The Divergent Mermaid: It's All Greek to Me!

It’s All Greek to Me

By Lady Isolda Fairamay

Submitted to the Tir Mara Arts and Sciences Championship 2013

Where the Project Began: It began at the Great Northeastern War 2012 where the weather was so incredibly hot and sticky it inspired me to rip off my tight fitting long sleeved 14^th century outfit and don one of my husband’s Roman tunics. Marvelling at the ease of getting into and out of this outfit I decided that “Greco-Roman” was the way to go for hot summer camping events. I spontaneously visited the merchant’s area and purchased 2 pieces of linen, one in green and one in blue, for the purpose of a new “Greco-Roman” outfit for the next summer.

Where the Project Went: I came home and checked out books from the library and researched on the Internet. All this information resulted in mass confusion. There is an assortment of different terms used for different pieces of clothing and I quickly found that these terms tend to be used interchangeably en mass to the general audience. I was so confused I put it all away.

Fast Forward to Market Day at Birka 2013: I attended the “When in Rome: The Fundamentals of Dress from Republic to Byzantium” workshop held by Kyria Anna Dekeianina Dyrakousina (Angela Costello). This was the first time I felt like I might know what to do with my project. I returned home from this workshop and started work on what you see today. As I plodded along with the design and construction of the finished product, I researched with new eyes.

Fabric: Before I go any further I want to discuss the fabric used. In all of my research I find that most Greek and Roman clothing was made primarily from wool with linen being a close second. As for colours, although white seems to be what our eyes want to see in research, many of the statues that we gather our information from were originally painted, with colour being washed away by time. The fabric I bought for this project is linen. The colours are green and blue, both of which were available at the time. In my construction I used linen thread. Though seams and particularly hemming may not have been used in that period due to the way fabric was woven and how garments were constructed, I have finished my pieces with seams and hems to extend the life of my garments. I used a running stitch for all construction.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Although I realize there are other pieces in the Greek and Roman woman’s closet, I am concentrating on the 3 pieces that have eluded me the most. Using the research I have done I will, to the best of my abilities, attempt to explain the “Chiton”, the “Peplos” and the “Stola”.

CHITON:

Let us first speak of the Greek “Chiton”. In all my Greek research, the best definition of a “chiton” is as follows: Chiton: A thin tunic comprised of a rectangular piece of fabric sewn together at the short ends OR two pieces of rectangular fabric stitched together along a side seam from top to bottom…both methods resulting in a cylinder/tube. The top edge of the hem is unstitched. The top edges can be sewn, pinned or buttoned together at two or more points to form shoulder seams leaving openings for head and arms. A “Doric” chiton is the sleeveless version pinned/sewn/buttoned at the shoulder. An “Ionic” (later) chiton is made of a wide piece of fabric pinned/sewn/buttoned all the way from neck to wrists and belted at the waist.

Moving on to the Roman definition, in all my research the best definition of a “chiton” is exactly the same as a Greek chiton, but seems to be only described in the “Ionic” style with the fabric pinned/sewn/buttoned from the neck down the arms to the wrist. It may also simply be referred to as a “tunica interior”.

Terracotta stamnos (jar)

Greek, Attic, red-figure, ca. 450 BC

Attributed to the Menelaos Painter

Obverse and reverse, maenads making music

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Photograph taken by Chris Hulme Colin

Notice the figure on the left appears to be wearing a “Doric” chiton with one fastening on each shoulder while the figures in the middle and on the right are wearing what appear to be “Ionic” chitons with multiple fastenings up the sleeves.

PEPLOS:

Again, let us first speak of the Greek “Peplos”. In all my Greek research, the best definition of a “peplos” is as follows: Peplos: A thick tunic or outergarment that is made of one large rectangular piece of fabric that is then formed into a cylinder and folded over the top. It is affixed to the body at the shoulders with fibulae. It was then belted around the waist. The folded down top created the appearance of a second piece of clothing.

Moving on to the Roman definition, in my research the best definition of a “peplos” is either non-existent, or a variation of the Greek peplos. One website description: From http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/clothing2.html Roman Clothing: Women: “The peplos was made from two rectangular pieces of cloth partially sewn together on both sides; the open sections at the top were then folded down in the front and back. The woman pulled this garment over her head and fastened it at her shoulders with two large pins, forming a sleeveless dress; she then tied a belt over or under the folds.” A more logical description of the Roman “peplos” comes from the workshop I attended at Birka. In the piece “The Peplos: An insight into the most common women’s garment at Pennsic” by Signor Anna Danuzzano da Siracus (Angela Costello) a “peplos” is described as “the draped garment worn by the Ancient Greeks that was later adopted into Roman and Dark Age cultures. This is often confused with the chiton, which is always a sewn garment. Peplos’ were not traditionally sewn! The term peplos is also used very generically at times for any outer garment worn by a woman that was made from either a folded piece or a tube-shaped piece of cloth. Most commonly, especially in the SCA where we don’t want to, um, expose ourselves, we will make the tube-shaped garment with a side seam.”

