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Small bronze figure of a baby wearing only a diaper - Ancient Greek clothing

Ancient Greek clothing: a Greek baby in a diaper, from Hellenistic Egypt

What did Greek kids wear?

Like Egyptian or Mesopotamian babies, Greek babies often wore nothing at all, but sometimes, as in this picture, they wore cloth diapers.

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If it was cold, of course, they would be more wrapped up. Children also often wore only cloth wrapped around their middles like wrap skirts or shorts.

marble statue of a man in a tunic carrying a basket - Ancient Greek clothing

A working man’s tunic (see the basket he is carrying?)

What did Greek men wear?

Greek men mostly wore a tunic, a sort of knee-length t-shirt made of wool or linen, tied with a belt at the waist. Men used the fold of cloth over their belt as a pocket. Often, as in this statuette, they wore their tunic only over one shoulder, as a himation.

Where does wool come from?
How about linen?
A project with fabrics

Boy in Macedonian hat, cape, and boots - Ancient Greek clothing

Boy in Macedonian hat, cape, and boots (ca. 300 BC)

What if it was cold?

Over the tunic men wore a wool cloak if it was cold out. They could also use their cloak as a blanket if they needed to (for example if they were off somewhere fighting a war).

How about shoes?

Men’s legs were bare, and they wore leather sandals when they weren’t barefoot. But many men went barefoot their whole lives.

How do you make leather?

statuette of a woman wearing a long tunic and a cap holding a baby in a tunic

Aphrodite and Eros

What did Greek women wear?

Greek women, like women in Iran or India at this time, generally wore one large piece of wool or linen, wrapped around them and pinned in various ways to make it stay.

West Asian clothing

The ways of pinning it changed over time.

How to pin a chiton

One way was to fold the cloth in half, and put it so that the fold in the cloth came under your right armpit and down your right side. Then pull up on the front and the back of the cloth so they meet over your right shoulder and pin the front and the back together with a big safety pin.

Then pull more of the front up over your left shoulder, and pin it to the back in the same way. Finally you will notice that your dress is still open all along your left side: tie a belt around your dress at the waist to keep your dress closed. These dresses came down to their ankles, even for younger girls.

What if it was cold?

When it was cold, women also had long wool cloaks/blankets to keep them warm.

Girl wearing a long dress wrapped around her - Ancient Greek clothing

Ancient Greek clothing: a girl wearing a tunic and a wrap over it

This woman is so busy talking that she doesn't notice the water isn't going into her pot!

Women getting water at the public fountain.

Did Greek women wear veils?

Even when it wasn’t cold, most Greek women who weren’t slaves wore a shawl or a veil over their dress whenever they left the house. Some women wore their veil loose, and some used it to cover their hair, or their face.

How about enslaved women?

Women who were enslaved had to wear their hair cut short, while free women had long, complicated hairstyles. They couldn’t wear veils, either.

Didn’t long dresses get in the way?

Greek women didn’t always wear long flowy dresses. For running, hunting, or working, Greek women could also wear short tunics like the ones men wore, as this Spartan girl does to run.

Did you find out what you wanted to know about ancient Greek clothing? Let us know in the comments!

Learn by doing: dress up like a person from ancient Greece
More about linen cloth
More about wool cloth

Bibliography and further reading about ancient Greek clothing:

More about Spinning
Dressing up like the Ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece home