Around 1.200 B.C. waves of Dorian invaders swept into Greece from Illyria on the east of the Adriatic and brought about the downfall of the Mycenaean civilization. The following four centuries are known as the “Dark Age” of Greece. The period started with a civilization of people dressed in bell-shaped skirts and tightly fitted bodices, and ended with a race dressed in draped clothes, the Greek costumes we now associate with the Greeks and the Romans.
During the periods under discussion, generally referred to as Archaic and Classical, there were two basic styles of costume for both men and women: Doric, in existence at the beginning of the Archaic period, and Ionic which was adopted later.Again the roman costumes was made from a single rectangle of material but much wider than that used for the peplos, measuring up to ten feet wide. It had no surplus material and was measured exactly from shoulder to ankle. The enormous width required that eight to ten fibulae were needed to fasten the top edge, leaving an openwork seam either side of the neck which ran across the shoulders and down the arms to form elbow-length sleeves.