Ancient Egypt: Part 1

 

Ancient Egypt

Let's start with a great ancient kingdom: Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs (3100 B.C - 31 B.C.).Situated in Northeast Africa, this civilisation grew along the Nile River and it is best known for the construction of the Pyramids of Giza (which weren't built by slaves btw), the mummification process carried out after someone's death, hieroglyphics or royal figures like Nefertiti, Cleopatra or Tutankhamun.

FASHION: COSTUMES

Fashion always meets the place's needs where it's developed. Therefore, as Egyptians lived in a territory surrounded by the desert, they fabricated light clothing to deal with the hot climate.

Clothing was made out of white linen, which was obtained from flax, a plant that grew near the river's shore. Besides, people were often bare chested.

MEN

At first, working men wore loincloths, but then appeared the shenti, a type of skirt that was tied around the waist with a belt.  

 

Tomb of Ramesses I. Both gods and pharaoh are wearing the traditional shenti

WOMEN

Women put on a dress that came up to beneath the cheast, with one or two straps or none at all. Its name was kalasiris. As time went by, it seems the kalasiris turned into the combination of wide skirts and shawls. These ones covered the upper body and were tied in a knot, creating some type of sleeves.

Also, there were garments made of beads often reserved for the rich as common people couldn't usually afford them.

.

            Queen Nefertari (shawl and skirt) and the goddess Hathor (beaded dress)

 

Around the 1500 B.C, a new attire for both men and women was introduced because of Syrian influence: tunics.  These could be folded in many ways, creating different designs.

                        

Evolution of Egyptian clothing

Egyptians rearly used footwear, only sandals on special occassions. The wealthy classes' ones were

made of leather whereas the rest of social classes were of fibres (papyrus, palm tree). The pharaoh's

would also be of precious metals (e.g. gold).