Clothing in the ancient world

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This article deals with Clothing in the ancient world.

Contents 1 Egyptian Clothing 2 Ornaments and Cosmetics 3 Cretan Clothing 3.1 Male Dress 3.2 Female Dress

[edit] Egyptian Clothing

In Ancient Egypt, flax was the textile in almost exclusive use. Wool was known but considered impure - animal fibres being the subject of taboo, only little were used, for instance for coats and also in the temples and sanctuaries. Only "free" people wore clothes; slaves were naked. Peasants, workmen and people of lower class only wore a loincloth, in addition to the shenti carried by men of all classes. Shoes were the same for both sexes; sandals braided with leather, or, particularly for the sacerdotal class, papyrus. The headgear consisted more of klaft, fabric square with striped carried by the men.

The practice of the embalming made it possible to develop cosmetic products and perfumery very early. Perfumes in Egypt were scented oils, and were very expensive. They were most needed in antiquity, during which the people made great use of it. The Egyptians used make-up much more than anyone else at the time. Nails and hands were also painted, with henna. Only the lower class had tattoos.

[edit] Ornaments and Cosmetics

Kohl, used as eyeliner, was obtained to leave Galena. Eye shadow was made of crushed malachite, and lipstick of ochre. Beauty products were generally mixed with animal grease in order to make them more compact and to preserve them.

Wigs were used by both sexes of the upper class. Made of real hair, they contained other decorative elements. In the Court, the more elegant examples had small goblets at the top filled with perfume. The heads were shaven; the Egyptians are the only people of antiquity to have systematically practised depilation. For them, the wigs represented humanity, not animality; as might be suggested from the origin of the hairs. Jewels were heavy and rather bulky, which would indicate an Asian influence. The middle classes wore small and simple glassware; bracelets were also heavy. The most popular stones used were Lapis Lazuli, carnelian and turquoise.

A peculiar ornament which the Egyptians created was gorgerin, an assembly of metal discs which rested next to the skin of the of the chest or a short-sleeved shirt, and tied at the back.

Certain clothing was common to both sexes such as the tunic and the robe. The men wore a type of loincloth called the shenti, and scarf round the waist similar to a belt. Around -1425 - -1405 BCE, a light tunic or short-sleeved shirt was popular, as well as a jupon

Female clothing remained permanent and unchanged during several millennia, changed only by small details. Draped clothes, with very large rolls, gave the impression that it sometimes constituted various clothes. It was in fact haïk, often of very fine muslin. The dress was rather narrow, even constricting, made of white or unbleached fabric for the lower classes, the sleeve starting under the chest in higher classes, and maintained by suspenders tied onto the shoulders. These suspenders were sometimes wide enough to cover both shoulders, and were painting and coloured for various reasons, for instance to imitate a plumage on the wings of Isis.

The clothes of the Royal Family was different, and was well-documented; for instance the crowns of the pharoahs, but that is not what this article is dealing with.

[edit] Cretan Clothing

Like elsewhere, documentation of clothes in the ancient times was well preserved, and were used by priests and priestesses. Wool and flax were used. Spinning and weaving were domestic activities, dyeing was the only process commercialising in keeping with everywhere else in antiquity. Fabrics were embroidered. Crimson was used the most in dyeing, in four different shades.

[edit] Male Dress

Loincloth was practically the only male clothing. Varying from the Egyptians, the shenti varied according to its cut, and was normally arranged like a short skirt or apron, ending in a point sticking out like a tail. It was a primitive piece of clothing; the fabric passed between the legs, and adjusted with a belt, decorated almost certainly with metal. It was worn not only by princes but also working men. Cycladelic clothing, in addition to Cretan, was worn as pants across the continent. A triangular front released the top of the thighs. One could say it was clothing of an athletic population, because of this and the fact that the chest was always naked. It was sometimes covered with a cask, probably ritualistically. However, long clothing was worn for protection against bad weather; a coat of wool later used by the Greeks.

Men had long and flowing hair on the shoulders; however several types of headgear were usual, types of bonnets and turbans, probably of skin. Shoes were in fact boots of skin (probably Chamois) were used only to leave the house where one went barefoot, just as in the sanctuaries and the palates. People studying this matter have noticed the outdoor staircases are worn down considerably, interior ones hardly at all. It's known that later, the Greeks took off their sandals after entering a house - this habit was already in use in Crete. The boots had a slightly raised end, thus indicating an Anatolian origin, similar to those found on the frescoes of Etruria.

[edit] Female Dress

Before -1750 BCE, the loincloth was used by both sexes. The women wore it more like an underskirt than the men by lengthening it. They are often illustrated in statuettes with a large dagger fixed at the belt. It was undoubtedly one of the characteristics of female clothing in the Neolithic era, because one also found traces of it in the peat bogs of Denmark up to the Bronze Age.

From -1750, the lengthened skirt was trimmed and became more like a blouse in appearance. The belt, the long or short coat and a hat supplemented the female outfit. The Cretan female clothing was the first true bent garment in history. Ancient brooches, widespread in the Mediterranean, were used forever.