The
clothing used in the ancient world strongly reflects the technologies that these peoples mastered. Archaeology plays a significant role in documenting this aspect of ancient life, for fabric fibres, and leathers sometimes are well-preserved through time. In many cultures the clothing worn was indicative to the social status achieved by various members of their society.
Ancient Egyptian clothing
In
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
,
flaxFlax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. This is called as Agasi/Akshi in Kannada, Jawas/Javas or Alashi in Marathi...
was the
textileA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
in almost exclusive use.
WoolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
was known, but considered impure as animal fibres were considered taboo, and could only be used for
coatCoat can refer to any one of the following: *Coat , an article of clothing for humans.*Coat , the fur coat of an animal.*Coat of arms, a heraldic design used to identify a nation, city, family, or individual....
s (they were forbidden in temples and sanctuaries). People of lower class wore only the
loinclothA loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...
(or
shenti) that was common to all. Shoes were the same for both sexes; sandals braided with
leatherLeather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable and versatile material....
, or, particularly for the bureaucratic and priestly classes,
papyrusPapyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
. The most common headgear was the
klafta striped fabric square worn by men.
Certain clothing was common to both sexes such as the
tunicA tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, without sleeves of any kind, and of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
and the
robeA robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. A robe is distinguished from a cape or cloak by the fact that it usually has sleeves. The English word robe is borrowed from French...
. Around 1425 to 1405 BCE, a light tunic or short-sleeved shirt was popular, as well as a pleated skirt.
Clothing for adult women remained unchanged over several millennia, save for small details. Draped clothes, with very large rolls, gave the impression of wearing several items. It was in fact a
haïk, often of very fine
muslinMuslin is a type of finely-woven cotton fabric, introduced to Europe from the Middle East in the 17th century. It became very popular at the end of the 18th century in France. Muslin is most typically a closely-woven unbleached or white cloth, produced from corded cotton yarn. Wide muslin is called...
. 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 held up by
suspendersSuspenders or braces are fabric or leather straps worn over the shoulders to hold up trousers. Straps may be elasticated, either entirely or only at attachment ends and most straps are of woven cloth forming an X or Y shape at the back. Braces are typically attached to trousers with buttons using...
tied onto the shoulders. These suspenders sometimes were wide enough to cover the breasts and were painted and colored for various reasons, for instance to imitate the plumage on the wings of
IsisIsis was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshiped as the ideal mother, wife, patron of nature and magic. She was the friend of slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, as well as listening to the prayers of the...
.
Clothing of the royal family was different, and was well-documented; for instance the crowns of the pharaohs
(see links below), the
nemes----The nemes was the striped headcloth worn by pharaohs in ancient Egypt. It covered the whole crown and back of the head and nape of the neck and had two large flaps which hung down behind the ears and in front of both shoulders...
head dress, and the khat or head cloth worn by nobility.
Perfume and cosmetics
The practice of the embalming made it possible to develop cosmetic products and perfumery very early. Perfumes in Egypt were scented oils that were very expensive. In
antiquityAncient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history in the Old World until the Early Middle Ages in Europe and the Qin Dynasty in China....
, people made great use of it. The Egyptians used make-up much more than anyone else at the time.
KohlKohl is a mixture of soot and other ingredients used predominantly by women in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa and South Asia to darken the eyelids and as mascara for the eyelashes...
, used as eyeliner, eventually was obtained as a substitute for
galenaGalena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
or lead oxide that had been used for centuries. Eye shadow was made of crushed
malachiteMalachite is a carbonate mineral normally known as "copper carbonate" with the formula CuCO
3.Cu
2. This green-colored mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses. Individual crystals are rare but do...
, and lipstick of
ochreOchre or Ocher is term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as Red ochre. The more rarely used terms Purple ochre and Brown ochre also exist for variant hues...
. Substances used in some of the cosmetics were toxic and had adverse health effects with prolonged use. Beauty products generally were mixed with animal fats in order to make them more compact, more easily handled and to preserve them. Nails and hands also were painted, with
hennaHenna or Hina is a flowering plant, the sole species in the genus Lawsonia in the family Lythraceae. The word "henna" comes from the Arabic name for the plant, pronounced /ħinnaːʔ/ or colloquially /ħinna/....
