I Tried Wearing an Ancient Greek "Bra" for a Week

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After reconstructing an ancient Greek / ancient Roman "bra" last year and conducting a preliminary experiment in the video where I wore ancient Greek fashion for 30 days, I've finally managed to experiment more in-depth with the strophion/strophium and tried wearing it was an entire week, each day in a new way to see which option is the most suitable for support, and also feasible for the historical period.
If you'd like to learn about some of the research behind the strophion, I'd suggest watching this video: • I Made an Ancient Gree...
And if you'd like to see me wearing ancient Greek fashion for 30 days, I'd suggest watching this video: • I Wore Ancient Greek C...
This was a fun experiment to conduct!
Please note: bust binding may cause injury, so it is important to take precautions. I am not liable for any harm or damage caused.
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[@VBirchwood]

🐓 Get 16 free decorations to personalise your farm - available until the 15th of February! Download Hay Day now by clicking here. #HayDay link.haydaygame.com/?action=voucher&code=c58113d7-e0c2-4700-b629-92d666800321 Thanks so much for watching and continuing to support my channel, work, and art! It means the world to me ☺ I am currently correcting the captions, and they will be available in about an hour. I appreciate your patience!

[@KJLY]

Thank you for the Hayday gifts!! So cuteee

[@hazeldavis3176]

Hullo! Weaver here. You can weave on the bias with a pin loom and achieve zero waste. You can pick the size of the finished weave as well, so can make a variety of sizes. Modern pin looms come in mostly squares, triangles and hexagons. In the Appalachian mountains where I'm from, people would put nails into a board at small regular intervals. Whatever shape/size you want. Then use the continuous weaving method. This was often used for shawls, and often still is. Non-nail option is notches carved into the outer edge of a bit of wood. It doesn't have to be an open frame, as you will be working on the outer side only. It's such an easy weave that you commonly teach it to children. Think of a potholder loom , but instead of loops it's one continuous thread. I surmise an undergarment would be near perfect for a child to learn weaving with. Leaving outer garments free for more experienced weavers. I would try this with a scarf shaped pin loom, woven on the bias. It would be finishable in a day or two with a simple weave. I would use a yarn made of a combo of wool and fine linen. Not the rough linen as it would scratch the skin. Linen for strength, wool for grab and softness. Modern substitution- two stand weaving with 1 sock yarn and 1 lace weight wool for softness.

[@ladyselena255]

This send me down a wonderful rabbithole. Thank you, fellow weaver!

[@borjesvensson8661]

Here in sweden various braided bands were also woven to be strechy. Mostly for garter bands to hold up socks and leg winding on shoes in the north. But wider types exist that were used for other things

[@grandmasgopnik9642]

That’s so freaking cool! 😮 I knew you could but I didn’t know people still did this! Neat! Gosh this community is so awesome 🤩 And if you don’t weave but want to use your scrap fabrics that are bias you can weave the ends together. My grandmother used to do this with my sports bias strips because I was anxious the seams would be seen or fall apart. Woven together I knew the scrap fabrics would stay together and be minimal under my leotard especially with my tights/camisole underlayer for gymnastics. It’s a lot of work I will say but we just didn’t have a lot of money and it was something we would do together to pass the time like piecing a quilt. And you can use various scrap threads/fiber/yarn bits if you’re not too worried about what it will look like and still get a pretty strong product. It won’t be a strong as a properly woven one but for our purposes they worked well and didn’t require the purchase of new materials. 🤷‍♂️

[@kevinromaine]

I was thinking this myself. I’m not a weaver, but I am also nerd of many arts, and I also sew, so it occurred to me that bias woven fabric would have been a better option than cutting up straight-weave. Thanks for the confirmation of my crazy thought!

[@ladyselena255]

On "failing experiments": someone once told me "An experiment cannot fail. You are looking for answers. Sometimes that answer is, no." As frustrating as repeated "fails" feel, you are learning a lot. And teaching us in the progress! I can see no fail in that! Others have suggested bias woven fabric may have been used. I can't find any evidence of that, and it wouldn't be a natural technique on a warp weighted loom. However, there is some evidence of smaller, portable looms, that are sometimes interpreted as looms for sprang work. It's hard to confirm, but it looks to me like these are simple, rectangular frames. Those would absolutely lend themselves to bias weaving. Considering the techniques they had available, it isn't hard to imagine someone getting creative and weaving on the bias.

