Fitting the Dress to Climate and Custom

So much may be said, so that we may not seem to have left out any item of the dress of the Egyptians. But we need keep only those things that the situation of the place and the customs of the district allow. For the harshness of our winter does not let us make do with light shoes, or tunics, or a single robe. And tiny hoods or a sheepskin would give the onlookers something to laugh at rather than something to build them up. So we hold that we ought to bring in only the things we have described above that suit the humble character of our calling and the nature of the climate. Then the main thing about our dress will be, not the novelty of the garb, which might give some offense to people of the world, but its honorable simplicity. [a]