A young man with a chiton.

A chiton (Greek: χιτών, khitōn) was a form of clothing and is a sewn garment, unlike the peplos, a draped garment held on the shoulders by a fibula.

There are two forms of chiton, the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton. The "Doric" style was simpler and had no "sleeves", being simply pinned, sewn, or buttoned at the shoulder. The "Ionic" style was made of a much wider piece of fabric, and was pinned, sewn, or buttoned all the way from the neck to the wrists and the excess fabric gathered by the zone or girdled at the waist. By the late Archaic, Ionic chitons had become less common, especially for men.

History and usage[link]

Charioteer in a Ionic chiton.

The Doric chiton is a single rectangle of woolen or linen fabric. It can be worn plain or with an overfold called an apotygma which is more common to women. It can be draped and fastened at the shoulder by pins (fibulae) or sewing, or by buttons.^[1] The Ionic chiton could also be made from linen or wool and was draped without the fold and held in place from neck to wrist by several small pins. A large belt called a zoster could be worn over the chiton, usually under the breast ("high-girdled") or around the waist ("g low-girdled") or a narrower "zone" or girdle could be used. The chiton's length was greater than the height of the wearer, so excessive fabric was pulled above the belt, like a blouse.

A double-girdled style also existed. The chiton was often worn in combination with the heavier himation over it, which had the role of a cloak. When used alone (without a himation), the chiton was called a monochiton. A long chiton which reached the heels was called a chiton poderes, while a longer one which dragged the ground was called a chiton syrtos or an (Greek: ἐλκεχιτώνες, elkekhitōnes) (literally, a chiton that drags the ground).^[2] A woman's chiton would always be worn at ankle length. Men wore the long chiton during the Archaic period, but later wore it at knee length, except for certain occupations such as priests and charioteers, and also the elderly. A sleeved form was worn by priests and actors. The colour or pattern would often indicate status, but varied over time. The chiton was the outfit of Aphrodite because it was considered very feminine, although men also wore it. Dionysus is often depicted wearing it. The chiton was also worn by the Romans after the third century BC. However, they referred to it as a tunica. An example of the chiton can be seen, worn by the caryatids in the porch of the Athens Erechtheum. A charioteer's chiton can be see on the Charioteer of Delphi (474 BC).^[3]

Chitoniskos[link]

Greek men sometimes wore a short version of chiton known as the chitoniskos. On Greek vases, men are pictured wearing the chitoniskos while hunting, farming, and under their armor for war. The smaller chiton could also be worn over another chiton.^[4]

Etymology[link]

The word chiton appears in the Iliad.^[5] In Greek, khitōn could be used to refer not only to a cloth garment covering the skin, but also to other sorts of covering such as a coat of mail, a membrane around a bodily organ, or the pod containing seeds. The Greek word is an adoption from a Central Semitic source (most probably Northwest Semitic, the exact source language not being known) and is akin to the Hebrew word kětōnet 'tunic'. The Central Semitic word that was the source of Greek khitōn was itself adapted from the Akkadian word kitû, meaning 'flax' and 'linen'. This Akkadian word in turn comes from Sumerian gada (which has the variant gida). The Latin word tunica, source of the English word tunic, is taken from a Phoenician word of kindred origin.^[6]

See also[link]

• Clothing in the ancient world
• Zoster (costume)

References[link]

Additional sources[link]

• "Chiton" Encyclopædia Britannica

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Chiton

• Greek Dress
• Greek clothes (French, Pdf)

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Costumed performers from the 2006 Bristol Renaissance Faire.

Yarkand ladies' summer fashions. 1870s

The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances represented or described, or to a particular style of clothing worn to portray the wearer as a character or type of character other than their regular persona at a social event such as a masquerade, a fancy dress party or in an artistic theatrical performance.

Major categories[link]

Theatrical costume[link]

Costume used in yakshagana-a theater art from India.

One of the more prominent places people see costumes is in theatre, film and on television. In combination with other aspects, theatrical costumes can help actors portray characters' age, gender role, profession, social class, personality, ethnicity, and even information about the historical period/era, geographic location and time of day, as well as the season or weather of the theatrical performance. Often, stylized theatrical costumes can exaggerate some aspect of a character; for example Harlequin and Pantaloon in the Commedia dell'arte.

Schools and costumes[link]

Today costuming has become popular with the rise of school theatre programs. These programs in schools everywhere need a wide variety of clothes suited for the many productions they put on each year. Budget is always an issue with this type of theatre, however if the theatre teacher is dedicated enough to the performance, he or she can find all sorts of ways to put the production together with a reasonable budget.

National costume[link]

National costume or regional costume expresses local (or exiled) identity and emphasises a culture's unique attributes. It is often a source of national pride. Examples of such are a Scotsman in a kilt or a Japanese person in a kimono.

Holidays and festivals[link]

A traditional, European-style Santa suit

The wearing of costumes has become an important part of such holidays and festivals as Mardi Gras and Halloween (see Halloween costume for more information), and (to a lesser extent) people may also wear costumes in conjunction with other holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form of jesters and other fantasy characters, while Halloween costumes traditionally take the form of supernatural creatures such as ghosts, vampires, pop culture icons and angels. Christmas and Easter costumes typically portray mythical characters such as Santa Claus (by donning a santa suit and beard) or the Easter Bunny by putting on an animal costume. Costumes may serve to portray various other characters during secular holidays, such as an Uncle Sam costume worn on the Independence day for example.

In Judaism, a common practice is to dress up on Purim. The Jews celebrate the change of their destiny. They were delivered from being the victims of an evil decree against them and were instead allowed by the King to destroy their enemies. A quote from the Book of Esther, which says: "On the contrary" (hebrew: ונהפוך הוא ) is the reason that wearing a costume has become so popular among the Jews on this holiday.

Children[link]

Costumes also serve as an avenue for children to explore and roleplay. Children can dress up in various forms; for example characters from history or fiction like pirates, princesses or cowboys, common jobs like nurses or police officers, or animals such as those seen in zoos or farms.

Children's Costumes Photo Gallery

Mascots[link]

Another very popular situation where costumes are employed are for sporting events, where people dressed as their team's representative mascot help the club or team rally round their team's cause. Animal costumes which are visually very similar to mascot costumes are also popular among the members of the furry fandom where they are referred to as fursuits that match ones animal persona, or fursona.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Costumes