- The Doric Chiton
The Doric Chiton, 550 B.C. {circa)-A.D. 100 About the same time, or shortly after the introduction of the Ionic chiton, a variation of the peplos was adapted under the name of the Doric chiton. It was worn simultaneously with the Ionic chiton, even to the end of the first century A.D., as may be seen on many vase paintings and pieces of sculpture. It was made of fine woollen material and woven complete in itself - 1692
- 1777
- 1777
- 1777
- 1864
- 1913
- 1625
- 1460
- 1625
- 1798
- Brass to a merchant
- 1817
- Peasants (600 - 146 BC)
The following excerpt from Homer's Odyssey, XXIV. 225, gives details of the costume worn by peasants of an earlier period, and this description applies equally to the dress of peasants between the years 600 and 146 B.C. He was clothed in a filthy chiton, patched and unseemly, with clouted leggings of ox-hide bound about his legs, against the scratches of the thorns, and long sleeves over his hands by reason of the brambles, and on his head he wore a goatskin cap. "Sleeves " did not mean arm-coverings in the way the term is generally understood, but were pieces of hide tied or laced round the forearm, wrist and hand, leaving the fingers free, with possibly a hole for the thumb. This was the first Glove. - Fish-girl of Scheveningen, Holland
The fishing towns of Holland are interesting. Every traveller wants to see Vollendam and Scheveningen and the hamlets on the Island of Marken. The men and women in these towns are kind-hearted, simple people, who are proud of their own village and think their own dress finer than that of other towns. Each of these fishing villages has its characteristic costume. The men of the Island of Marken wear a close-fitting jacket which ends at the waist and great, baggy, knee pants. Marken women wear round, white caps, fitting the head closely, with an open-work border, and a bright waist, with striped sleeves, over the front of which is a square of handsomely embroidered cloth. Little girls all through Holland dress exactly like women. But for her child face you would take the little girl from Scheveningen to be a grown person. She wears a dainty white cap pinned on with two great round-headed pins. Her ample dress quite reaches the ground; her white apron is neatly tied, and her purple shawl, tightly wrapped about her shoulders, is demurely crossed, and the ends are tucked under her apron strings. She wears the common wooden shoes of the country - 1817
- We were clad warmly, for the weather was chill. All had robes
We were clad warmly, for the weather was chill. All had robes. I wore a dress of two deer skins sewed edge to edge; the hind legs, thus sewed, made the sleeves for my arms. I had made my husband a fine skin shirt, embroidered with beads. Over it he drew his robe, fur side in. He spread his feet apart, drew the robe high enough to cover his head, and folded it, tail end first, over his right side; then the head end over his left, and belted the robe in place. He spread his feet apart when belting, to give the robe a loose skirt for walking in. - Egyptian
- Apron
- A Gallo-Roman Woman
- The Himation, 600-146 B.C.
The Himation was not exclusively a feminine garment; it was also worn by men. It was an oblong piece of material, woven with a border, and in dimensions approximately eighteen feet by six feet. During the sixth century of the Classic Period, it was often the sole garment worn. How to wear it. It was draped over the left arm, with one end hanging in front, the rest of the material being drawn across the back, round the body on the right side, and over the left shoulder again. As civilisation progressed, it was deemed necessary by ordinary men to add an under-garment—either the chiton or the kolobus. - The Kolobus, 400-146 B. C.
The figure represents a man of this particular epoch (400-146 B.C.) wearing the kolobus ornamented with bands of embroidery. It is girded at the waist, and a himation of small dimensions is draped over the left shoulder, ready for the other end to be thrown over it. He wears the pilos and his hair has been allowed to grow longer than heretofore, in accordance with the new fashion of this age. If this young man had desired to be in the height of fashion, he would have had long close-fitting sleeves added to his kolobus. - The Peplos
The peplos was the chief garment of the Achaean women of the early Archaic Period (circa 1200-600 B.C.). In shape it was a rectangular piece of material, often heavily embroidered and consequently of a solid texture. It was put on in the manner of the Doric chiton, but being made of more substantial stuff it was wrapped tightly round the figure without folds, girded at the waist and open up one side, the top part falling back over the chest and back. It was fastened on the shoulders, and often down the side,by large pins. - Albe
Albe (Latin alba) A Shirt or white linen garment reaching to the heels (whence its names alba, telaris, &c.) and floded rond the loins by a girdle, formerly the common dress of the Roman Catholic clergy; but now used only in sacred functions. The second vestment put on by the priest when preparing for the celebration of mass. - Grecian
- Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type
Reversion to the classic (Grecian) type - Leathern Apron
Blacksmith wearing a leathern apron - The Ionic Chiton
The costume of these people consisted practically of only two garments for men and women alike—nothing more than rectangular pieces of material—but the manner of wearing them required care, management and perfect taste. These garments were called by the Greeks: THE CHITON and THE HIMATION, but are commonly known to us as "The Tunic" and "The Mantle." The last six centuries B.C. and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries A.D. share a distinction in the history of costume, as being the only periods in which women have dominated the fashions. The women were compelled by law to change their attire, as it was found that the large pins by which the earlier "peplos"* was fastened proved dangerous weapons in the hands of infuriated women, whereas the Ionic chiton generally required no pins. - A Citizen and his wife
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.) - A Gentleman and gentlewoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.) - Ordinary Dress of Gentlemen in 1675
(From Loggan's 'Oxonia Illustrata.') - Lay Costumes in the Twelfth Century
- Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period
Citizen of Early tudor or Louis XI Period - The Paenula
A cloak of cloth copied from the Greek peasants. It was in common use among all classes, both men and women, as a travelling or rain cloak, and was an important garment with the peasantry. In colour it was dark, and in shape a semicircle with the straight edges fastened down the centre-front, converting it into a bell or funnel. Alternatively, the edges were sewn together down the front; but in either case it fitted close round the figure. A hole was left for the head, which was usually encircled with a hood. - Colobium
Shape. This garment varied in width across the shoulders. The greater the distance between the neck-hole and the edge of the top corner (see A B), the more the upper arm was hidden. This has the misleading effect of a sleeve to the elbow. The Romans had a great aversion to anything in the nature of a close arm covering, so the fashion of wearing long shaped separate sleeves, set by Alexander the Great, was not followed at Rome, as it was considered unmanly; besides, such sleeves were worn by foreigners and barbarians, so naturally this mode was distasteful to the patriotic intolerance of a Roman citizen. The Greek " kolobus," called by the Romans the "colobium." Another name for this garment was the "tunica". When more than one was worn, the under ones were called the "tunica interior" or "subucula." A long tunica was called "tunica talaris." - Costume of a Lawyer
(From a broadside, dated 1623.) - Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period
Noble of the Tudor or Louis XI Period - Fellah Women
Fellah Women The dress of a large proportion of those women of the lower orders who are not of the poorest class consists of a pair of trousers or drawers (similar in form to the shintiyán of the ladies, but generally of plain white cotton or linen), a blue linen or cotton shirt (not quite so full as that of the men), a burko’ of a kind of coarse black crape, and a dark blue tarhah of muslin or linen. Some wear over the shirt, or instead of the latter, a linen tób, of the same form as that of the ladies. The sleeves of this are often turned up over the head; either to prevent their being incommodious, or to supply the place of a tarhah. - Civil Costume about 1620
(From a contemporary broadside.) - Egyptian
- Bishop, Abbot, and Clerk
The woodcut represents the characteristic costume of three orders of religious with whom we have been concerned—a bishop, an abbot, and a clerk. - Men's street costume Late Revolution and early Empire
Men's street costume Late Revolution and early Empire - Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period
Gentleman of the early Louis XV Period - Men of the Middle and Higher Classes
The dress of the men of the middle and higher classes consists of the following articles. First, a pair of full drawers of linen or cotton, tied round the body by a running string or band, the ends of which are embroidered with coloured silks, though concealed by the outer dress. The drawers descend a little below the knees, or to the ankles; but many of the Arabs will not wear long drawers, because prohibited by the Prophet. Next is worn a shirt, with very full sleeves, reaching to the wrist; it is made of linen, of a loose, open texture, or of cotton stuff, or of muslin or silk, or of a mixture of silk and cotton, in stripes, but all white. Over this, in winter, or in cool weather, most persons wear a “sudeyree,” which is a short vest of cloth, or of striped coloured silk and cotton, without sleeves. Over the shirt and sudeyree, or the former alone, is worn a long vest of striped silk and cotton (called “kaftán,” or more commonly “kuftán”), descending to the ankles, with long sleeves extending a few inches beyond the fingers’ ends, but divided from a point a little above the wrist, or about the middle of the fore-arm; so that the hand is generally exposed, though it may be concealed by the sleeve when necessary, for it is customary to cover the hands in the presence of a person of high rank. Round this vest is wound the girdle, which is a coloured shawl, or a long piece of white figured muslin. The ordinary outer robe is a long cloth coat, of any colour (called by the Turks “jubbeh,” but by the Egyptians “gibbeh”), the sleeves of which reach not quite to the wrist.Some persons also wear a “beneesh,” or “benish,” which is a robe of cloth, with long sleeves, like those of the kuftán, but more ample - Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar
Elizabethan or Henry III Period - showing Medicis Collar - A Countryman and Countrywoman
Ordinary Civil Costume ; temp Charles I (From Speed's map of 'The Kingdom of England,' 1646.) - Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period
Court Dress of tudor or Louis XI Period - Indian Costume (Male)
Indian Costume (Male) - Ecclesiastical Costume in the Twelfth Century
- Ordinary Attire of Women of the Lower Classes
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.') - Dress of Ladies of Quality
(From Sandford's 'Coronation Procession of James II.') - Roman
- Louis XV
Dress in the time of Louis XV - Days of the pannier
Days of the pannier - Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume
Late Empire - Ball dress and street costume - Judge
Judge The Parliament of Paris--or Great French Parliament, as it was called by Philip V. and Charles V., in edicts of the 17th of November, 1318, and of the 8th of October, 1371--was divided into four principal chambers: the Grand Chamber, the Chamber of Inquiry, the Criminal Chamber, and the Chamber of Appeal. It was composed of ordinary councillors, both clerical and lay; of honorary councillors, some of whom were ecclesiastics, and others members of the nobility; of masters of inquiry; and of a considerable number of officers of all ranks - Costume for young girl. Period, 1821
Costume for young girl. Period, 1821 - Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620 - 1640
Mousquetaire or Cavalier Costume 1620- 1640 - Canon with Aumuse
Amess, Ammis, Aumuses (Latin, almecia, almucium) A canonical vestment lined with fur, that served to cover the head and shoulders, perfectly distinct from the amice. Also a cowl or capuchon worn by the laity of both sexes. - Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap
Middle class costume during French Revolution - showing Charlotte Corday cap