[@stephensteele3553]

As scientist, the only answer is no. Yes doesn't exist. "Yes" means your hypothesis is possible. Then you go on to find new ways to get to a no. Progress isn't made with a "yes". The no tells you you're wrong somehow and you need to refund l refine or change your hypothesis. Once you get enough "yes" answers from enough experiments from enough people, then you become a theory. Science is really about observation, hypothesis, and falsification.

[@DubGathoni]

Wasn't Adem Savage (where he got it, I'm not sure) that said that no experiment can fail. Any experiment that yields data is a success. And that the difference between science and screwing around is recording the results, so this is science.

[@oak_kitten]

11:18 As someone who recently learnt how to weave: I would assume that they wove it diagonally. Doesn’t waste anything like that, just means you need something like a pin loom.

[@Noel.Chmielowiec]

I was also wondering, maybe it wasn't plain weave, maybe it was different weave that naturally was more stretchy but stopped being used and we just don't have any evidence for it?

[@VBirchwood]

Thank you! I’ve been goggling pin looms today because of comments like yours ☺️ Also someone in the comments mentioned it might have been sprang. I’m learning sprang right now and it is incredibly stretchy, and there’s evidence of it being from at least the Neolithic, so perhaps that would also be possible!

[@borjesvensson8661]

​@@VBirchwoodthought of sprang too. I think it was mostly used for garter bands holding up socks but it is extremley strechy and countour hugging indeed.

[@BarbarianGod]

we did pin looms in home ed class in yugoslavia, they're fun!

[@VeredBen-Avraham-nh9eu]

You answered what's called a Proof Of Concept. This means your experiments proved that the way you used material and how you wrapped is feasible. That is a huge goal.

[@lia9080]

the line "to tie everything together and wrap it all up" at 21:30 was not lost on me! thanks for the video; i love the experimental archaeology!

[@HistoryOnTheLoose]

First, I am a man. Therefore, I've never needed to address this personally. That said,.... I wore a breechclout for years. This is a simple wider strip (thin leather, wool, linen, etc. I've used all three.), that, with a belt or other waist encircling item, is used to protect a man's "parcel". As the strip nears the center, it increases comfort if it narrows a bit. To don the garment, a belt, etc., is worn. Then, the front is passed over the belt, between you and the belt going up and over to drape in front. The strip is then fed between the legs coinciding with the narrowing and over the parcel. Now, the strip is given a HALF twist ONLY, creating a pouch of sorts, adjusted for comfort and proper "cradling". The now re-flattened strip is continued through, up and over the belt in back, and draped. Simple. The wide-narrow-wide cut becomes obvious when passing between the legs all day. The TWIST, in addition to creating the essential pouch, also gathers the strip into a narrower, less bulky mass. I first thought of this at the beginning of the video, and upon hearing the Greek translation, I am more convinced. I feel that a HALF TWIST in whatever fabric or cut you use, on the FIRST pass and placed centerfront, will create a one-size-fits-all pouch to either side. This might work towards the support issue.

[@ninaradio]

I had a similar thought. Maybe a quite long strip, so you could do that half twist on the first layer and then another layer without twist over the top to give the look shown in the artwork.

[@richarddoyle2216]

I haven’t seen the word breechclout since the eighties.

[@SwedishFix]

A trick that cosplayers use for binding the chest in a pinch are those stretchy cloth bandages people use for a sprain. You wrap them flat around, three or four times, overlapping the edges a bit and trying to cover your entire bust. Then you twist(!) the end, and tuck in under the other material. I think your wool should probably be twice as long to work like this. Hope this helps. Edit: please for the love of god if someone does this, take a deep breath as you wrap it around so your ribcage can fill. That warning she gave about compression is doubly true using something this stretchy. But yeah, really don't do this unless you /have/ to.

[@Wee_Catalyst]

Aw! Teen trans masc me did this! I was in sports so it was a handy and stable option, though to get what I wanted it was too much bulk for me now 😊

[@_Brohan]

@@Wee_Catalyst genuine and curious question, does a sports bra not accomplish what you're trying to do?

[@SwedishFix]

@@_Brohan As someone who is also a trans masc, absolutely not. A sports bra doesn't offer enough compression except maybe if you're an a cup.

[@_Brohan]

@@SwedishFix thanks!

[@SkyeID]

I would encourage people who want a flat chest to just wear a binder designed for that purpose instead of using a stretchy bandage.

[@MissingRaptor]

As someone with a larger bust, I can promise you that those suckers will take any opportunity to escape presented to them. Back before I got a jumps style corset I used to use a fabric belt worn just under my bust over a top that was designated as an under-top. Usually one of two things would happen by the end of the day. Either I had tied it too loose and they would escape or I had it tight enough and the weight of my bust would cause the back of the neck of the under-top to weigh down on the back of my neck and cause either neck pain or headaches. And, yes, I have always found this option to be preferable to wearing a bra because bras are hands down the most uncomfortable thing in existence for me. This method was ok if I didn't wear it too long. Needless to say I am delighted with and grateful for my jumps style corset that I now have 💖 And I absolutely adore these experimental archeology videos 😊

[@stepharoth]

What is a jumps style corset? Cuz I've been debating getting a corset for myself (larger-ish bust) and have been unsure where to start since so many are made for fashion and not support. Because maybe I'm alone here but I genuinely feel more comfortable wearing (non-underwire) bras than nothing. Maybe my chest muscles are just weaker than most, but not having a bra often leaves me feeling the weight of gravity weighing my chest down, tugging and pulling at the muscles and it's physically uncomfortable. So any supportive garments help would be appreciated!

[@MissingRaptor]

@stepharoth V. Birchwood has a video on corsets where she shows what a set of "jumps" are. They're basically an older style of corset that was popular before Stays became popular. I'm not 100% sure of the history, but there is another video on this channel regarding historical maternity wear that talks extensively about historical corsets. I highly recommend it too. What I'm calling my jumps style corset is a modern corset that looks a lot like historical jumps. I found the makers at a local Renaissance faire and they were simply marvelous in outfitting me since I have a rather dramatic shape. As in I can't find modern bras that support me properly because they either don't fit my bust or are too big in the under bust area. These corset makers were able to custom make me one that took that shape into account. They just make a very limited style of corsets, but they do it really well 💖 If you're interested and in an area they can ship to, you can look up Syltori Designs. I'd recommend that, if it's possible for you, to go to a local Renaissance faire this summer and see if there are any corset makers and try out some of the options they have. You may be pleasantly surprised 😊

[@Bobbin_Hoode]

@@stepharoth You're not alone feeling most comfortable with support. I can and do wear no bra at times, but they are always quiet times, usually sleeping, and Iv'e been known to go put on a soft, useless bra rather than have them running wild. They *feel* heavy. I'm now in a front closing sports bra with padding that just about keeps them comfortable, most sports bras are too uncomfortable to get in and out of (I have a disability) and underwires are my favourite for support but they drain my energy so fast now from just the slightest discomfort, even though good ones definitely distribute the weight more through the band than the straps. I often tell my partner if he could just carry them for me, like, walk around behind me and pop his hands under my arms, that would be ideal.

[@cryptiddcrow]

as somebody who binds in my day to day life, you're definitely right to be cautious! modern-day chest binding garments are safe when worn properly, but other methods can have risk.

[@SkyeID]

that's what I was thinking, as I used to wear a binder everyday too. It's a terrible idea to wrap your chest with strips of fabric.

[@mhicmusic]

so true! people need to talk about those risks more so people who want to experiment with binding don’t harm themselves ❤

[@grandmasgopnik9642]

100 even modern binders fail in MANY ways to keep you low on sweat and fit properly and achieve proper binding 😅. Queer folx, cos layers and binders everywhere unite over our hatred of the binding😂

[@SkyeID]

@ I remember wearing a binder on a day when it was 90 degrees outside! I was dizzy and had a shortness of breath. I thought I was going to faint! From then on, I decided to not wear a binder in the summer.

[@tovcovehomestead4694]

7:18 I may have figured out how it wraps. I edited and color coded the screen shot of this pic to show how it wraps. Wish I could share it on here. The part of the wrap that starts on the left side is longer than the part that wraps around the right side. The left side wraps around the body twice. Most of the wrapping is done by the left side and the right portion is the part that creates the knot in the middle.

[@christophethescot]

You are correct! TL;DR is the acronym you are looking for.

[@VBirchwood]

Yay! Thanks :)

[@christophethescot]

@@VBirchwood You are very welcome! :)

[@VinlandAlchemist]

Yep! "Too Long; Didn't Read" lol

[@halfsourlizard9319]

However, it's an initialism, not an acronym.

[@brigideverson2229]

First century reenactor here! I’ve had a theory for a while now that Strophium may have been made of Sprang (a stretchy woven/twisted material they had at the time). I haven’t tried it yet, but your video is making me want to give it a go at last.

[@VBirchwood]

This would make a lot of sense! I’m just about to learn sprang so it’s been on my brain a lot ☺️

[@christophethescot]

Post-watching: Although I probably couldn't relate to or recreate the experiment (I lack the bust!), it was very informative and well-presented! I now know more about strophion! I also share your view regarding anthropology; it's very easy for people to disregard things when they are not open-minded or are restricted by predefined notions and unwilling to budge! P.s. Your lunch looks amazing!

