---
node: garment_peplos
type: garment
slug: peplos
title: "Peplos"
lead: "The peplos is the early draped gown of Greek women, a heavy woollen rectangle folded over at the top and pinned at both shoulders. Its deep overfold and simple lines define the Archaic female figure."
published: 2026-08-10
updated: 2026-08-10
image_file: peplos.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ACMA_679_Kore_1.JPG"
image_author: "Unknown artist"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 2.5"
---

## Overview

A peplos is a single wide tube or sheet of wool, its upper edge folded down to make a flap (the apoptygma) across the chest and back, then pinned at each shoulder and belted. Sleeveless and open or closed down one side, it hangs in heavy vertical folds.

## How it is worn

It is folded, wrapped, pinned at the shoulders with long pins or brooches, and bound at the waist, the overfold falling to the hips. The Doric peplos was worn against the skin; the pins could be formidable enough to double as weapons in legend.

## History

The peplos was the principal women's garment of the Archaic period and the Doric tradition, seen in the Peplos Kore and in the great robe woven for Athena at the Panathenaia. It was partly displaced by the lighter Ionic chiton but never wholly lost.