by P Vandegrift

Created on: September 16, 2010

In ancient Greece, the draping, folding, pleating and dying of fabric for the human body was considered an art form. We are all very familiar with the sight of folds of fabric draped around the majestic marble statues of Greek statesmen, aristocratic women, and Greek gods and goddesses. The Chiton was considered ‘the norm’ in regards to basic ancient Greek attire for both men and women from the 8th – 4th century BC.

There are two types of Chiton: Doric and Ionic. The Doric chiton evolved out of the earlier Peplos, which was one long piece of fabric wrapped around the body and pinned at the tops of the shoulders with needle-type spikes or metal buttons, whatever was readily available. Depending on status, ordinary citizens wore basic colors such as dark green, brown, and gray while the wealthiest citizens were able to afford the decadent purple - made from sea snails, deep red, yellow, orange, white, and pale green. They were usually always extravagantly patterned.

What you will need:

• For the Archaic Doric chiton - At least 3-4 yards of fabric (linen, wool, silk or muslin), width – anywhere from 36-45 inches wise, needle/thread for chosen material, a belt or cord strong enough to hold in position around the waist, metal buttons or you can even sew clip-on earrings as decorative buttons to use for pinning the material together.

• For the Classical Ionic and even later styles of the Doric – go with 54 inches or more.

The Styles:

Besides the basic ‘Doric’ and ‘Ionic’, there is also an Archaic Doric and a classical Doric chiton. The difference between the Doric and Ionic is that the Doric has a ‘bib’ or long folded piece of extra material on the front and back of the chiton and is sleeveless. The Ionic does not have that bib and has long sleeves. We’ll start with the Archaic Doric. Here is a general example:  http://persephones.250free.com/female-chiton.html

To make an Archaic Doric chiton, two separate lengths of material are needed. Mainly wool was used, but this can be expensive. The material was gathered and pinned at the shoulders, and sometimes sewn down each side or halfway down. Some early styles show it resembling a long thin tube with an extra length of material, like a ‘bib’ draping over the chest down to well below the waist, where it would be girdled with ribbon or a fancy belt. This style resembles the earlier ‘peplos’ style.

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