[@vadalia3860]

Taking a quick look at a chart for continuous bias strip measurements, if you want a 6 inch wide strip, a 20 square inch piece of fabric will get you 60 inches of strip. It seems super easy to make (albeit not sure how easy it would have been in ancient times) and results in little waste. You just cut the square in half on the diagonal, sew the two halves together to make a parallelogram, sketch out your 45 degree cutting angles, then sew it again into a tube, and make one continuous cut along the 45 degree lines for one big, long strip.

[@eloquentsarcasm]

We take so many modern garments for granted, things like underwear especially. Women have issues with the top, men have issues with the bottoms, I can't count how many types of boxers/briefs/hybrids I've tried over the decades to find the right material and fit, so in so much as I'm able, I feel for you, lol. Fandabi Dozi here on KZbin does some outstanding Scottish history videos dealing with clothing/equipment/cooking from a male perspective, both your channels have given me a great deal of historical knowledge and seeing how skilled people were even way back when is amazing. They might not have had our technology or knowledge, but they made incredibly durable, wearable fashion that did the job rather well.

[@carolinawolf7708]

Shawl pins could be a good option to recreate those antique pins ! They’re about the same size and shape as the ones in the video.

[@skloak]

Now that you’ve found a method that seems to work quite well, do you have friends of various bust sizes who could also try it out and report back? We don’t have to know anything about them other than an idea of bust size, they can be completely anonymous, but a range of feasibility study would be a great extension to this result.

[@trentenmerrill5239]

I love you, your personality, and your videos. Thank you for sharing yourself with us on this platform. It's always such a treat. I love history. I always look forward to your videos.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

I think one issue is that you cannot get actual support without having something to "carry it". Hence my suggestion, you need to try doing an above/below/over wrapping. Basically, one wraparound above the chest, one wraparound below, and then a third wrap to actually cover the chest in between the previous wraps. The below for support underneath AND to counter and stabilise the wraparound that goes above, which in turn is there to achieve the "carry", ie, keeping everything from slipping down, and to hold up the below support wrap. These two creates a steadier "platform" from which you can then have a last wraparound actually over the chest, because now it does not require to hold them up, so less force is needed. However, fair chance that you need someone helping you put this on, because it really might get too complicated to do on your own. But this way, you wouldn't need as tight bindings, because the upper wrap is holding everything up, the lower wrap holds the chest up, while the middle one "takes care of the rest". I also think this is likely more in line with what the pictures shows, because they're really far too wide to wrap around as they appear to do(tighter above AND below the widest part of the chest). If those actually consisted of 3 wraps, with the upper and lower ones tighter because they're above and below the chest, that would explain the look almost perfectly.

[@demetrinight5924]

My favorite thing about your channel is the "experimental archeology." In absence of written steps the best thing we can do is try different methods to see what works. The mistakes being left in the experiment help too.

[@meacadwell]

They would've cut out bias straps out of garments that were at the end of their life but while some parts of the fabric could still be used. This would be a way to NOT waste fabric. They'd cut off strips for menstrual use for smaller garments and for what they wore worn over their nether regions as shown in murals. Now, try it on the bias with lacing up the back...which is probably how the term "twisted" became used.

[@makeda6530]

Yeah, more experimental archaeology! 🗣️💞

[@VBirchwood]

Woohoo!

[@Jen-Bodhisattva_in_training]

As always absolutely fascinating! I was trying to guess how the different methods would work and your day 7 solution definitely makes the most sense to me from a practical standpoint as well as appearing the most similar to most of the ancient art depictions I can think of. Thanks for doing this experiment, it was fun! Btw your knitting is really progressing, from here the stitching looks great. Any luck finding your loom?

[@anna-hc6dz]

As someone who is Italian these videos are so cool thank you

[@Eternal_Hope_Q]

What I like most about this video is that you persevered. I've seen SO many content creators give up after day one and say it hasn't worked, yet, through creativity of thought and perseverance you might actually learn from experience and figure out something important about how the people in the past overcame certain obstacles. I applaud you 👏🏻

[@thebanditking8502]

your videos hit like none other. it’s really special

[@Shannon-igans]

21:30 "TIE everything together and WRAP it all up" excellent puns, can't wait for more 😂

[@channelbill2933]

The internet says that the Romans had silk imported from Asia. Are there current Asian ladies who use traditional garments that might date back to the age of the Romans, which could have been imported by the Romans?

