GREEK FASHION

The garments Greeks wore used to be simple. Men and women almost had similar type of clothing. Fabric used for the clothing were sometimes spun at home or imported.

Kids usually did not wear anything while men and women wore a rectangular or square piece of cloth pinned at the shoulder and belted at the waist.

One common factor of early clothes is that they were produced using uncomplicated basic shapes which relied on girdles, belts and brooches, clasp or pins to create shape and form to the human body. The most acclaimed Greek pattern is the Greek key pattern.

Grecian garments were little more than artfully organized bits of fabric, pinned and tucked into position.

Their elegance is derived from the careful arrangement of folds and complex arrangements of girdles, strapping or belts. simple borders  fall into interesting patterns when organized as a long chiton robe.

Embroidered patterns, such as checks and flower structures were utilized to decorate the fabric edges to create border effects.

Both genders wore tunics which varied in length and varied according to the jobs.  A chiton was a type of tunic worn by men and women both which was made of linen. It could be draped over both shoulders. When it was draped over one shoulder usually the left, it was known as exomie.

Peplos was a square piece of cloth usually made of wool was worn by women over the tunic or chiton.

Himation was largely made of wool and was worn by men. The himation proved to be useful  for soldiers far from home, likewise serving as a warm cover on a winter night. Different sorts of  cloacks worn by the Greeks incorporated the epiblema, a shawl worn by Greek ladies, and the chlamys, a short cloak worn by young Greek men.

Undergarments

Ladies regularly wore a strophion, the bra of the time, under their outfits. The strophion was a wide band of linen or wool wrapped across the breats and tied between the shoulder blades.

Men and women sometimes wore triangular loincloths, called perizoma, as underwear.

Footwear

Greeks were not very fond of footwear. They wore footwear  on business meetings or special occasions.

Jewelry and Hairstyles

Ornamentation in the form of jewelry, elaborate hairstyles and make-up was common for women. Small gold ornaments would be sewn onto their clothing and would glitter as they moved.

Throughout the hundreds of years hair dressing was essential to make different complex hairdos. Ladies utilized gold, silver hair pins, cone headdress and tiaras. Young girls used flowers and ribbons. Only boys and ladies had long hair and men cut their hair once they became youths.

Plaiting, crimping and waving of female hair in addition beautification with pins, tiaras and bands was also seen.

Prominent styles included tying the hair up with a fabric scarf, including ribbons or garlands or wearing a "Stephanie" metal hat.