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Greek Clothing Essay

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Peplos, chitons, himations, and epi belmas, what do they all have in common? Well everyone is wearing these sophisticated articles of clothing. Fashion is a universal language, but in Greece it is our official language. In Greece, clothing is homemade from pieces of homespun fabric. Fabrics are intensely colored and decorated with intricate designs. Clothing for women and men consists of two main garments a peplos or chiton and a himation. The peplos is a large rectangle of heavy fabric, usually wool, folded over along the upper edge so that the apoptygma reaches to the waist. It is placed around the body and fastened at the shoulders with a pin or brooch. Armholes are made on each side, and the open side of the garment is either left, pinned or sewn to form a seam. …show more content…

It is a very long and wide rectangle of fabric sewn up at the sides, pinned or sewn at the shoulders, and usually girded around the waist. Under either garment, a woman wears a soft band, known as a strophion, around the midsection of the body. Men in Greece customarily wear a chiton similar to the one worn by women, but knee-length or shorter. An exomis (a short chiton fastened on the left shoulder) is typically worn for exercise, horse riding, or hard labor. The himation, which is worn by both women and men, is essentially a rectangular piece of heavy fabric, either woolen or linen. It is draped diagonally over one shoulder or symmetrically over both shoulders, like a stole. Women sometimes wear an epiblema over the peplos or chiton. Young men often wear a chlamy for riding. Greek men occasionally wear a broad-brimmed hat (petasos), and on rare occasions, Greek women donn a flat-brimmed hat with a high peaked crown. Women and men wear sandals, slippers, soft shoes, or boots, although at home they usually go barefoot. These popular new fashion trends have been sweeping Greece by storm as citizens struggle to keep up with theses

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