[@emmawelch]

Love your explorations and thanks for sharing, Vasi! As someone who struggles every day with modern bras, I'm always looking for other options that don't leave me with deep red lines and pain!! (I also have a corset commissioned and couldn't be more excited!)

[@MartinAhlman]

I've spread your channel to more people and I'm happy to report that I've got a lot of "Thank you, she's brilliant" from them. I think you should get the praise :-)

[@JasmineDriche]

Your videos bring me such a great sense of comfort for some reason! Your energy is so warm 🥹 I appreciate the work you put into your videos xx

[@VBirchwood]

Thank you so much! 🥰

[@startrek2365]

A still of you smiling while outside in the "golden hour" would be a frameable picture. There was just something about the light and the angle and the wind it just worked. (I mostly listen to youtube so I was please to have looked over at just the right moment to catch that.)

[@pedroc3948]

It's so amazing that she happened to look perfect for the exact kind of content she would end up creating. It's like she climbed out of a medieval romance and decided to tell us how it was.

[@YToVSTRoX0]

About Amadis of Albion knots; numbering the strands 1 to 6 from top to bottom. 3 on the left (1 to 3); 3 on the right (4 to 6). It seems 1 goes to 4, 2 to 6 and 3 to 5. 3 to 5 is direct. Left wrap: 1 goes below (2-6) and (3-5), wraps around (3-5), goes below 1 and 2, and ends as 4. 2 goes below (3-5) wraps around and ends as 6. The tying knot is probably in the back. If there is no historical source, it's probably a fantasy reconstruction.

[@seanbissett-powell5916]

Great video on a fascinating topic. With fabric being expensive in pretty much any historical period up until around 1970, I wonder if they had ways to avoid the wastage of cutting on the bias. Piecing can work (there's a shako cover in the Musee De L'Armee in Paris that's pieced together out of hundreds of scraps), but seems messy and would leave uncomfortable seams. Is there a way to weave fabric on the bias ? The Mycenaean upright warp-weighted loom probably couldn't do it, but it might be possible to string the warp on a hand loom diagonally in some way. Or maybe they just made a loose woollen weave which took advantage of the natural springiness in the yarn. Textiles rarely survive archaeological timescales, so I doubt we've got surviving samples of all the different fabrics and weaving techniques used !

[@essi9781]

I loved this, as I always do. And as a knitter I'm SO happy you've been learning the craft! It is an awesome skill to add into the toolbox of a maker of historical garments.

[@alyssacjax]

I love your videos 💫 It seems that you have a kind and curious approach to life which is lovely to witness. I’m learning lots, too!

[@ninaradio]

For a garment that (a) was hidden and (b) was worn on a part of the body with huge variations from person to person, I have to think there must have been a lot of variations in how to wrap and tie the fabric off. I suspect women played around a lot to find the best solution for their own bodies.

[@lewisbenzie845]

I wonder if different body types and bust sizes preffered different approaches?

[@AbiSaysThings]

It's true now so it was probably true in the past. I personally find that modern bras meet my needs perfectly but an awful lot of people don't like them!

[@CarmillaKnits]

Lovely video as always! 💜 We neeeeeed a video about your knitting too! 😍

[@arieldanielle23]

I'm impressed you can knit. I've tried to pick it up a couple times but I just.. idk, I lack finesse. I can never get the tension right. Happy to see a post from you. Your videos are so soothing for me.

[@Nassifeh]

I don't think it's really a matter of finesse, exactly. Really the best thing is to find someone who knits who you can spend time with IRL, working alongside them. It's hard to just tell somebody how to do it? But way easier to work out if you can watch someone doing it right, and have them see exactly what you're doing wrong.

[@arieldanielle23]

@@Nassifeh You may be right, but I'm very solitary. Plus the few crafty people I've talked to about it are the types that picked up knitting but struggle to crochet, while I find crochet to be a breeze lol

[@leon10tjeLH]

