Fashion of the Ancient Era
Curious about those back in the day and what they considered to be fashion? How about the ancient times? The people of Ancient Egypt had a very simple, but distinct way of dressing and expressing themselves. Being an agricultural society, Egyptians used linen made from flax to create light pieces of clothing. Flax grew along the Nile River, allowing easy access to the plant for all citizens.
Fashion in Ancient Egypt depended on gender and the amount of wealth a person had obtained. Men mainly wore skirts tied with a belt and some chose to wear materials on their legs. The length of the man’s skirt changed over the times, originally being short in the Old Kingdom and then became calf-length in the Middle Kingdom. As the New Kingdom approached, pleated skirts were considered high in fashion. Women chose to wear full length dresses with either one or two shoulder straps. Like the men of the New Kingdom, pleated or draped dresses became more popular and frequently worn. If a man or woman was rich, their skirts or dresses were made from fine, transparent linen. Wearing jewelry, headdresses, and decorated clothing also indicated that a man or woman was wealthy in Ancient Egypt.
In addition to clothing, jewelry and makeup played a large role in ancient fashion. The people of Ancient Egypt believed jewelry would make them more appealing to the Gods. Only those that were rich could afford pieces made from gold or precious stones, while the ordinary citizen could only buy pieces made of colored pottery beads. Both women and men wore makeup in the ancient kingdom, using powdered minerals to color their eyelids and black kohl eyeliner to line eyes, darken eyelashes, and color in eyebrows. Yes, even people in 2000 BCE wore makeup!
Fashion in Ancient Egypt depended on gender and the amount of wealth a person had obtained. Men mainly wore skirts tied with a belt and some chose to wear materials on their legs. The length of the man’s skirt changed over the times, originally being short in the Old Kingdom and then became calf-length in the Middle Kingdom. As the New Kingdom approached, pleated skirts were considered high in fashion. Women chose to wear full length dresses with either one or two shoulder straps. Like the men of the New Kingdom, pleated or draped dresses became more popular and frequently worn. If a man or woman was rich, their skirts or dresses were made from fine, transparent linen. Wearing jewelry, headdresses, and decorated clothing also indicated that a man or woman was wealthy in Ancient Egypt.
In addition to clothing, jewelry and makeup played a large role in ancient fashion. The people of Ancient Egypt believed jewelry would make them more appealing to the Gods. Only those that were rich could afford pieces made from gold or precious stones, while the ordinary citizen could only buy pieces made of colored pottery beads. Both women and men wore makeup in the ancient kingdom, using powdered minerals to color their eyelids and black kohl eyeliner to line eyes, darken eyelashes, and color in eyebrows. Yes, even people in 2000 BCE wore makeup!
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| A woman applying makeup in Ancient Egypt. |
In the next post, we will fast forward to 20th century fashion in Egypt. Until next time!
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| Examples of female and male dress in Ancient Egypt. |
Source:
History On The Net. "Egyptian Clothing: Pharaohs to Commoners." History on the
Net. Last modified 2016. Accessed February 16, 2019.
https://www.historyonthenet.com/egyptian-clothing.
Net. Last modified 2016. Accessed February 16, 2019.
https://www.historyonthenet.com/egyptian-clothing.
I like how you included ancient mens dress into your blog post because generally when I think about fashion its generally more reflective of women's styles. The information about makeup and jewelry was also interesting. I didn't know that Egyptians thought jewelry would make them more appealing to the Gods. The makeup facts were interesting because my image of ancient Egyptian art always included the dramatic eye makeup but, its cool to think about it as fashion statement.
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ReplyDeleteThis blog post does a great job in examining the fashion of ancient Egypt, which was particularly interesting because it highlights what people in Egypt wore back in the day in order to live comfortably and suitably within their environment. It was interesting to diverge from modern clothing pieces, and look at what the women and men wore in ancient times and see the resemblance in some of the modern clothing worn today. I thought it was interesting how you included the notion that Egypt was an agrarian society, and therefore they grew their own flax and made their own linen from plants along the Nile River. This gave me an incredible amount of insight into how Egyptians used the resources that they had around them in order to create clothing for themselves. Apart from clothing, the blog post also incorporated makeup and jewelry, which was a very interesting segment in the post. It showed how hierarchal status could be determined by the clothing and jewelry one wore, and therefore, Egyptians with more money tended to wear more expensive and precious stones and jewels, as they believed it would make them more pleasing to the Gods. Altogether, this blog post did a great job in examining how individuals from an era centuries ago were able to use the resources around them to create fashion pieces that still remain prominent within their culture.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love the way you made your blog so inviting and like a real blog. The very first sentence made me want to read to rest. The structure of this post is easy to follow and each paragraph adds something to the others in a way that brings everything together. I think the way you introduced what they made and the material followed by a more in-depth analysis of the relationship between fashion, gender, and status connects your post to our class really well. Branching out to other topics like jewelry and makeup also showed your performed thorough research. The images you provided offered a clear example of what you discussed. The connections in your blog to our class, gender, and even other topics within the realm of fashion made your blog insightful and fun to read.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot reading it. I think it's really interesting how styles that tend to be more feminine in our society today were worn by both men and women. You mention that both men and women wore skirts, jewelry and even makeup. It was interesting that there was a class distinction by the type of jewelry and how different classes wore different types of beads. I think it’s interesting how you mentioned how the climate and religion both affected how the ancient Egyptians dressed. You tied everything together and even ended with some cool facts about the makeup of the ancient Egyptians. The makeup you mentioned seemed similar to the makeup of today which is interesting to see how modern makeup relates to the past. Great post!
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