Journal #5

In early Greek history, the people usually wore animal skins. They primarily wore woolens and linens. Woolens were woven into different types of materials. Greeks also wore lots of jewelry like other people from many other areas of the world. They would wear necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pins, pendants, etc. During early Greek history, they rarely wore makeup and usually everyone kept their hair short.

As Greek life continued on, the clothing styles changed too. Makeup was used a lot more than it was in early years. Also, hairstyles began to change. Women and young girls would have longer hair than in earlier years and eventually everyone could dye their hair different colors.

To go a little deeper, the evolution of Greek clothing evolved over four different periods. These periods were the Cretan-Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, and Classical-Hellenistic.

Cretan-Minoan

It is believed that this society wore decorated loincloths or short skirts. They also didn’t have a problem with male nudity. It is believed that both men and women wore girdles that cinched tight around their waist and elaborate headdresses.

Mycenaean

The clothing that Minoans wore carried over to the Mycenaean men. They wore skirts and loincloths and loosely cut tunics. On the other hand, Cretan clothing carried over to the Mycenaean women. They wore dresses with short sleeves that was boarded with gold sequins.

Archaic

Clothing started to change during this period. It was all based around a tunic and a shawl which was meant to shape their body. Men’s clothing remained pretty simple while women’s clothing started to become more complex with different layers and folds.

Classical-Hellenistic

The clothing in this period was much softer than ever before. A little bit of cutting and sewing became popular. Sleeves were also much more popular and they would combine different types of garments. The chiton was a popular garment that was from a woolen cloth.