have you tried other ways to hold your yarn? 👀 off the top of my head you could look into trying english, continental (pretty popular with crocheters), portuguese (my lefthanded crocheter friend likes this one!) and lever knitting i use a pretty unique english knitting method, where i wrap my yarn only around my middle finger instead of how lots of knitters wrap their yarn around rheir index and pinky, and ive never had any tensioning issues! it's a bit difficult explaining this over text 😅 but basically the yarn goes from project -> under index finger -> over middle finger -> under ring finger and pinky -> ball of yarn this way, i tension the yarn between my middle finger and ring finger and kind of use my entire hand to pull the yarn as tight as i need it to for each stitch if by tension you mean that some stitches are too tight and some too loose then it could be nice to think about pairing your yarn with needles made from a more or less grippy material? bamboo needles are VERY grippy, maybe a bit too grippy for most yarns imo. personally i like knitting with untreated wool yarn (imo the yarn's a bit slippery from lanolin) on varnished birch wood needles and cotton on metal needles, but lots of ppl combine these the other way around (cotton on wood, wool on metal). AND not all metal needles are made equally! one of my friends once showed me a video of their beginner knitter scarf sliding around like crazyyy on their metal needles. like 30 stitches sliding 20 cm in 2 seconds or sth 😳 while usually for me only the first 3 or 4 stitches on my needles tend to move while the rest Stay pPut! 😤 so yeah i immediately said "jesus christ no SHIT youre having trouble knitting, you need better needles STAT!" :') i hope this advice helps a bit!!

[@gabrielaa7235]

ONE MIN UPLOAD GANGGG ❤

[@vendorcommercialprograms7578]

I love your KZbins. Thanks for your work.

[@isabellegrady4324]

People's curiosity and research on the comments is making me so excited. It seems like everyone is working together just to see if something works out. Sometimes the internet is joyous 🥺♥️

[@VBirchwood]

Agreed!! It's really beautiful to see :)

[@TheGabygael]

wouldn't a herringbone or satin weave povide enough elasticity? naalbinding would definitely be stretchy enough but it's quite a stretch (hehe stretch) to assume anything other than woven based on evidence also the shape of the piece makes me think of either something that would be woven as is (like modern ribbons or woven scarves) or something made of scraps in this case cutting a bunch of strophons could be pertinent (but feels really anachronistic)

[@erinwojcik4771]

Time to control variables. Make a chart. Bias vs straight grain. Fiber content: wool, cotton, linen, silk. Tie vs pinned.

[@ducomaritiem7160]

I'm not a woman, but still been reenactor for many years... nice work. Besides your sunny appearance and smile lifts my mood again & again ❤

[@sunnasmilieu]

The point about things not necessarily being unheard of just because we don't know of them is so important! I have a medieval outfit which I wear a bit different from how the finds were wearing the clothes because that makes sense to me, in my living situation, and sometimes (while not often) I'm asked why I'm doing it wrong and I'll say that just because we know of a way it was worn that doesn't mean we know that it was only worn in such a manner. As an example, when it's cold I have a bocksten cloak and hood. I wear the hood first and the cloak over that. It's just an easier way to wear it. I haven't found a situation yet where my way doesn't make sense to me but I haven't found it depicted as being used that way either.

[@soulsounds_everyday]

I have actually seen people on yt wearing hoods under cloaks several times, and thought this is how it meant to be

[@neon-kitty]

Would it be theoretically possible to weave just a diagonal strip of fabric? That way you could get a strip of fabric on the bias without having to waste a lot of material. Or maybe they used a square of fabric and simply wore it on the bias without cutting it into a strip (with the two overhanging corners tucked in)?

[@DunkanIdaho1]

You're amazing. You ask questions that nobody does.

[@bishopsteiner7134]

I wonder if the fabric used for strophions might have been "recycled", aka, taken from older, worn out clothing, to get more use from the material, instead of being wasteful with new fabric? Kind of the way a lot of us will use old tee shirts as shop rags, etc. 🤔

[@tanyagarcia3721]

The Egyptian exhibit that Denver’s history museum has there are a couple of the pins that were a bit bigger than what you saw

[@drskelebone]

I am interested in Strophion v2, and I hope it works better than v1!

[@themodernperennialist1835]

Perhaps they would use fabric cut on the bias from old or soiled tunics or other fabric as a way to reclaim some materials

[@janeevans4758]

Absolutely love your channel vas and the only downside is ... we need them more 😂 at least 4 a week .... one can dream. Have a wonderful weekend.

[@lisakilmer2667]

I think you definitely figured this out. I have always assumed the depictions left out a crucial shoulder strap or two, because the women are shown throwing balls, which would absolutely require extra hold. Also, using bias off-cuts from clothing seems like an obvious decision, in retrospect. Well done, as always!

[@IlkkaVuoristo]

All the problems with this kind of garment (ribcage being cone-shaped cylinder that needs to move in all directions, slipping, comfort, dangers tightness, etc.) make me think that they did in fact do more tailoring than just cutting on the bias. I have no idea what that would be, though.

[@raraavis7782]

Yes...agreed. It just seems so unlikely, that people who had the time and resources to care about such things, didn't experiment with actually tailoring such a garment to some degree. Or attaching shoulder straps to it. Very puzzling.

[@Sabrea.]

I saw this within a minute!

