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I first stumbled onto Greek Costume Armor in the 6th grade. Our
class was performing Homer's The Oddessey and period dress
was required. Our teachers gave us instructions for making simple facsimiles
of Greek chitons -- we were told cut a double-T out of a big swath of fabric
and sew it together to form an oversized T-shirt. When used in conjunction
with a belt or sash, this oversized T-shirt was a decent imitation of ancient
Greek clothing.
Unfortunately, like most 6th graders, I was a bit self-conscious at
that age and I felt a bit vulnerable wearing just a Greek tunic. (I'm sure
nitpickers would also point out soldiers would not last long in battle
wearing nothing but a big piece of cloth.) Somewhere along the line, I
got the idea to use the same tunic outline with cardboard to imitate Greek
armor. Cut out a hole for the head, put a few slits in the skirt-section
and voila. Of course, I then proceeded to cover it with light-green interior
wall paint...ugh.
Some 10 years later, memories of my first costume armor came back to me
before Halloween. Every Halloween since then, I have experimented with the
design. If you click on the links below, you will see my diagrams and
instructions on creating this armor and also examples of.
Since I didn't want to walk around with the same outfit more than once, my plan
for Halloween '97 was to design something entirely new. Unfortunately, once
my ex-girlfriend saw the costumes I've made, she "requested" I create a Xena outfit for
her. While I was able to do a few accessories (new helmet and belt) for myself, I
spent the majority of the time cutting and sewing vinyl (no way I was going to use
leather for my first big sewing project) into something recognizable. In the links
below, you will find my design notes for the outfit.
Click on the following images to see the complete costumes:
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