. Only the lower class had tattoos. It also was fashionable at parties for men and women to wear a perfumed cone on top of their heads. The cone usually was made of ox tallow and
myrrhMyrrh is a reddish-brown resinous material, the dried sap of a number of trees, but primarily from Commiphora myrrha, which is native to Yemen, Somalia, the eastern parts of Ethiopia, and Commiphora gileadensis, which is native to Jordan...
and as time passed, melted and released a pleasant
perfumePerfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces a "pleasant" smell.-History:...
. When the cone melted it was replaced with a new one
(see the image above with the musician and dancers).
Wigs
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. Heads were shaven; the Egyptians are the only people of antiquity to have practiced depilation systematically, perhaps to avoid lice. Usually children were represented with one lock of hair remaining on the sides of their heads (
see the image to the right).
Ornaments
Wigs contained ornamental decorations. A peculiar ornament which the Egyptians created was
gorgerin, an assembly of metal discs which rested on the chest skin or a short-sleeved shirt, and tied at the back. Some of the lower class people of this time also created many different types of piercings and body decorations; some of which even included genital piercings, commonly found on women prostitutes of the time.
Jewelry
Jewels were heavy and rather bulky, which would indicate an Asian influence. The lower classes wore small and simple glassware; bracelets also were heavy. The most popular stones used were
Lapis LazuliLapis lazuli is a relatively rare, semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
,
carnelianCarnelian is a reddish-brown mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker...
, and
turquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl
648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its...
. They wore a large disk as a necklace, sometimes described as an aegis.
GoldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits. Gold is...
was plentiful in
NubiaNubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan. Most of Nubia is situated in Sudan with about a quarter of its territory in Egypt...
and imported for jewelry and other decorative arts.
Ancient Minoan clothing
As elsewhere, Cretan clothes in the ancient times were well documented in their artwork where many items worn by priestesses and priests seem to reflect the clothing of most. Wool and flax were used.
SpinningSpinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic fibers are twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of years, fiber was spun by hand using simple tools, the spindle and distaff...
and
weavingWeaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth...
were domestic activities, dyeing was the only commercial process in keeping with everywhere else in antiquity. Fabrics were embroidered.
CrimsonCrimson is a strong, bright, deep red color combined with some blue, resulting in a tiny degree of purple. It is originally the color of the dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now also used for slightly bluish-red colors in general that are between red and...
was used the most in dyeing, in four different shades.
Female Minoan dress
Early in the culture, the
loinclothA loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...
was used by both sexes. The women of
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
wore the garment more as an underskirt than the men, by lengthening it. They often are illustrated in statuettes with a large dagger fixed at the belt. Undoubtedly providing for personal safety was 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 AgeThe Bronze Age of a culture is the period when the most advanced metalworking in that culture utilised bronze. This could either have been based on the local smelting of copper and tin from ores, or trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere...
.
From 1750 B.C., the long skirt was trimmed and began to resemble the blouse in appearance. The belt, a long or short coat and a hat supplemented the female outfit. The Cretan clothing for women was the first true
bent garment in history. Ancient brooches, widespread in the Mediterranean, were used throughout the period.
Dresses also were long and low-necked such as that of the nineteenth century. They were so low that the bodice was open almost all the way to the waist.
Male Minoan dress
Practically all men wore was a loincloth. Unlike the Egyptians, the
shanti varied according to its cut and normally was arranged as a short skirt or apron, ending in a point sticking out similar to a tail. The fabric passed between the legs, adjusted with a belt, and almost certainly, was decorated with metal. It was worn by all men in the society.
In addition to Cretan styles,
CycladelicThe Cyclades are a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and an administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
clothing 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 always was naked. It was sometimes covered with a cask, probably ritualistically. However, long clothing was worn for protection against bad weather and eventually a coat of wool was used by the Greeks.
Men had long hair flowing to the shoulders; however several types of headgear were usual, types of
bonnetBonnet may refer to:Headgear* Bonnet * Feather bonnet, worn by Scottish regiments* Glengarry, type of cap also called a Glengarry bonnet* Tam o'shanter , distinctive Scottish bonnet...
s and
turbanThe turban is a headdress consisting of a long scarf-like single piece of cloth wound around the head. The word "turban" is a common umbrella term, loosely used in English to refer to several sorts of headwear....
s, probably of skin. Shoes were boots of skin, probably of
ChamoisThe chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra, is a goat-antelope species native to mountains in Europe, including the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, the European Alps, the Gran Sasso region of the central Italian Apennines, the Tatra Mountains, the Balkans, parts of Turkey, and the Caucasus. The chamois has...
