CLOTHING IN ROMAN CIVILIZATION
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.
ROMAN TIMES/BYZANTIUM
There were no new features introduced into the conventional dress during the classical age (5th century B.C.).
In the Hellenistic period that followed, the Greek style of dress won ascendency among the neighbouring Romans and spread throughout the Mediterranean, especially among the urban classes.
The tunic was a Roman innovation. It comprised a piece of cloth, with a slit for the head at its centre point. Although this garment was hanging from the shoulders, it was also woven in one piece on a frame-shaped loom.
The tunic began to develop when the cloth was first woven in the shape of a cross: when folded in two, the cloth itself formed a pair of sleeves.
In the Hellenistic period that followed, the Greek style of dress won ascendency among the neighbouring Romans and spread throughout the Mediterranean, especially among the urban classes.
The tunic was a Roman innovation. It comprised a piece of cloth, with a slit for the head at its centre point. Although this garment was hanging from the shoulders, it was also woven in one piece on a frame-shaped loom.
The tunic began to develop when the cloth was first woven in the shape of a cross: when folded in two, the cloth itself formed a pair of sleeves.
Long and short cloaks or mantles were worn over the tunic; just as people had earlier worn the "himation", so the Romans now wore the "stole" and "toga".
In the early Christian times, with the spread of the narrow horizontal loom, a new garment appears: the dalmatic.
It is fashioned from more than one piece of cloth; its shape is that of a narrow "tunic" with sleeves sewn onto it and gussets inserted in the side seams.
This is the garment that survived as an element of local Greek costumes in the form of the basic undergarment, the chemise.
From now on, once the single piece of cloth was cut to make a "composite" sewn dress, the way opened to the development of cutting and tailoring skills that lead in time to the designing of clothes.
The Eastern Roman Empire is an important factor in the history of Greek costume.
Over the years it established a new and distinctive civilization, the Byzantine.
While still basically Roman, the design of dress starts borrowing from Asian cultures and acquires a character that clearly reflects the eastern styles of garment.
Byzantium became the fashion crucible in which many types of dress were transformed into the distinctive costumes that came to be worn by the Mediterranean and the Balkan people.
It was the Byzantine emperors who conciously allowed themselves to be influenced by the East, in particular Persia. Their subjects followed, creating a provincial Byzantine style destined to win over the Ottoman conquerors who destroyed Constantinople in 1453, but only to be captivated by the dazzling Byzantine civilization.
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.
There were no new features introduced into the conventional dress during the classical age (5th century B.C.).
In the Hellenistic period that followed, the Greek style of dress won ascendency among the neighbouring Romans and spread throughout the Mediterranean, especially among the urban classes.
The tunic began to develop when the cloth was first woven in the shape of a cross: when folded in two, the cloth itself formed a pair of sleeves.
In the Hellenistic period that followed, the Greek style of dress won ascendency among the neighbouring Romans and spread throughout the Mediterranean, especially among the urban classes.
The tunic was a Roman innovation. It comprised a piece of cloth, with a slit for the head at its centre point. Although this garment was hanging from the shoulders, it was also woven in one piece on a frame-shaped loom.
The tunic began to develop when the cloth was first woven in the shape of a cross: when folded in two, the cloth itself formed a pair of sleeves.
In the early Christian times, with the spread of the narrow horizontal loom, a new garment appears: the dalmatic.
It is fashioned from more than one piece of cloth; its shape is that of a narrow "tunic" with sleeves sewn onto it and gussets inserted in the side seams.
This is the garment that survived as an element of local Greek costumes in the form of the basic undergarment, the chemise.
From now on, once the single piece of cloth was cut to make a "composite" sewn dress, the way opened to the development of cutting and tailoring skills that lead in time to the designing of clothes.
The Eastern Roman Empire is an important factor in the history of Greek costume.
Over the years it established a new and distinctive civilization, the Byzantine.
While still basically Roman, the design of dress starts borrowing from Asian cultures and acquires a character that clearly reflects the eastern styles of garment.
Byzantium became the fashion crucible in which many types of dress were transformed into the distinctive costumes that came to be worn by the Mediterranean and the Balkan people.
It was the Byzantine emperors who conciously allowed themselves to be influenced by the East, in particular Persia. Their subjects followed, creating a provincial Byzantine style destined to win over the Ottoman conquerors who destroyed Constantinople in 1453, but only to be captivated by the dazzling Byzantine civilization.
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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