If you're wondering what the A.Y.X. peplum skirts are all about, continue reading!

 

Have you ever heard of a thing called ”Peplos”? If you're interested in the Greek history you might have seen this type of attire before :

 

 

Well, this specific Greek garment is called a ”Peplos” and it's basically a rectangular piece of fabric that has been tied and folded around the body to create an effect of layering around the waist area.

Nowadays the Peplos is called a peplum or overskirt and has evolved into different shapes and styles throughout the history of fashion but at that time it was a very special design. Each year, the Greeks would organize an art and crafts festival called ”Chalkeia”. For this event, a group of young ladies would be chosen for a special ritual related to the celebration. These women had the honorable task to design and produce, for nine consecutive months, a sacred peplos that would then be offered to the statue of Athena during the festival. This woven peplum was usually purple and yellow and ornamented with myth and stories all over its surface. This sounds like a hard task but you can imagine the beautiful and amazing final piece!

 

 

In the 1800's the hourglass shape (an accentuated narrow waist and wide hip figure) was the trend and to maximize this effect most dresses had a peplum attached to them. It would look like another shorter voluminous skirt attached to the dress and falling over the hips starting from the waistline. Peplums also became a way for women to wear shorter dresses without showing too much of themselves.

In the 40's and 50's the peplum trend came back again to highlight the waist (search for Dior power suit style ”Bar Jacket”) but also as an economical way to spice up one's wardrobe (as it wasn't necessarily attached to the rest of the garment and could be worn separately).