DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9177#0175
X
DRESS AND DRAPERY
155
and letting it fall over the girdle, thus producing the so-called
kolpos. Often in figures thus clad there is a break in the stuff
down the whole right side of the figure, whence we can under-
stand that this garment when worn alone was better suited to
indoor life than to that out of doors, though the Greeks were
by no means as squeamish as we are in the matter of dis-
playing the bodily forms.
The Doric women's chiton was commonly worn alone, and
so may be considered as either an under- or an over-dress. It
would, of course, be possible to wear under it a shift, such as in
fact we see on one of the figures on a sculptured drum of a
column from Ephesus. Or it would be possible to wear over
it the cloak, or himation, of which we shall presently speak.
But usually when this cloak is worn the chiton is less ample
and the overfall is dispensed with. Like everything Greek,
the garment admits of many simple varieties without losing
its essential character. For example, when the huntress Arte-
mis wears the Dorian chiton, she sometimes girds it up so that
it does not fall below the knee. Sometimes the open side of
the garment seems to be sewn up. Often sleeves are made by
joining on the arm by means of clasps or buttons the front and
back portions of the dress. When this is done, it is sometimes
not easy to distinguish between the sleeveless Doric, and the
sleeved and sewn Ionic chiton. In fact, as we shall presently
see, in the case of the great art of the fifth and fourth centuries,
the underdress is very often something between the Doric and
Ionic type, and evidently made of soft materials and of ample
dimensions.
The Dorian dress, unlike the Ionian, is by no means the
same for men and women. The chiton, or shirt, of men was in
form not unlike the Doric women's chiton, but was far less
ample, often coming but halfway down the thigh. Instances
abound, for example, in the Parthenon frieze. Like the women's
chiton, it was ordinarily fastened on both shoulders; but the
DRESS AND DRAPERY
155
and letting it fall over the girdle, thus producing the so-called
kolpos. Often in figures thus clad there is a break in the stuff
down the whole right side of the figure, whence we can under-
stand that this garment when worn alone was better suited to
indoor life than to that out of doors, though the Greeks were
by no means as squeamish as we are in the matter of dis-
playing the bodily forms.
The Doric women's chiton was commonly worn alone, and
so may be considered as either an under- or an over-dress. It
would, of course, be possible to wear under it a shift, such as in
fact we see on one of the figures on a sculptured drum of a
column from Ephesus. Or it would be possible to wear over
it the cloak, or himation, of which we shall presently speak.
But usually when this cloak is worn the chiton is less ample
and the overfall is dispensed with. Like everything Greek,
the garment admits of many simple varieties without losing
its essential character. For example, when the huntress Arte-
mis wears the Dorian chiton, she sometimes girds it up so that
it does not fall below the knee. Sometimes the open side of
the garment seems to be sewn up. Often sleeves are made by
joining on the arm by means of clasps or buttons the front and
back portions of the dress. When this is done, it is sometimes
not easy to distinguish between the sleeveless Doric, and the
sleeved and sewn Ionic chiton. In fact, as we shall presently
see, in the case of the great art of the fifth and fourth centuries,
the underdress is very often something between the Doric and
Ionic type, and evidently made of soft materials and of ample
dimensions.
The Dorian dress, unlike the Ionian, is by no means the
same for men and women. The chiton, or shirt, of men was in
form not unlike the Doric women's chiton, but was far less
ample, often coming but halfway down the thigh. Instances
abound, for example, in the Parthenon frieze. Like the women's
chiton, it was ordinarily fastened on both shoulders; but the