cloak - himation, the ancient Greeks also had a short cloak, which was called chlamys. It was fastened with a clasp around the neck. Chlamys was worn on the road, during wars or hunting by the ancient Greeks. Clothing in Athens relied only on young guys, and in Sparta, only adult citizens could wear a chlamys.

Tunic

Women in ancient Greece knew hundreds of ways to turn simple clothes - the same as men's - into sophisticated and original costume. One of the varieties of chiton is a tunic, it fell to the heels and was made of soft, but at the same time heavy woolen fabric. In most cases, it was white with a colored border. The folds on the tunic, draped in many ways, were held by a belt that tightened the clothes. With the help of irons and starch, the folds were carefully fixed. It should be noted that the girls wore a belt at the waist, but married women had to wear it under their breasts.

A wide scope for all sorts of female tricks for modeling a figure was provided precisely by the free style of clothing. Usually, special fabric inserts could be sewn under the tunic to make the chest lush and the hips more rounded. Stripes of linen canvas could be tightly pulled over a bulging belly. Women who were tall wore shoes with very thin soles, while short girls, on the contrary, on the thick one.

Fans in the shape of a lotus leaf were popular with Greek women. Usually they were painted blue.

Hairstyles in ancient Greece

The hairstyles of the inhabitants of Greece, which are depicted on vases and frescoes, amaze with their diversity. Assyrian fashions dominated in archaic times. Hair during this period was also preferred not to be cut, but carefully curled, and then intertwined. According to the Cretan fashion, young men preferred to wear hair, which was divided into strands, reaching the length of the elbows.

Greek men wore long and thick beards. They went from the temples to the cheeks and strongly protruded forward, leaving a strip around the mouth free. Often, the beard was cut so that it bulged downwards with a comb, and curled. A thick beard among the Greeks was considered a sign of the masculinity of its wearer. However, after the Greco-Persian War, they began to shorten it somewhat, and from the period of Alexander the Great, the Greeks generally preferred to shave. However, the razor was known to the Hellenes since the Mycenaean period. Later, some Athenian fashionistas, back in the time of Pericles, plucked or shaved their hair, for which they were ridiculed by the townspeople.

For a long time, long hair was considered a sign of noble birth. However, by the 4th century BC, the male population began to cut their hair relatively short so that it could lie around the head in natural curls. Curls were left only to children, but while the young man was studying at the gymnasium, short haircut was required. Later, when he became a citizen, it was up to him to choose any length, and in most cases they settled on the middle one.

In Greece, there were many options for women's hairstyles. After the wars with the Persians, they lost the bulkiness that they were famous for in the east. Spartan girls wore long hair that was not braided, but on their wedding day they had to shave their heads. In other regions, hair was tied at the back of the head in a knot, combed up, strengthened with a wreath or several turns of ribbon, shortened at the back and hidden in some kind of net or bag.

With the help of plant substances, the hair was dyed and lightened in a golden color. A rarely attainable ideal was white curls. However, most Greek fashionistas had to be satisfied with one or another hair color. For curling, tongs were used.

As excavations show, there were many hairdressers in Athens. There, the hair was not only dyed, cut and curled, but also strangled. In addition, they could order a wig or attach artificial strands to the hair. Alien curls are one of the most popular goods in all of Greece, except for Sparta. There women were famous for their thick hairstyles.

Hats

The ancient Greeks, whose clothes are simple but unusual, did not cover their heads in cities. But on the road or in the countryside, a small felt hat, which had no brim, protected from the sun. She was called a pilos. They could, on the contrary, wear a wide-brimmed hat made of straw and felt.

ancient greek shoes

The inhabitants of Greece in most cases went barefoot, so the ancient Greek sandals were very popular. It is interesting that a woman was considered a real artisan if she knew how to lace up her shoes in such a way that the leg seemed almost naked to those around her. However, in this country there were also shoes with thick leather soles, and leather boots, laced up with straps in front, reaching the owner to the middle of the lower leg. Such rough shoes were in most cases used for riding a horse.

Cosmetics in ancient Greece

In classical Greece, the art of perfumery was extremely developed. Vegetable white, rouge, wax - all this was part of the Greek. Of all the incense, nard was most valued. Egyptian pencils were used for eyeliner, Greek women also knew lipstick and powder. Numerous "guises of husbands" have survived to this day. They called for appearing "in a decent and simple form."

Such behavior was subjected to unquestioning condemnation, since it was believed that it leads to effeminacy, and, moreover, in the near future promised a decline in morality. Caskets with fashionable knickknacks and rouge were presented as real Pandora's boxes, from which, right before the eyes of strict husbands, numerous troubles and misfortunes are already crawling out. The main of them - imitation of the barbarians and the desire for luxury - was subjected to special censure. But the larger and wider the Greek world became, the more closely it intertwined with the cultures of other peoples, the more difficult it was to resist the emergence of fashion and household trends that had established there. Jewelery art is where this is especially evident.

Jewelry in ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks were able to produce elegant and at the same time complex jewelry both for local sale and for export to the barbarian world, for example, the Scythians, artisan jewelers had to cater to the tastes of buyers.

They were very reserved in their choice of jewelry. It was common for them to wear almost no jewelry. An engraved stone in a simple setting is the maximum of their imagination and fantasy. An impression of such a carved seal was perceived as the signature of its owner. It was impossible to find a single male bracelet or necklace in the shops of Athena.

However, a completely opposite picture was revealed in the colonies that were in contact with the barbarian world. There, wealthy citizens, natives of Olivia and Panticapaeum, under the influence of local culture, could shamelessly succumb to the desire to look as impressive as visiting nomad kings. In turn, the border guards were not averse to adopting Greek culture, but at the same time not giving up their passion for jewelry.

As for Greek women, anywhere in the country, whether it be the capital or the province, they were distinguished by their uncontrollable bathing in jewelry. They wore elegant earrings, bracelets, belts, chains, tiaras and hairpins.