), and were used only to leave the house, where one went barefoot, just as in the sanctuaries and the palaces. 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 already was in use in Crete. The boots had a slightly raised end, thus indicating an
AnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic region of Western Asia, comprising most of the modern Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Caucasus to the northeast, the Iranian plateau to the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west...
n origin, similar to those found on the frescoes of
EtruriaEtruria — usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia — was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...
Ancient Greek clothing
Ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
is famous for its philosophy, art, literature, and politics. As a result, classical period Greek style in dress often has been revived when later societies wished to evoke some revered aspect of ancient Greek civilization, such as democratic government. A Greek style in dress became fashionable in France shortly after the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
(1789-1799), because the style was thought to express the democratic ideals for which that revolution was fought, no matter how incorrect the understanding of the historical reality was.
Clothing reformers later in the nineteenth century admired ancient Grecian dress because they thought it represented timeless beauty, the opposite of complicated and rapidly changing fashions of their time, as well as the more practical reasoning that Grecian-style dresses required far less cloth than those of the Rococo period.
Ancient Greek clothing consisted of lengths of linen or wool fabric, which generally was rectangular and secured with a sash and a fibula, an ornamental clasp or pin. Typical of such garments were the
peplosA peplos is a body-length Greek garment worn by women in the years before 500 BC. The peplos is a tubular cloth, essentially, folded inside-out from the top about halfway down, so that what was the top of the tube is now at the waist and the bottom of the tube is about ankle-length. The garment is...
, a loose garment worn by women; the
chlamysThe chlamys was an ancient Greek piece of clothing, namely a cloak. The chlamys was typically worn by Greek soldiers from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC. Originally it was wrapped around the waist like a loincloth, but by the end of the 5th century BC it was worn over the elbows...
, a cloak worn by men; and the
chitonA chiton was a form of clothing worn by men and women in Ancient Greece, from the Archaic period to the Hellenistic period . There are two forms of chiton, the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton. The "Doric" style was simpler and had no "sleeves," being simply pinned, sewn, or buttoned at...
, a tunic worn by both genders and all ages. Often the chiton is shown as pleated. Men’s chitons hung to the knees, whereas women’s chitons fell to their ankles.
AmazonsThe Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
were depicted with their right breast bared so that the garment did not interfere with the weapons they wielded.
The basic outer garment during winter was the
himationA himation was a type of clothing in ancient Greece. It was usually worn over a chiton, but was made of heavier drape and played the role of a cloak.The himation was markedly less voluminous than the Roman toga....
, a larger cloak worn over the peplos or chlamys. The chiton was a simple garment, but the peplos was more distinctively Greek, with its shoulder clasps. The himation has been most influential perhaps on later fashion. Women dressed similarly in most areas of ancient Greece although in some regions, they also wore a loose veil as well at public events and market.
During Classical times in Greece, male nudity received a religious sanction following profound changes in the culture. After that time, male athletes participated in ritualized athletic competitions such as the classical version of the
ancient Olympic GamesThe Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions held for representatives of various city-states of Ancient Greece. Records indicate that they began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece. They were celebrated until 393 AD. The Games were usually held every four years, or olympiad, as...
, in the nude as women became barred from the competition except as the owners of racing chariots. Their ancient events were discontinued, one of which (a footrace for women) had been the sole original competition. Myths relate that after this prohibition, a woman was discovered to have won the competition while wearing the clothing of a man—instituting the policy of nudity among the competitors that prevented such embarrassment again.
Ancient Italian clothing
The clothing of ancient Italy, like that of ancient Greece, is well known from art, literature & archaeology. Although aspects of Roman clothing have had an enormous appeal to the Western imagination, the dress and customs of the
Etruscan civilizationEtruscan civilization is the modern English name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica, residing between the Apennines and the River Tiber, whom the ancient Romans called Etrusci or Tusci...
that inhabited Italy before the Romans are less well imitated (
see the image to the right), but the resemblance in their clothing may be noted. The Etruscan culture is dated from 1200 BC through the first two phases of the Roman periods. At its maximum extent during the foundation period of Rome and the Roman kingdom, it flourished in three confederacies of cities: of Etruria, of the Po valley with the eastern Alps, and of Latium and Campania. Rome was sited in Etruscan territory. There is considerable evidence that early Rome was dominated by Etruscans until the Romans sacked
VeiiVeii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...
in 396 BC.
Toga and tunics
Probably the most significant item in the ancient Roman wardrobe was the
togaThe toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps twenty feet in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was invariably made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen...
