Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

“Classical Greece” refers to the period between the Persian Wars at the beginning of the fifth century B.C. and the rise of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The classical period was an era of war and conflict—first between the Greeks and the Persians, then between the Athenians and the Spartans—but it was also an era of unprecedented political and cultural achieve It also brought us the political reforms ,most enduring contribution to the modern world: the system known as demokratia, or “rule by the people.”

Map of ancient greece

 ●       Material Available and innovations –

The ancient Greeks loved live theatre. Every town had at least one open air theatre. These theatres attracted crowds of 15,000 people. Each town bragged about how wonderful their plays were and how marvelous their actors were.
The ancient Greeks were wonderful architects. They invented three types of columns to support their buildings. Each was beautiful. From a distance, each column looked straight, no matter which of the three designs they used. But up close, the columns might actually tilt a bit, or lean left or right, to better support each building. The Greeks wanted things to be beautiful, but they also wanted things to be strong. 
The first Olympics games are usually given the start year of 776 BCE, but they probably began even sooner. The ancient Greeks loved competitions of all sorts, especially sporting competitions. The Olympics were not the only competition games held in ancient Greece, but they were the most popular.  
Influence of Art and architecture on costume –
The Greeks were attracted to simple, sharp, elementary forms very much in opposition to the sumptuous, over decorated textiles of the East and they transported into their costume the dominant ideas of their architecture.
 The Ancient Greeks were not fussy about their clothing. The garments they wore were made for function, and they were made simply. A single piece of fabric could be styled and restyled, to fit a particular occasion or a fashion. And with Greek summers being brutally hot, the less fabric and complicating seams to deal with, the better.

men's chiton

The fabrics that the Greeks used for their clothing was sometimes spun in the home (often into a heavy wool material), or made from linen fabric that was imported. For every member of the family, except for infants who often wore nothing at all, an outfit usually consisted of a square or rectangular piece of fabric, pins for fastening, and sometimes shoes and/or hats. The pieces of fabric were folded around the body, and pinned together at the side seams and shoulders, as well as being belted. Though it might sound as if the Greeks walked around wearing plain potato sacks, their clothing would have been dyed bright colors and would have been decorated with ornate patterns.

 

statue of a women wearing peplos

About the costume

·         A peplos was a type of tunic worn by women it was worn as a full legnth garmet because it was seen as improper to reveal any skin of the body besides the face or arms. The ways of pinning it changed over time. The most common way to wear it could be done by the following process:

●       First fold the cloth in half, and put it so that the fold in the cloth came under your right armpit and down your right side.

●       Then pull up on the front and back of the cloth so they overlap over your right shoulder and use pins to secure the front and the back

●       Next pull the front over your left shoulder, and pin it to the back of the cloth behind your back

●       Finally, given that your left side is all remained open, many woman used belts to keep the dressed closed and to provide support to keep it held up.

●       Archeological excavations in various Greek sites have given evidence that jewelry was popular in ancient Greece. Women wore earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Evidence suggests that men in early Greece wore jewelry also, but by the fourth century, it appears that the trend had ended.

●       Makeup was used in ancient Greece. Rich women stayed indoors most of the day. Pale skin was fashionable and a sign of prestige. Women applied white lead (which was toxic) to their faces to lighten their complexion. Chalk was also used to lighten their complexion, but it wore off quickly. Connected eyebrows were also fashionable, so women decorated their eyes with dark powder. Red powder was also applied to their cheeks.

●       In case of costume-Dress/ cuts/drapes :  The Ionic tunic was called Chiton and  The Doric tunic was called Peplos  These Tunics were always fluid and live, never shaped or cut and they were worn around the body fastened by pins, introducing the first appearance of ‘the drape’. Greek clothing changed little over time. Long pieces of fabric were used to make the Greek clothes. The main item of clothing was a tunic, called a chiton. A chiton was made of a two sheets of light drapery and worn directly over the body. A belt, usually under the breast ("high-girded") or around the waist ("low-girded") helped contain it. Double-girded were also fashionable.

●       Materials used :  Clothes in Greece were made out of three types of materials. The most frequently used material was wool, which was woven from very coarse to very soft. Women and men in Greece wore nearly the same kind of clothes. These clothes were not shaped or fitted to the body, but were instead draped over the body in soft folds. There were basically four types of clothes, which were all rectangles.

●       Accessories-  A gold Mycenaean diadem. Diadems as well as wreaths and caps were often used to adorn at the head  like a modern hairband or wreath .

v For special occasions, women adorned their heads with decorative metal bands called stephane, which looked much like modern-day tiaras.

v Different types of jewelry were produced in the Hellenistic period of Ancient Greece-Necklaces, earrings, pendants, pins, bracelets, armbands, thigh bands, finger rings, wreaths, diadems, and other elaborate hair ornaments.

v Bracelets were often worn in pairs or in matched sets. Pieces were usually inlaid with pearls and dazzling gems or semiprecious stones-emeralds, garnets, carnelians, banded agates, sardonyx, chalcedony, and rock crystal. Artists also incorporated colorful enamel inlays that dramatically contrasted with their intricate gold settings.

●       Footwears : Greeks wore a large variety of shoes, depending on sex, wealth and the kind of activity for which the shoes would be used. Ancient Greeks rarely wore closed shoes and women wore light sandals because they spent most of their time inside the house. Most common colour was black but there were also colourful shoes for both men and women. Cork and felt shoes were worn exclusively by thehighly educated, sophisticated companions called hetaerae.

Erechtheum, Acropolis of Athens