a belt at the waist. To sew, people used needles made of iron,
bronze, or bone and thread of wool or linen. During the late
Iron Age (500 b.c.e.–1 c.e.) Celtic clothing resembled Greek
clothing. Th e Celts in continental Europe had long traded
with Greeks, and they knew what Greek people wore. Celts
made cloth out of wool or linen. Celtic women dressed in
long-sleeved tunics covered with another tunic called a chi-
ton by Greeks. Th e tunic sometimes was belted at the waist.
Men wore tunics with long or short sleeves.
Celtic men oft en wore breeches or pants under their tu-
nics. Pants came in various styles: wide, narrow, or wide at
the top and narrow below the knee. Both sexes wore cloth-
ing with ornate decorations. Th ey added fringes to hems,
embroidery to cuff s and collars, and sometimes sewed on
beads. Th ey used colored wool to embroider on linen and
white linen to embroider on colored wool. Men and women
also wore a pouch at the waist to hold personal items. Be-
fore Celts went into battle they styled their hair with lime
to make the hair stand up in spikes, and they also bleached
their hair blond. Especially courageous Celts sometimes
went into battle naked except for sandals and a gold neck-
lace called a torque. According to the Greek philosopher Ar-
istotle (384–322 b.c.e.), Celtic children were accustomed to
nakedness from an early age. Aristotle wrote that to make
children tough, parents had them go around in minimal
clothing in cold weather.
Ger ma n clot hi ng was si mi la r to t hat of t he Celts. Because
of their colder climate Germans also wore heavier clothing
made of leather and fur, such as fur-lined capes and trou-
sers. Th e historian Tacitus (ca. 56–120 c.e.) wrote that some
primitive German tribes wore only rough animal skins. Th e
Romans considered the German and Celtic habit of wearing
trousers barbaric. Romans never wore pants. Clothing styles
across the rest of Europe followed the basic styles of the Celts
and Germans. People in Ireland wore a long linen tunic called
a léine. It had long sleeves or was sleeveless and was usually
decorated with embroidery around the hem, cuff s, and neck-
line. Women wore a longer tunic than that of men. People
who did outdoor labor wore shorter tunics than people who
did not. On top of the tunic, people wore a cloak or shawl,
usually fastened at the shoulder with a pin. Th is woolen shawl
was oft en woven of wool in bright colors and decorated with
embroidery and gold or silver thread.
Th roughout Europe people used clothing to show their
status. Th e armor of noble Celtic and Germanic warriors was
more elaborately decorated than that of ordinary men. No-
bles wore helmets made of bronze or iron instead of the plain
leather of common soldiers. Th e wealthiest men wore chain
mail, which was very expensive. Th e Celtic torque was a mark
of elite status, as was elaborate jewelry, especially of gold. In
general, the clothing of noble people was more fi nely made
and more ornately decorated than that of common people.
In some areas linen was considered a fi ner fabric and was
reserved for the wealthy, while peasants were forced to wear
rougher wool cloth.
Ancient Europeans oft en went barefoot, but in the winter
shoes were a necessity, and throughout the Continent shoes
were a mark of status. Some shoes were of a very simple de-
sign, just a rectangular piece of leather with holes punched
in the sides. Th e wearer threaded a leather thong through the
holes, wrapped the leather around the foot, and drew it tight
as if it were a drawstring bag. More meticulous shoemakers
cut the leather to the shape of the foot and sewed portions
of it to help it keep its shape. Many Celts borrowed the shoe
design of the Roman soldiers, attaching a carefully designed
piece of leather to a hobnailed sole. Th is shoe was tied on with
leather thongs.GREECE
BY CARYN E. NEUMANN
As numerous surviving statues and painted vases show, cloth-
ing among the ancient Greeks varied little from century to
century. From the tenth to the fi rst centuries b.c.e., both men
and women dressed similarly in draped material of wool or
linen and in sandals. Th is largely unchanging Greek costume
gave a sense of stability and permanence.
Ancient Greeks fi rst dressed in a simple, woolen, thick-
ly woven sleeveless tunic known as an exomis. Th e exomis
evolved into the chiton, a woolen rectangle of seamless cloth
open on the right side, fastened on the left , and held in place
with two belts, the top one wider than the other and be-
tween which the wearer made a wide tuck of cloth. Without
a belt this tunic hung loosely and served as a night garment.
Lengthened, the tunic was worn as a ceremonial costume; it
also replaced the short tunic in winter. Th e chiton was wo-
ven in varying sizes according to its intended use and the
height of the wearer. Usually the opening over the right thigh
was closed by a few stitches. Th e shoulder was fastened with
threads of the cloth, which formed natural, strong fastenings,
or the two upper corners of the rectangle of cloth were sim-
ply knotted together. Women wore an ankle-length version of
the chiton. Th e cloth was always draped, never shaped or cut.
Children generally dressed in the same manner as adults of
the same sex or, if they were young enough, went naked. Only
slaves wore breeches, which were regarded as barbarian dress
fi t only for foreigners.
Th e woolen fabrics preferred by the Greeks shows their
resistance to the luxurious fabrics, such as silk, preferred by
the peoples of the East. Th e early Greeks, however, were in-
fl uenced by other civilizations. Th e same groups that shaped
Greek architecture shaped Greek dress. Th e Dorians, from Il-
lyria, invaded Greece in about 1200 b.c.e. and introduced the
Doric tunic. In the sixth century the Greeks came into con-
tact with the Ionians of Asia Minor and adopted their fi ner
linen style of dress.
Th e Dorians gave the Greeks a wide woolen cloak, the
himation, and its military derivative, the chlamys. Th e Doric
tunic, which measured about twice the width of the wearer
from elbow to elbow, was basically a folded oblong of materialclothing and footwear: Greece 279