Grave stele of a little girl, ca. 450–440 b.c.
Greek, Parian marble: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Notice how the side is opened up.

STOLA:

The “stola” is a piece that appears non-existent in the Ancient Greek woman’s closet. The “stola” seems to be only mentioned as an Ancient Roman woman’s piece of clothing. In all my research, the best definition of a “stola” is as follows: Stola: A sleeveless dress gathered at the shoulders into a strap or brooch. The length may be twice the height of the wearer. It is always worn over a tunic. It was fastened around the body by one or more girdles/belts resulting in broad overhanging folds. It could be decorated with a coloured band at the neck and an “instita” which was a broad flounce with many folds surrounding the hem. Alternatively there may be a simple band of colour or patterned border called the “limbus” which was woven into the fabric itself. It is a piece of clothing worn only by married women, but being rather unflattering and unfashionable it was not worn often.

Statue of Livia Drusilla

Between 1 and 25 AD

Marble

National Archaeological Museum of Spain

Here we see what appears to be a stola worn over a chiton (with pinned sleeves). The clues that tell us it is probably a stola rather than a peplos is the blousy type draping of the copius amounts of fabric.

Let’s Get Some Perspective: During my research I came across two important facts that put everything into perspective for me. Fact Number One: The modern woman is a modest woman. Ancient cultures didn’t mind showing a bit of skin but we do. With that said, it seems that modern interpretation of how to construct ancient clothing is mired by our modesty, making us sew together seams that would normally be left open. I quote from Angela Costello in her Roman clothing workshop materials: “Most commonly, especially in the SCA where we don’t want to, um, expose ourselves, we will make the tube-shaped garment with a side seam.” Fact Number Two: The Romans stole from the Greeks. Quoted from the article “Roman Copies of Greek Statues” from the Department of Greek and Roman Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rogr/hd_rogr.htm: “Impressed by the wealth, culture, and beauty of the Greek cities, victorious generals returned to Rome with booty that included works of art in all media. Soon, educated and wealthy Romans desired works of art that evoked Greek culture. To meet this demand, Greek and Roman artists created marble and bronze copies of the famous Greek statues. Although many Roman sculptures are purely Roman in their conception, others are carefully measured, exact copies of Greek statues, or variants of Greek prototypes adapted to the taste of the Roman patron.”

Fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief, 27 b.c.–14 a.d.; Augustan
Fragments of a Roman copy set in a plaster cast of the original Greek marble relief, ca. 450–425 b.c.
Marble: Metropolitan Museum of Art

My Conclusion: The clothing we see as “Greco-Roman” is, in essence, all Greek in origin. I believe the actual “Chiton” and “Peplos” in particular are Greek. The “Stola” is a Roman piece but it is not so different from any of the Greek clothing we see. As with most fashion, there are variations of it all. In addition, much of the information we find, particularly on the Internet, tends to use terms interchangeably and therefore creates confusion as to the true origin of different styles. Finally, the sewing of certain seams may be a Roman initiation but I do believe a lot of what we see worn in the SCA is primarily modesty based as well as function based.

My Project: The desired look of my outfit is seen here:

Statue of a young woman and a girl from a grave monument, ca. 320 b.c.
Greek, Attic: Marble Metropolitan Museum of Art

“The young woman at right wears a full-length peplos over a chiton with buttoned sleeves. Additionally, she has pinned to her shoulders a short mantle that falls down her back. This distinctive manner of dress was apparently reserved for young virgins who had the honor of leading processions to sacrifice, carrying in a basket such implements as barley, fillets, and the sacrificial knife. Being a kanephoros (basket bearer) was the highest honor possible for a maiden in the years just preceding marriage. The original funerary monument would have been a poignant reminder of the young woman's early death, before she was able to marry and bear children.”

My outfit consists only of the peplos and the chiton. I have used purchased buttons sewn to the shoulders of the chiton for its closure. I have used Roman style brooches (in place of fibulae) purchased from Raymond’s Quiet Press for the closure of the shoulders on the peplos. The chiton is sewn at the side seams while the peplos is left open at the side. For belting I am using belts made by a friend using cotton woven on an inkle loom.

Ultimate Result: I am humbled by the amount of research that went into this seemingly simple project but I will certainly appreciate wearing this ensemble just as much as some of my later period outfits!

Though my overfold isn’t as large as the statue here is a front and side view of me wearing the finished pieces with the belt worn over the folded edge as the woman is wearing it on the statue.