�HANS RAJ MAHILA MAHA VIDHALAYA COLLEGE, JALANDHAR CITY
BACHELOR’S OF DESIGN
SEMESTER – 4
Dr. [Mrs.] RAKHI MEHTA
Head of Design Department
TOPIC – EGYPTION CLOTHING’S
HISTORICAL STUDY OF FASHION $ TEXTILE DESIGNING
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO LEARN?
ORIGIN $ INTRODUCTION OF EGYPTION PERIOD.
Among the great civilizations of the past, Egypt men's the first record of costumes. Pictures of Egyptian life were painted upon the walls of tombs and temples. These ancient records tell us about the costumes of the rich and the poor. Egyptians had a belief that life existed after death. That is why they buried the body with necessary things used during the person’s lifetime. These buried and preserved bodies were called the mammies and, were put away in the pyramids.
BEADED DRESS AND CEREMONIAL DRESS
ELEMENTS OF EGYPTIAN CLOTHING
In ancient Egypt, linen was by far the most common textile. It helped people to be comfortable in the subtropical heat. Linen is made from the flax plant by spinning the fibres from the stem of the plant. Spinning, Weaving and sewing were very important techniques for all Egyptian societies. Plant dyes could be applied to clothing but the clothing was usually left in its natural color. Wool was known, but considered impure. Only the wealthy wore animal fibers that were the object of taboos. They were used on occasion for overcoats, but were forbidden in temples and sanctuaries.
Peasants, workers and other people of modest condition often wore nothing, but the shenti (made of flax) was worn by all people. Slaves often worked naked.
Unique headdresses included the khat, a loose headcloth worn by men of noble rank, and the nemes, a striped cloth reserved for monarchs.
COSTUMES OF EGYPTION PERIOD
In the earliest periods, they wore no clothes and the upper class wore very little clothes. Gradually clothing became general, with lion cloth as the dress of the peasants and, a skirt or an apron adopted by the upper class. Egyptians lived near river Nile, and became divided into two groups. They generally had a common king. However, at times there were two kings too. The king of the upper Egypt used to have a white colored crown and the king of lower Egypt had a red coloured crown. If there was a common king, the crown had both the colours.
The dress which was worn during this period was very simple. It consisted of rectangular pieces which were held together by a belt. Egyptians were very religious people.
The lower class people used to wear triangular piece of fabric on their lions. The triangular piece was known as schenti. For the king, the schenti could be embroided or otherwise decorative. Over it, the king would wear a transparent skirt, called Kalasiris. It had embroidered borders. Sometimes, a number of skirts were worn together. The outer skirt was higher than the lower skirt to show off the embroidery the lower Kalasiris.
COSTUMES OF LOWER CLASS
COSTUMES OF HIGHER CLASS
Men of higher class wore a short simple skirt. The skirt was usually a straight piece of white material, wrapped about the body from right to left so that the edge came in middle of the front. The skirt later became longer and wider, reaching upto the ankles. Later a second skirt was worn under the first. Outer skirt shortened in the front and lengthened at the back Gradually the underskirt became full and plaite and the upper one evolved into a strip or a sash of linen folded about the hips and tied in front. The manner of adjusting the sash varied.
COSTUMES FOR FESTIVE OCCASIONS
For festive occasions, the great lords of Egypt wore short skirts with trimmings of gold and golden clasp at the girdle. With the eighteenth dynasty there were many changes in dress. Coarser materials gave way to finer, and cotton and linen began to be extensively used. The value of dyes seems to have been well known by then. This period witnessed an entrance of a new fashion with covering of upper part of the body and adopting a short skirt as an article of dress. These skirts were usually open on the right hand sides and the arm passed through a short sleeve on the left. This garment gradually evolved into a robe with short sleeves which covered the entire figure.
COSTUMES OF 19TH AND 20TH DYNASTIES
During the nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, wearing of a long mantle became fashionable. This was draped under one arm and over the other; sometimes over both shoulders and fastened in front over the breast. Later, mantle became short mantilla edged with a fringe.
HAIRS OF MEN $ WOMEN
The women of Egypt kept the hair short and men shaved their head. Wigs were worn to keep the head cool, serving the same purpose as a modern turban. The women of eighteenth dynasty got away from the stiff conventional form of the past and adopted a more graceful natural arrangement of hair falling in soft curls without concealing the contour of the head. Later the women of twentieth dynasty allowed her wig to fall in a heavy mass over each shoulder to the waist. From the most primitive times, the beard was regarded as a badge of manly dignity. In order to command respect, the dignitaries of the country appeared with artificial beards fastened beneath the chin. Members from the royal family wore a covering for the head which was symbolic of office and rank. Besides the royal headdresses, wreathes, coloured ribbons, lotus flowers were often twined round the hair.
WIGS
Wigs were worn by the wealthy of both sexes. Made from human hair and sometimes supplemented with date palm fiber, they were often styled in tight curls and narrow braids. For special occasions, both men and women could top their wigs with cones of perfumed fat that would melt to release their fragrance and condition the hair
JEWELLERY $ ORNAMENTS
The Egyptian women, as women of other civilizations had her jewels and ornaments, especially earrings, armlets, ankle-rings. Both men and women wore coloured embroidery necklaces, bracelets for the upper and lower arm, and ankles of the same material. The influence of ancient Egypt is recognized in the costumes of modern designers. Her contribution in design and ornament has lived through the centuries, and continues to be the inspiration of ever new arrangements and combinations that still hold the interest of humanity.
MAKE UP
Makeup was an important part of Egyptian fashion. Both men and women wore makeup. They used a heavy black eye paint called “Kohl” to decorate their eyes and covered their skin with creams and oils. The makeup did more than make them look good.
FOOTWEAR
Both men and women wore sandals made of papyrus. Sandals made of vegetable fibers or leather were a common type of footwear. Nevertheless, men and women, including the wealthy, were frequently portrayed barefoot.
EGYPTION CLOTHINGS REFERENCES IN TODAY’S FASHION
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