Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/485

 

COSTUME

 

COSTUME, as defined for the present inquiry, is limited to personal attire, but with the exclusion of armour, which has been dealt with under a separate heading.

Greek Costume.

The inquiry begins with Greek costume, as to which, so far as it consists of dress, the general remark may be made that its history is for the most part free from what is known as the changes of fashion, for this reason that the Greeks did not attempt to reconcile the two opposite principles of covering and at the same time displaying the figure, that is to say, of cutting the dress to fit the body. There are changes which will be noted between the dress worn after 450 B.C. and that of an earlier date, when the material was heavier and the figure more closely enveloped, suggesting a difference of climate in these different periods.

Fig. 1.—Bronze statuette (stand of mirror) wearing Chiton.
From Athens. Brit. Mus.

Female Dress.—The chief and indispensable article of female dress was the chiton, consisting of one piece of ma terial sewed together in the form of a sack open at top and bottom, in height reaching from the neck to the feet of the wearer, and in width equal to that of the extended arms. Within this stands the figure, and first it is girt round tinder the breasts, to keep it from falling, by a girdle (zoster). Next, the upper edges are fastened together on the top of the shoulders by a brooch (fibula), and the arms are either left bare, pressing down into folds at each side the masses of material, or these masses may be gathered round each arm, and fastened down the outside with buttons and loops so as to form sleeves (chiton cheiridotos). The chiton could be left open down one side for convenience in dancing, and was then called chiton schistos. To secure greater warmth on the breast and shoulders the chiton was made long enough to be doubled back from the top, and this part reaching to the waist was called the diplo is or diploidion. It could be also made of a separate piece. Underneath the chiton was worn a band of cloth (tcenia) to support the breasts, and in addition to this a cord was sometimes crossed round the treasts outside the chiton to assist either in supporting them or in bringing out their form. Round the loins was worn, perhaps not always, either a short petticoat of thick woollen stuff or a sort of bathing drawers, wa Xovrpk, such as acrobats wore. So far we have mentioned all the dress that was necessary for indoor wear, which, also, since it had to be got into, was called IvSu/xa, as opposed to other parts of dress, which were thrown round the body, and were called Trtp f3Xr / /j,o<:Ta. To the latter class belongs the next article of importance in female dress, the himation, a garment worn also by men. While the chiton was generally made of linen, of which there was a variety of fabrics (e.g., those of Amorgos, Tarentum, Sicily, Crete, and Phrygia), or of cannabis (made from hemp), or of byssos (flax from India and Egypt chiefly), or of silk (serica), the himatioirconsisted of woollen stuff, and was worn like a plaid. It was first thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the short end to hang downtin front ; the long end was then gathered round the back with the right hand, brought under the right arm, and across the body in front, and finally held in this position by being thrown over the left fore arm. Or instead of being passed under the right arm it could be brought over the right shoulder so as to envelop the right arm, then carried closely round the neck, and finally thrown over the left shoulder with an end hanging down behind ; or again, it could be still further drawn up over the back of the head to form a hood. As regards colours, it will be found, when we have taken away black for the use of mourners (TU Se /ue Acti/a iguana opfydviva eVaAovv), that the others were em ployed in a great variety of com binations. An important point was always to have a deep border round the foot of the chiton, either of some uniform colour which suggests solidity and heaviness, so as to weigh down the dress, or of some pattern which would suggest strength to prevent the dress from being torn when striding. Strong contrasts of colours were used, such as a white chiton with a pink himation, or a white chiton with a broad blue border round the foot. Besides embroidery, another kind of ornament consisted of designs beaten out in thin gold and stitched on the dress. Great numbers of those have been found in tombs where the dress itself has entirely perished. Greek vases and sculptures represent Amazons and Persians wearing trousers (anaxyrides), but this article of dress did not come into use among the Greeks themselves.

Fig. 2.—Terracotta statuette, wearing Chiton and Himation. From Tanagra. Brit. Mus.

While the chiton and himation, as above described, con

tinued to be the standard dress from about 450 B.c, onwards, it is the rule to find in figures of an earlier date the himation worn as in fig. 3, where it has more of the appearance of a chiton, having like it a diploidion, and enveloping the greater part of the figure, so that the chiton proper appears as distinctly an under garment. It is a himation of this kind that the archaic figure of Athena wears, and since we know that the name for this garment of hers was peplos, it would perhaps be more correct to use this word instead of himation for the upper garment of the

earlier period. Among other reasons also for this is the