[@philip4846]

Thank goodness for a French engineer named Bra who designed the first proper support for his wife.

[@doedarling1215]

With how large my chest grew in comparison to my frame, a bra or sling to hold these things would be necessary. I love bras of any type cause these things need support. I actually want to wear corsets, specifically regency style.

[@Wee_Catalyst]

Ah yes! The serotonin nature brings is a unique beautiful feeling 😊🌱

[@katwitanruna]

I have a bunch of medieval safety pins. Pennanular pins about an inch across.

[@cris_ad]

I think it may be difficult for you to come to a satifying conclusion because, most likely, someone with your bust size would have only worn a fabric strip wrapped around the top for modesty, not for support. I am at 40DDD, and none of these wraps that you did could even dream to come close to providing any kind of relevant support. Like you said, the tightest part of the wrap would have to be around the underbust, but also, on top of the bust, with the middle of the bust being a bit looser and free so as to not cause any discomfort/pain, and you tied a few of your wraps in the middle of the bust, which may have contributed to the discomfort. I also think the fabric strip should be longer and wider. I think something like muslin fabric would also work pretty well, since the texture of the fabric wrapped around itself would contribute to some of that stability, and something like silk is too... silky. I think the fabric may have been tied many different ways depending on the person and their personal needs, but a lighter, longer, and wider frabric makes more sense to me overall. (I said "I think" a lot... but, I do think, so...)

[@MrRabiddogg]

this somewhat reminds me of wrapping an ace bandage around a sprain type injury for support. if you have to wrap your wrist for example, you would do one or two wraps around the forearm and then a twist up around the palm for one or two wraps and then alternate. It is usually fairly comfortable and flexible while providing support. If you tied it somewhat like a necktie, with wrapping, twists to change the direction in the middle cleavage area and then end up with the knot at your back it might be best. (I have no clue if I am explaining it the way I am seeing it in my mind).

[@Inventerius]

Some suggestions from someone that does a lot of rope work. For your ribbon (the picture you show might even suggest it is rope or cord) over the dress try wrapping the two ends of the ribbon around eachother a turn between your breasts instead if just crossing them. That way the place you now cross them becomes a fixed point and not two ends sliding over one and other. With a few wraps you can make like a little stem between your breasts to put the bottom ribbon lower. On the strip of fabric around your body. You might try tying or pinning the first wrap around your chest above your breasts. Your body is wider where your breasts are so a loop above it that can not get bigger cannot slide down.

[@nikostheater]

Hello from Crete, Greece! As far as I know, sports weren’t activities that women participated in a public setting, at all. It was even forbidden for them to even attend sport events, because the athletes competed literally naked. And although nudity was often a feature in art, it wasn’t really happening in public life, especially for women. Women doing sports was a thing in Minoan Crete though (those women even jumped over bulls!) , but from the rise of the Mycenaean civilisation onwards, women’s role was diminished and confined mostly in the household.

[@stijnvantongerloo9122]

So interesting to see the difference between 1.0 and 2.0 !

[@MaRkYWaHoO]

Keep doing your thing…I love your channel 😉

[@Bunnidove]

Yay, you posted ❤

[@friedasorber1653]

For the biais you could do freehand braiding. Traditionalloy this was done in many countries from Scandinavia, to eastern Europe, France, areas of Canada,Central Asia. I use the method for braiding scarves with upto 500 elements. ALmost nobody knows about this, it was not much recordeded because ethnographers and the like simply did not notice it. Using pinlooms is clumsy by comparison.

[@themooreclan1220]

well done, do you prefer these Greek bras you chose that were supportive and comfortable or modern bras

[@badyuff]

you need to find a way to collab with bernadette banner! it would be such an interesting project to watch unfold.

[@XiangYu94]

I love how this girl's "brands" are basically cultures in specific eras. Like instead of the Prada she's got the Volga Tatar pants y'all

[@SusanForeman1963]

I went through a phase in highschool where I wore this style instead of a shirt. I'm a D cup, so I didn't have an issue with it slipping down.

[@acmulhern]

I was thinking, could bras have been hand knitted? Knitted cloth has stretch and it can be made to fit perfectly

[@cursed3artemis]

I do love these experimental archaeology experiments... But i would also look for other civilizations for guidance

[@Treia24]

*If* the sparse records of strophion use are indicative that they weren't worn all the time, or by all people with breasts, the expense of a bias-cut garment (even a small one) could be a point in favor of it being how they did it. Like, if they were cheap, they might have been a lot more common? Just a guess.

