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From the 7th century BC clothing in Ancient and Classical Greece was graceful, simple, scant and, occasionally, non-existant. Nudity, particularly for athletic males, was quite acceptable and, given the warm climate, very practical.
However, for modern Western tastes, it is probably a good idea to wear at least one item of attire that is closed down the sides. For men (and sometimes women) this is the chiton, a simple tunic secured with pins and a girdle.
For work, exercise or war, a man might wear his tunic short and fastened only on the left shoulder. This style was known as an exomie, and was worn also by Romans. Before the 5th century BC, men wore their chiton ankle-length, similar to the peplos, but without the fold. Afterwards, the fashion was for knee-length tunics. Soldiers's tunics could be sewn at the shoulders and hoisted even shorter for riding.

The ladies' garment, the peplos, used more fabric than the chiton and was very graceful, especially when made in finely-woven fabrics. This was also secured to the shoulders by decorative pins or brooches, called fibulea. Married women in particular may have worn a veil when in public.
Different styles were popular during the Doric (up to 6th century BC, on the right) and Ionic (later, on the left) periods. Although these appear to have sleeves, they don't. The fabric is very wide and is pinned down the length of the arms as it falls in graceful folds.
The peplos was made much longer than a woman's shoulder-to-floor height, with the excess pulled up through her girdle or folded over the top like a short cape. Women often wore extra girdles to hold the fabric in place, one around the waist and a second, sometimes higher, to hold down the loose fabric in attractive folds. Sometimes the girdle was crossed over the chest in the manner often seen in Pre-Raphaelite art.

Particulary after the 5th century BC, the Greeks wore very colourful fabrics with decorative borders. The popular misconception that they wore plain white mainly comes from their (originally highly painted) marble statues. The historian Herodotus mentions yellow, violet, indigo, red and purple all being worn in a single garment! The famous Greek Key pattern was popular and tablet weaving was known, which produced highly complex and decrortive bands.
For outerwear men wore, over (or sometimes instead of) the chiton, the chlamys, a short cloak draped around the neck and pinned at the right shoulder. This was popular with soldiers or other athletic young men. For colder weather both sexes wore an himation, a long cloak that could be draped a number of ways.

For sports the Greeks had a very well-developed sense of style. From depictions of athletes on Greek vases it is clear that the usual sports kit was ... well, basically a towel. I suppose all that running around must generate some sweat and they had to have something to mop their brows. They couldn't exactly use their sleeves, or their t-shirts, or their loincloths or ... you get the idea.

No minotaurs were harmed in the construction of this page - but an awful lot of string was wasted.

Additions and corrections are welcome, accompanied by referenced sources, to seamstress(at)deadchickenhat(dot)com.

All mistakes are entirely of my own invention, and I claim world-wide copyright on them.

Dead Chicken Hats Biblical Greek Roman Medieval Tudor Stuart Character Glossary Gallery Free Patterns Free Leaflets Videos and Tutorials - NEW! Why The Fish? Fun Stuff Real Chicken Hut About Us About our Costumes Garment Care Fabric & Construction Refunds and Returns Hiring We Don't Sell That, But... Shipping Privacy Policies & Terms Contact Us See-Saw Maths Just What Is A Dead Chicken Hat, Anyway? .	From the 7th century BC clothing in Ancient and Classical Greece was graceful, simple, scant and, occasionally, non-existant. Nudity, particularly for athletic males, was quite acceptable and, given the warm climate, very practical. However, for modern Western tastes, it is probably a good idea to wear at least one item of attire that is closed down the sides. For men (and sometimes women) this is the chiton, a simple tunic secured with pins and a girdle. For work, exercise or war, a man might wear his tunic short and fastened only on the left shoulder. This style was known as an exomie, and was worn also by Romans. Before the 5th century BC, men wore their chiton ankle-length, similar to the peplos, but without the fold. Afterwards, the fashion was for knee-length tunics. Soldiers's tunics could be sewn at the shoulders and hoisted even shorter for riding.
		The ladies' garment, the peplos, used more fabric than the chiton and was very graceful, especially when made in finely-woven fabrics. This was also secured to the shoulders by decorative pins or brooches, called fibulea. Married women in particular may have worn a veil when in public. Different styles were popular during the Doric (up to 6th century BC, on the right) and Ionic (later, on the left) periods. Although these appear to have sleeves, they don't. The fabric is very wide and is pinned down the length of the arms as it falls in graceful folds. The peplos was made much longer than a woman's shoulder-to-floor height, with the excess pulled up through her girdle or folded over the top like a short cape. Women often wore extra girdles to hold the fabric in place, one around the waist and a second, sometimes higher, to hold down the loose fabric in attractive folds. Sometimes the girdle was crossed over the chest in the manner often seen in Pre-Raphaelite art.
	Particulary after the 5th century BC, the Greeks wore very colourful fabrics with decorative borders. The popular misconception that they wore plain white mainly comes from their (originally highly painted) marble statues. The historian Herodotus mentions yellow, violet, indigo, red and purple all being worn in a single garment! The famous Greek Key pattern was popular and tablet weaving was known, which produced highly complex and decrortive bands. For outerwear men wore, over (or sometimes instead of) the chiton, the chlamys, a short cloak draped around the neck and pinned at the right shoulder. This was popular with soldiers or other athletic young men. For colder weather both sexes wore an himation, a long cloak that could be draped a number of ways.
		For sports the Greeks had a very well-developed sense of style. From depictions of athletes on Greek vases it is clear that the usual sports kit was ... well, basically a towel. I suppose all that running around must generate some sweat and they had to have something to mop their brows. They couldn't exactly use their sleeves, or their t-shirts, or their loincloths or ... you get the idea.