Ancient Egyptian Clothes

The above photo shows dancing girls wearing patterned garments, from the tomb Qenamun at Thebes. Most of the colored garments depicted, especially before the New Kingdom, are worn by foreigners or servants.

The main purpose of clothes in ancient Egypt was not to cover the body of our ancestors since the ancient Egyptian society  made no  connection between concealing the nudity and morality. In contrary , men, women, children and even gods were often depicted naked with no intention of erotic representation.

In the extreme antiquity, clothes served thus in a practical manner to protect parts of the body against the sun heat or the bitter cold. It was gradually then that clothing became a sign of social distinction, a manifestation of status and even exhibition of wealth. The ancient Egyptians  stayed however along their history, and thanks to the moderate climate of Egypt, content with the simplest pieces of clothes which are wrapped around the body in a practical manner , sewing being limited to the minimum.

The dress of the ancient Egyptian consisted not simply of the clothes they wore but also of elaborate costume jewellery which served to embellish their usually plain garments, wigs and striking cosmetics. Their clothing was simple and did not change a great deal over the millennia, although more elaborate styles did appear during the new kingdom. The universal material was linen, which was light and cool to wear. Wool seems almost never to have been used, possibly because of religious taboos. Garments were draped round the body rather than tailored, and sewing was kept to a minimum. The chief form of decoration was pleating, and from examples of garments which have survived it is clear that a mechanical process was used to put the small, regular pleats into the cloth and that some form of starch or size was used to fix them. The nature of the implement which created the pleats is unknown, but may have consisted of a broad cut in peaks and grooves into which the cloth was pressed.

Coloured or patterned cloth was rarely used. One reason for this is that it is very difficult to fix dyes into linen without a mordant, the use of which was unknown in ancient Egypt. Garments with coloured patterns are depicted in tombs an a few examples have survived, but the technique of their production was not native. IT was developed in the Near East and only brought into Egypt with the introduction of the vertical loom. The use of woven patterned textiles by the Egyptians was never widespread and may have been limited to the royal household.

Let us briefly survey the changing fashions of ancient Egypt up to the New Kingdom, after which there was little change or development. The basic costume for men was a kilt, falling to just above the knee and made of a rectangular piece of linen folded round the body and tied at the waist with a knot or fastened with a buckle. Variations on this simple theme include a squared end, a rounded end, a starched front forming an apron, and pleating. In the Old Kingdom this is the only type of male costume depicted, although a cloak of some sort must have been added for cool whether. Official and ceremonial attire was more complicated. Priests for example wore leopard skins wrapped around their torso and falling over the kilt like an apron. Working men often wore only a twist of linen around their loins or went naked. Children are also frequently depicted naked, as are those indulging in rigorous exercise.

Women wore simple sheath dresses falling from breast to just above the ankle These appear to have been made of rectangle of material sewn down one side, roughly hemmed and with straps attached to the top edge to support the dress. Their extreme figure-hugging style may be put down partly to artistic licence- the desire of the artist to show the form of the body beneath. Examples of dresses which survive from the early period are much more baggy and have sleeves. Indeed, if the dresses were as tight as portrayed, they would have been difficult to put on , let alone walk in.

During the Middle Kingdom pleated clothing became far more common and although men continued to wear the short kilt, a longer, straighter style appeared which was fastened on the chest and fell to the shins. Representations of this type of kilt indicate a series of wide horizontal pleats which may in reality have been fold-marks in the cloth. These maxi-kilts were frequently worn over the top of a short under-kilt. At this time clothing for the upper part of the body is also shown. It consists of a bag-like tunic made simply from a rectangular piece of material seamed on the sides, with holes left for the arms and another hole cut in the center for the head. And enveloping cloak also appears, wrapped round the body, although one shoulder was sometimes left bare. The edges of this garment are frequently fringed. The style of female dress changed little during the Middle Kingdom, although the colors and patterning became popular among working women.