, a one-piece woolen garment that draped loosely around the shoulders and down the body. Historians believe that originally the toga was worn by all Romans during the combined centuries of the
Roman monarchyThe Roman Kingdom was the monarchical government of the city of Rome and its territories. Little is certain about the history of the Roman Kingdom, as no written records from that time survive, and the histories about it were written during the Republic and Empire and are largely based on legend...
and its successor, the
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
. At this time it is thought that the toga was worn without undergarments.
By the second century BC, however, it was worn over a
tunicA tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, without sleeves of any kind, and of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
, and the tunic became the basic item of dress for both men and women. Women wore an outer garment known as a
stolaThe stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. In ancient Rome, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to wear a toga; wearing the male garment was associated with prostitution....
, which was a long pleated dress similar to the Greek chiton.
Although togas are now thought of as the only clothing worn in ancient Italy, in fact, many other styles of clothing were worn and also are familiar in images seen in artwork from the period. Garments could be quite specialized, for instance, for warfare, specific occupations, or for sports.
The ancient Roman women pictured to the right are engaging in exercise, games, and competitions. Their garments are adapted to the freedom of movement needed, remarkable to some as resembling very modern styles for the same activities.
Girls and boys under the age of puberty sometimes wore a special kind of toga with a reddish-purple band on the lower edge, called the
toga praetexta. This toga also was worn by magistrates and high priests as an indication of their status. The
toga candida, an especially whitened toga, was worn by political candidates. Prostitutes wore the
toga muliebris, rather than the tunics worn by most women. The
toga pulla was dark-colored and worn for mourning, while the
toga purpurea, of purple-dyed wool, was worn in times of triumph and by the Roman emperor.
Togas could be wrapped in different ways, and they became larger and more voluminous over the centuries. Some innovations were purely fashionable. Because it was not easy to wear a toga without tripping over it or trailing drapery, some variations in wrapping served a practical function. Other styles were required, for instance, for covering the head during ceremonies.
After the transition of the Roman Republic into the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
in c. 44 BC, only men who were citizens of Rome wore the toga. Women, slaves, foreigners, and others who were not citizens of empirical Rome wore tunics and were forbidden from wearing the toga. By the same token, Roman citizens were required to wear the toga when conducting official business. Over time, the toga evolved from a national to a ceremonial costume. Different types of togas indicated age, profession, and social rank.
Roman writer
SenecaLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
criticized men who wore their togas too loosely or carelessly. He also criticized men who wore what were considered feminine or outrageous styles, including togas that were slightly transparent.
The late toga of adult citizens, the toga virilis, was made of plain white wool and worn after the age of fourteen. A woman convicted of adultery might be forced to wear a toga as a
badge of shameA badge of shame, also a symbol of shame, mark of shame, or simply a stigma, is typically a distinctive symbol required to be worn by a specific group or an individual for the purpose of public humiliation or persecution...
and curiously, as a symbol of the loss of her female identity.
The ancient Romans were aware that their clothing differed from that of other peoples. In particular, they noted the long
trousersFor the TrouSerS implementation of the TCG Software Stack, see Trusted Computing Group.Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
worn by people they considered barbarians from the north, including the Germanic Franks and Goths. The figures depicted on ancient Roman armored breastplates often include barbarian warriors in shirts and trousers.
Symbolism and influence
Roman clothing took on symbolic meaning for later generations. Roman armour, particularly the
cuirassCuirass , the plate armour, is formed of a single piece of metal or other rigid material or composed of two or more pieces, which covers the front of the wearer's person...
(breastplate), has symbolized amazing power. In Europe during the Renaissance (fifteenth and sixteenth centuries), painters and sculptors sometimes depicted rulers wearing pseudo-Roman military attire, including the cuirass, military cloak, and sandals.
Later, during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, an effort was made to dress officials in uniforms based on the Roman toga, to symbolize the importance of citizenship to a republic. Adopted by the rank and file revolutionaries, the eighteenth-century
liberty capThe Phrygian cap is a soft, red, conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia...
, a brimless, limp cap fitting snugly around the head, was based on a bonnet worn by freed slaves in ancient Rome, the
Phrygian capThe Phrygian cap is a soft, red, conical cap with the top pulled forward, worn in antiquity by the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia...
.
The modern Western bride also has inherited elements from ancient Roman wedding attire, such as the bridal veil and the
wedding ringA wedding ring or wedding band consists of a metal ring. In certain countries it is worn on the base of the left ring finger. In other parts of the world, it is worn on the right ring finger ....
.
Sources