CLOTHING IN THE MINOAN CULTURE

The way we dress is an expression of our self image.While looking at the clothes people wore in the past, we also see the ideals of their times.

THE MINOAN CIVILIZATION

It is possible that the existence of an early civilization in the Aegean would still be unknown if it had not been for the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. Obsessed since his childhood by the Homeric tales, he believed unlike his contemporary scholars, that those tales were accurate historical documents rather than adventure stories.
In 1873, he found Troy and jubilantly set off for Greece where he believed he would find King Agamemnon's legendary city: Mycenae. He was proved right.
From Mycenae he moved his sights to Crete, where he stated confidently he would find the cradle of the Aegean civilization. He was unsuccessful in his search, but the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans following Schliemann's hunch, found later the city of Knossos and named his discovery: The Minoan Civilization.

THE MINOAN COSTUMES

Crete is thought to have been inhabited from the sixth millennium B.C. but it was later, probably around the late fourth-early third millennium that immigrants from Asia Minor founded a genuine civilization. They brought with them the technology and organizational flair which transformed a nation of skin clad cave dwellers into one of the most sophisticated civilizations of the ancient world.

The climate in Crete is not sufficiently dry to preserve actual examples of clothing. We have to rely on the evidence of artifacts such as pots, reliefs, frescoes and statuettes (all of which are predominantly figurative), in order to determine the dress-type of the time. Terracotta statuettes provide us with the most valuable guide not only to the shape of dress but also to the colors and their decorative forms.

The Minoan civilization was at its height between 1750 and 1580 B.C. (middle period). During this time, the palace at Knossos was built and the most exciting development at Minoan costume were seen. The palace contains a complete spinning and weaving shop along with the finest and most significant statuettes. Many of these are thought to portray goddesses, but others are clearly of mortals and their dress can be assumed to be that which was actually worn, at least by the high born.
The most striking feature of these costumes is the technical virtuosity in the standard of dress-making. Other civilizations of the time relied more on the fold and arrangement of the fabric than the cut of the garment itself. The Minoans, however, wore fitted clothes as we know them today.

Women wore skirts that fell straight from the hips and then filled out to a wide hem. Some experts consider that the lower half of the skirt was stretched over hoops of rushes, wood or even metal. Others consider that these were the earliest boned crinolines.
Belts, worn tight accentuated their tiny waists and sometimes carried a double apron that fell in front and back, over the skirt.
Above the skirt they wore a tight-fitting short sleeved bodice. In most cases, the breasts were entirely exposed with the bodice laced up below the bust. Some frescoes, however, suggest that the breasts were in fact veiled with a transparent bolero top.

Minoan women had an unprecedented love of color and display in their fabrics. Most designs were geometric, but we also have examples of decorative themes drawn from nature, using flowers, fish and birds in brilliant colors.
For the first time, we encounter a race of hat-conscious women. Two entirely different styles are portrayed on the terracottas. One, the shape of an inverted pot, and the second, a simple beret.

Men, regardless of rank or status, appeared to have favored virtual nudity. They wore belts with small cloth aprons, loin cloths and even short skirts.
Shoes for both men and women were exclusively for outdoor wear. This was deduced from various buildings in Knossos, where the steps leading up to them were very worn, but this damage stopped abruptly at the door.

Sometime, during the fifteenth century B.C., Knossos was overrun by invaders from mainland Greece, and eventually Crete was controlled from Mycenae.

Culturally, however, the normal procedure was reversed. Instead of the conquerors imposing their culture on the conquered, the Myceneans adopted the Minoan culture. The result: the Mycenean costume is virtually indistinguishable from the Minoan.

Published in http://www.annaswebart.com/culture/costhistory/index.html and deleted later. This copy was saved by LC in June, 2002 and edited to be posted.

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