The Ancient Greeks knew a cad software buy and download thing or two about elegance and simplicity so it is cad software buy and download no surprise that one of their most popular fabric choices was linen. Linen’s versatility and cad software buy and download beautiful draping made it the perfect choice for the fashionable Greeks of the cad software buy and download Classical Period. Crinkled linen was very fashionable and was produced either by sewing the cad software buy and download crinkles into the fabric or with starch. Another fashionable choice was to cad software buy and download make a shiny version of linen. This was done by working oils into the cad software buy and download weave. The Greeks favored decorated hems on their linen, typically the cad software buy and download iconic key pattern or a botanical pattern with leaves, vines and cad software buy and download flowers. These borders were usually dyed in a darker shade than cad software buy and download the rest of the cloth to accentuate the pattern.

The primary clothing staple for cad software buy and download Greek men and women was the chiton, which eventually evolved into two different styles. The first and cad software buy and download simplest was the Doric chiton. A Doric chiton was basically a cad software buy and download tunic made from one or two lengths of cloth that were folded, pinned and cad software buy and download belted to fit the wearer. The Doric chiton was also known as the cad software buy and download peplos when worn by women. Women preferred linen peplos. It was made by folding a cad software buy and download piece of cloth to form a double layer at the top. A girdle was worn to cad software buy and download cinch the garment at the waist while fibula pins were worn to cad software buy and download fasten the linen at the shoulders.

The Ionic chiton became fashionable later than cad software buy and download the Doric chiton but did not replace it. Both styles were worn by men and cad software buy and download women. However, the Ionic chiton required more than simple draping and cad software buy and download pinning. The Ionic chiton was a rectangle of linen, folded in half and cad software buy and download then sewn down the long, open side. It was then cad software buy and download pinned at the shoulders with fibulae. Women’s Ionic chitons were pleated to cad software buy and download accentuate their femininity. Additionally, women sometimes put oval weights into the cad software buy and download hem so that the chiton would drape and cling to the cad software buy and download body better. Many women also wore a light linen shawl called a cad software buy and download pharos which served a dual purpose. It provided warmth in the cad software buy and download winter by draping it over the head and as a beautiful accessory during the cad software buy and download warmer months when worn draped across the body as a scarf.

Linen was so popular in Classical Greece that cad software buy and download women also used it in their hair! Dressing their hair beautifully was very important to cad software buy and download Greek women. A very common and elegant hairstyle choice was the cad software buy and download chignon, especially when worn with a headdress. One of the most frequently seen combinations was a cad software buy and download chignon worn with a crescent shaped tiara called a stephane. The stephane was often joined to cad software buy and download a linen bag that supported the chignon.

Evidence of a cad software buy and download thriving linen industry in Greece has been found on clay tablets that cad software buy and download date back 4,000 years. Though the Greeks loved to use linen fabric for cad software buy and download their clothing, they had other uses for it as well. One of the cad software buy and download most surprising applications was for armor. Considered Greek by many, it cad software buy and download is believed that Alexander the Great and his men wore linen armor. In fact, Plutarch claimed that cad software buy and download Alexander wore a breastplate of doubled (or folded) linen. It is cad software buy and download unfortunate that no examples of this armor have survived. However, through descriptions, paintings and cad software buy and download sculpture, archaeologists believe they have reconstructed something very similar to cad software buy and download Alexander’s Kevlar like armor. Called linothorax, the cad software buy and download armor was made through laminating several layers of linen with a cad software buy and download type of simple glue made from flax seeds or rabbit skins. Linothorax was very strong, a cad software buy and download fact that has been proven by archaeologists through rigorous testing. It is cad software buy and download through such tests that archaeologists now believe that Linothorax would have cad software buy and download held up to the weaponry used in battle during Alexander’s time.

(Mosaic of Alexander the cad software buy and download Great found in Pompeii, believed to be wearing linothorax armor)

These are cad software buy and download just a few examples of the myriad of ways in which linen was used by the cad software buy and download Ancient Greeks. From their elegant and simple use of linen fabric for cad software buy and download clothing to the ingenious use of linen as armor, we can cad software buy and download see that the Greek peoples found linen to be a beautiful and cad software buy and download highly functional fabric.