Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

Private Life 135
for the special shoes that were named for him and for his extravagantly
purple robe (Athenaios, Professors at Dinner 12.534c). They
hardly seem to us to constitute a serious aberration, yet the offense
that they caused indicates how conservative the dress code must
have been. Apart from shoes, we do not hear of any trade in readymade
clothes. To the extent that fashions existed, they changed very
slowly. The most popular fabric was wool, though, over time, linen
became common. Cotton and silk were rare.
As noted earlier (see p. 79), most clothing was made on the loom
in the home under the supervision of the mistress of the house.
Almost every garment was rectangular in shape and required little
stitching. Because very few items of clothing have been excavated,
our knowledge derives mostly from vase paintings and sculpture.
(A rare example of clothing from the second half of the fourth
century b.c.e. is two pieces of tapestry-like cloth with gold and
purple thread found in the tomb of Philip II at Vergina in Macedon.)
Overall, this represents a huge loss, not only in terms of the
garments themselves, but also in terms of what they would have
had to tell us about women’s handicraft, a field of expertise presided
over by Zeus’s daughter Athene. However, there can be no
doubt that women produced work of the highest sophistication
and refinement.
Women
In earlier times, Athenian women wore the peplos, a long, heavy
woolen garment that revealed little of the figure beneath. The peplo s
hung from the body folded over at the top by about a quarter of its
length. The turned-down material was attached to the shoulders by
means of two long dress pins, and the garment was supported at
the waist by a belt. Parts might be dyed purple or enlivened with
woven geometric motifs. Embroidered decoration was, however,
rare.
In the middle of the sixth century b.c.e. , the peplos was replaced
by a lighter and finer garment made of wool or linen called the
chitôn. Because the chitôn hugged the figure more tightly than the
peplos, it was more revealing of the figure, which may reflect a modest
change in attitude toward women’s sexuality at the time. The
chitôn, being worn without any overfold, was held in place by a
series of pins along the length of the arms. Whereas the peplos was
sleeveless, the chiton had loose, elbow-length sleeves. It, too, was
fastened around the waist by a belt.