[@bighein7688]

Just reading Mary Beard, The emperors of Rome. She emphasizes the amount of everyday sources that are available. This might be helpful - have you considered reaching out to actual (other) historians or is that covered by the other video you mentioned? And by the way; thank you for the disclaimer in the beginning. After feeling slightly voyeuristic at first that sort of helped me to know, I was in the right video :)

[@robertneal4244]

The artwork may not accurately depict the garment. Is it possible to gain a gathered effect with stitching the edges? This may help make it viable in an athletic competition.

[@chadnine3432]

ULTIMATE SUPPORT!

[@_Brohan]

hmmm, could they have sort of wrapped a twisted or folded in half under-bust as a first pass around, then wrapped it untwisted over top of that? why didn't they leave instruction scrolls xD but that could make it seem tighter underneath and wider at the top! maybe they weren't even going for support.

[@theunwanted6122]

I would say roll the top and bottom so your making a little space . In the pic it looks like It’s tighter around the top and bottom done in the chest

[@NZKiwi87]

I really appreciate how you listen to your body, and mention it in videos. That’s a good reminder for me, as I’m in daily chronic pain and sometimes get too used to ignoring my body’s cues.

[@brithas]

Great video

[@miashinbrot8388]

Well, as an older woman with a much larger bust than you have, my own experience, particularly in the 1960s, was that bras did make it hard for me to breathe. So that, while it's a bad thing, does not necessarily mean that classical Greek and Roman women didn't have the same problem with their stropion(s -- what is the plural?).

[@veritanuda]

Ok I am no historian or even a woman, so this is pure with an engineering perspective. I am curious why you did not try a single strip of fabric about 4-6 inches with a twist in the centre of the front that goes around the back flat and then twists again in the centre at the front to go flat around the back. So twice around the body. Pin it in the back and then pin the twists? The pins would then be used to adjust for comfort. As I say, it is so far out of my wheelhouse, I have no idea if that makes any practical sense or not. Either way, it was a fascinating video. Thanks for sharing.

[@dawnmoriarty9347]

Believe me, they slip out of something like that.

[@fireincarnation2348]

There's vwet little waste if you cut a large piece of fabric so most of it is used. And maybe you use the triangles at the end for something else?

[@kamron_thurmond]

I played Assassin's Creed Odyssey and in that game it looked more like a type of "chest binding" than a "bra", and it appears I was correct in my assessment.

[@FashionFun-n3f]

Maybe there are more sources with wrapping clues in Egyptian or Roman sources, since these cultures overlapped each other a bit. Or you could look at current African tribes or areas that have woman still using loose fabric as the main way of clothing styles. These people are nifty with a cloth, whenever I see them carry children on their back the whole day I'm always amazed that it's just a big cloth they tied and somehow got their kid into it and the kid stays put the whole day :P

[@Mke-t94sd]

Slightly off topic but what brand of Baked beans do you buy?

[@LaineyBug2020]

Look up videos on how to tie an infinity dress in the topless style. I just search: Infinity dress strapless tutorials.

[@dragonwitch27]

I’m curious why you didn’t try linen-it’s breathable and would have been available during antiquity.

[@VBirchwood]

There was a day with linen cut on the bias. I also did linen cut on the straight of grain for the first experiment that didn't work , so I didn't bother doing that one again for this video, as I already knew it didn't work.

[@rainsilent]

And it was this video where I learned that all fabric is completely biased. As for the picture of the other person using a tie at 7:20 I wonder if a specific way to tie, like what they show, would make a big difference. It looks like they made a this strip go under and come up and over the top of the other side of the chest for each side over the top of a wrap that went around flat for coverage as the base layer of the wrap. I can't read the comments for the more information but I would hope that they would have included a how to do this in the information.

[@Wee_Catalyst]

True testament is having to run for a bus(t) 😂😂😂 Sorry, I couldn’t help it 😅

[@leigh2e200]

Is it possible they wove the fabric on the bias like a linen tape but big enough for the bust?

[@la_v_nrose1996]

Maybe there was much of their wears cut on the bias so they simply used all the scraps to create the undergarments.

[@nyomicasey]

Can you do foods for black history month. Carribean, African, US and other countries?

[@Wee_Catalyst]

As someone who has eschewed bras for the last 10 years I was hoping this might be an alternative but, um, it still seems like endless adjustments and less comfortable than nothing (for me) 😅😅😅 But I’ll keep an eye on this series in case something from somewhen in history does the trick! I’m open! 😂

[@suuudo]

As a cishet male, I’ve actually never thought about how crazy it is that women have to wear something for eight hours every day that at best only causes minor discomfort.