One fabric, silk, was especially beloved by the Byzantines. Garments originated by the Byzantines are still worn today by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the influence of the Byzantines can be seen in the robes and headwear of leaders in the Roman Catholic Church, which split from the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1054. Variations on normal Byzantine garments like the dalmatica, for example, took on specified roles in religious practice among the clergy. When Byzantine emperors received foreign visitors, they costumed themselves in rich purple robes, glittering with gold embroidery and jewels sewn onto the fabric.Īmong the more distinctive garments developed by the Byzantines were those worn by the clergy in the Christian church.
Deep reds, blues, greens, and yellows became common on the garments of wealthy people, but the richest color, purple, was reserved for royalty.
Over time Byzantine clothing became ever richer in color and ornamentation, thanks largely to these influences. Traders brought exotic fabrics and patterns into the capital city of Constantinople from these regions, and rich Byzantines eagerly adopted the colors, patterns, and fabrics of the East into their costume tradition. One of the key features of the Byzantine Empire was its history of trade with the Middle East and the Orient. They layered their clothing, with men wearing a tunic and trousers under the dalmatica, and women wearing a long undergarment beneath their stola and an outer garment called a paludamentum, or long cloak. Their garments were worn close about the neck, sleeves extended all the way to the wrist, and the hemline, or bottom edge, of their outer garments extended all the way to the ground. Unlike the Romans, the Byzantines tended to be very modest about any display of flesh. They chose as their most basic of garments the dalmatica, a long, flowing men's tunic, or shirt, with wide sleeves and hem, and the stola for women. The Byzantines, who tended to prefer simple flowing clothes to the winding and draping of the toga, did away with the toga altogether. Changing stylesīy the end of the Roman Empire the toga, which had once been required wear for Romans, was worn only on ceremonial occasions. that the Byzantines began to modify and extend the Roman costume tradition to become something uniquely their own. These basic garments had become more ornate and luxurious late in the Roman Empire, yet it was not long after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 c.e. From the Romans the Byzantines inherited their basic clothing forms, the tunic and toga for men, and the stola, a type of long dress, for women, as well as their shoes and their hairstyles. as the Eastern Roman Empire its capital, Constantinople, was for a short time the capital of the entire Roman Empire. After all, the Byzantine Empire began in the fourth century c.e. –476 c.e.) and its color and decorative tradition from the Orient and the Middle East. Lanham, MD: Barnes and Noble, 1977.The Byzantine costume tradition took its form from the Roman Empire (27 b.c.e. Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Costume and Decoration. The Complete History of Costume and Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day. Finally, monks might wear a kind of paludamentum, or cloak, with a hood pulled up over their head to keep them warm. A similar hat is worn by notable figures in the Roman Catholic Church to this day, with the pope's white zucchetto being the most famous example. Clergymen often wore a round skullcap called a zucchetto, with the color depending upon whether they were a bishop, a cardinal, or a monk. Perhaps the most distinctive headwear worn in the Byzantine era was that worn by members of the Christian clergy. Both male and female members of the Byzantine court, including the emperor, did wear a variety of crowns, usually heavily laden with jewels. Several hats inherited from the Greeks were worn, including the Phrygian cap and the petasos. There wasn't one typical Byzantine hairstyle for women, but instead a variety of ways of curling, twisting, and molding hair in pleasing ways.īyzantines did not have a strong preference for specific forms of headwear, though there are several hats and crowns that appear to have been in use. They might use pins or a ribbon to hold their hair in place. Women wore their hair quite long and tended to braid or pile it on top of their head in a variety of different fashions. Men tended to wear their hair short and cut straight across the forehead in what is today known as the Caesar cut, named after the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar (100 –44 b.c.e.). Like so much of their costume tradition, the Byzantines inherited their basic hairstyles and forms of headwear from the Romans who preceded them in ruling the Mediterranean world.
0 kommentar(er)
