In the Desmond Lee translation of Plato’s Republic, section 373b/c, women’s dress and make-up is given as one of the elements of a more ‘luxurious’ society, the exact quote is as follows:
“there will be manufacturers of domestic equipment of all sorts, especially women’s dress and make-up”
My question is, how accurate a translation is ‘women’s dress and make-up’, i.e, were these concepts particularly ubiquitous in Ancient Greece and, if so how did that relate to the position of a woman in an Ancient Grecian society?
Desmond Lee is over-translating the Greek text but he captured the heart of the passage well. Plato is there discussing crafts that are to be admitted into the city even though they are not exactly "healthy," and he lists a bunch of crafts, with the last being that craft that is concerned "περὶ τὸν γυναικεῖον κόσμον" (373c). This literally means something like 'that is concerned with feminine adornment'. Clearly the idea is something that is concerned with women's cosmetics (which nicely preserves the etymological connect with 'kosmon'). Other good translations of this word in this context are 'decoration' and 'ornamentation'. This word is also used to describe the adornment of men, horses, and inanimate objects, but the fact that Plato affixes the adjective 'gynaikeion' (feminine or womanly) is telling the reader that he's talking about the stuff women would add to their bodies to make themselves look better.
Plato also talks about cosmetics as a form of imitation (and as not involving a real craft/expertise) in the Gorgias, but there the critique is gender-neutral and seems to also capture the way that ancient Greek men would focus on making their own bodies look better than they really were.
My research specialization concerns the history of philosophy, so I am not in a position to talk much about the history of women's cosmetics and fashion in ancient Athens. But I really enjoyed this answer by u/chocolatepot on a related question pertaining to women's veils in antiquity:
I am sure you can find other questions more specifically about make-up and cosmetics by searching here too! :)