"Tut-mania": Ancient Egypt's Influence on the Roaring 20s
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| King Tut's Tomb being examined by Howard Carter. |
Ancient Egyptian fashion was not left in the dust. When archaeologist Howard Carter went to the Valley of Kings in Luxor, he discovered something amazing. The tomb of Tutankhamun, or “King Tut.” Because it was the 1920s and the world was stirring after the first world war, this discovery brought great attention. Tourists from all over wanted to visit Egypt to see the tomb, turning the country into a cosmopolitan hub. The young king had finally be found after 3,000 years.
All of this attention and new love for Egyptian culture caused people from all over the world to incorporate Ancient Egypt into their lives. It was “Tut-mania.” Consumer fashion and makeup companies aimed towards women internationally, as they were the considered the world’s first connoisseurs of makeup and beauty products during Tut’s rule. Products such as soap, eye shadow, and lipstick were associated with Ancient Egypt and consumers were immediately attracted. If you recall from my first post, or if you are new to the blog, I mentioned how makeup played a large role in the lives of both men and women back in the ancient kingdom. Believe it or not, these types of “traditional” products made a comeback in the 1920s. Women’s dress in the 1920s also reflected some of the Ancient Egyptian style. Dresses had lotus patterns and rich colors representing ancient paintings. Women also prefer to wear long dresses and mimic the draped look from the ancient times. Another clothing piece that appeared during “Tut-mania” was the headpiece, which was embellished with stones and jewels and became a major fashion statement.
Come back for more when we fast forward to modern fashion and fashion week in Egypt!
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| Woman dressed in a draped, beaded dress in the 1920s |
Sources:
Munger, Sean. "When Egypt Was Cool: The 'Tutmania' Craze of the 1920s." Seanmunger.com.
Last modified March 17, 2014. Accessed March 1, 2019.
https://seanmunger.com/2014/03/17when-egypt-was-cool-the-tutmania-craze-of-the-1920s/.
Elitigani, Nour. "Lost in Time: Egyptian Photographer Captures Egypt's 1920s Fashion."
Egyptian Streets. Last modified October 15, 2018. Accessed March 1, 2019. https://egyptianstreets.com/2018/10/15/lost-in-time-egypts-fashion-documents-its-history/.
I find it really interesting how the West can once be so enamoured with Middle Eastern/North African clothing, fashion, motifs, or styles but then turn around an vilify the other half of the population. It's a strang dichotomy. In Egypt, there's the traditional, ancient Egyptian fashion, but there's also the Muslim population with their own traditional clothing. In the 20s, Western women were trying their hardest to remain trendy with Egyptian beauty practices. But the country is a majority Muslim meaning a large aspect of their culture is wearing traditional hijab or other head coverings. More than likely, Egyptian women wear what Afghan women do, frequently adorning hijabs. After the extreme influence of the Taliban, many Afghan women still wear burqas. However, Western society sees these Muslim women and their hijabs and burqas as dangerous entities. Despite disliking one aspect of Muslim society, they still glorify other aspects of it. This is still happening in 2019. If any American walks into a Halloween store, many Cleopatra or "Egyptian" costumes will be scattered up and down the aisle. Westerners have a double-edged, hypocritical sword, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see how large of an impact the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb had on the rest of the world, not just in a historical sense but for culture and fashion as well. The discovery was certainly impressive, as a long lost king had been found after 3,000 years, but I had no idea how significantly it affected makeup, beauty products, and fashion. The styles of the 1920s, like long patterned dresses and bejeweled headpieces, are iconic and easily recognizable, but knowing the history behind them explains why they took the spotlight in fashion at the time. I really enjoyed reading this post!
ReplyDeleteWow! I find this so interesting because archaeology is not something I usually associate with fashion in any way, so it's very cool to see an intertwinement of these two very different fields. It's also interesting to see how one thing that may seem so distinct to one culture or location can have such a widespread influence. I also love your writing style, as it is both conversational and friendly, but also has a quality of storytelling to it, making it all the more interesting to the reader. Great post!!!
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