Ancient Greek Costume

In Ancient Greece, lead male characters in the Greek theater also had to accentuate their overall costume to make a statement with their audience. They often had to wear shoes with ‘platform’ heels to give themselves extra height. In fact, these kinds of shoes were a part of the costume of ancient Greek men, who wanted to avoid the dirt of the streets. Another reason Greek men preferred platform shoes to be an important part of their costume was that young men in particular wanted to attract attention.

The knowledge about ancient Greek costumes for men would not be complete without a mention of their war ‘helmets’, the most recognizable part of a Greek warrior’s attire. However, ‘Greek helmets’ is not an easy accessory to be described. Unlike the costumes, traditionally, there is no specific helmet to signify the Greek culture. These helmets were of different kinds, namely – Trojan, Spartan and Corinthian. Out of these, one of the most admired helmets by collectors is the ‘Trojan war’ helmets.

Though the helmets of these ancient Greek men were of different designs, there was an underlying similarity too. The chief difference, however, which differentiated one helmet from the others was – the color of the helmet and the plume. Most of the Trojan helmets of Greeks were in colors like – silver, black, and bronze. Some of them also had a war paint camouflage color. Orange, red, and black were the popular colors of the plumes.

Doric was a popular style for women and the most fashionable garment. It was a rectangular piece of cloth approx. 2 meters in length and least 3 meters in width. It was draped folded over at the top and dropping full length to the ankle. The material was mostly linen and fine wool. The silk that came from China and the Muslin and cotton from Egypt was restricted to the higher gentry. The well-off women wore circlets of gold and valuable stones. Amethyst was a fashionable stone. It even had a mythological story to its origin!

Initially, during the archaic period, the Ancient Greek Costumes were usually white or off-white – especially for the common man. They were further forbidden to wear red chitons and himations in theaters or public places. However, colors had been adopted and were widespread by the 5th Century. Homer has recorded the fashion of extravagant costumes woven with threads of silver and gold

Greeks were very conscious of the human body and displayed it to the best advantage. Rather than conceal, these Ancient Greek Costumes, artistically showed-off the human form.

These may seem rather vulgar in the present day and rather impractical too but they were in vogue at that time. Some of the outfits are the chiton (unisex), exomis (males), tunic (males), himation (males), Doric (females) and ionic (females).

Though most of the dresses were drapes cloths, it is known that the Greeks definitely knew how to make sleeves. However, since normal straight sleeves were considered less aesthetic, bare arms were preferred.