Greek Clothing Reference

Evanthe & Thanos

Evanthe - The palla falls somewhere between an over-garment and a chiton. It is fixed at the shoulders, leaving the arms bare, and is not attached at the sides but held at the waist with a belt and fastened at the hips. Evanthe is wearing a variant of the palla called pallulae, which stops at the waist. both are distinctly feminine.

Thanos - wearing the Chlamys, the standard garment of the young people
of Athens. This was made from a rectangle of material, but falls in triangular points. The Chlamys could be worn in a variety of ways. Thanos has it fixed on the chest, almost at the throat, and thrown back over the shoulders. He also has a hat from Thessaly at the back of his neck, indicating that he is a traveler. He is a messenger, carrying a
caduceus (I'm assuming that's the funny thing in his hand) and wearing leggings rather than shoes.

Clothing Details of a Noblewoman

Greek Coiffure (Hairstyle)
The hair could be curled on the forehead and at the sides or parted in
the centre and drawn back in waves to a chignon at the nape. The word
chignon refers to a manner of twisting the hair into a knot either at
the nape or nearer the crown of the head.

Greek women also wore a fillet round the brow and tucked the back hair
into this. Hair was fasted by ivory or gold pins *PIC to come* Many
women wore wigs or false hair added to their own to alter the shape of
the coiffure; they also dyed their hair and decorated it with flowers,
jewels, stephanes (?), and bands of material.



Adelphos - More primitive cultures tended to wear caps instead of hats; caps were easier to make and fit. A round, fitting cap was worn, in different forms, by all the ancient civilizations. The Greek pilos (shown here) was typical and almost identical was the Roman (and Etruscan) pileus, both usually made of felt.

Kalika - fifth century BC

Voleta - Straw hat, petasos style

Dymas - felt petasos slung round neck by a cord

Evander - fifth century BC

Laria - Chignon covered in colored scarf, fourth century BC (from The Encyclopedia of world Costume, Doreen Yarwood).

Alcander - At a feast, relaxing

The Historical Encyclopedia of Costumes, Albert Racinet (1825-1893) © 1988 Bestseller Publications Ltd.
My notes: Thanos, Evanthe descriptions are modified from this book, pgs. 22-25. I know some of his pictures are not quite accurate, namely the colors, and he lets his prejudices cloud his work - or so the introduction (by Aileen Riberio) tells me.

Historic Costume in Pictures, Braun & Schneider © 1975 Dover Publications, Inc.
My notes: Wonderful illustrations. I'm afraid I might not be able to do them justice. :-P The pictures in here were originally issued periodically between 1861 and 1890 in Munich.

The Encyclopedia of World Costume, Doreen Yarwood, ©1978 Doreen Yarwood.
My notes: Great information, great pictures. Unless stated otherwise, all quotes in the Greek section come from this book.