Egyptian Fashion in the Ancient Times

Egyptians valued family life. They treasured their children and regarded them as a blessing. In the lower class families, it was the mother who took care of the children. The upper classes had servants and slaves to look after the children and help around in the house.

Clothing was not much of practical need. It was more of a luxurious item. The more the people went up the social scale, more the clothing and jewelry they wore. Even so, the drapery of the clothing was light and was designed to accentuate the body shape, rather than conceal it. 

The most elaborate clothing was worn by the Pharaohs and their queens as a symbol of power. Jewelry was a very prominent costume focus. It was worn by both the sexes.

The Aristocratic Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs, instead of growing out natural hair. They eye makeup done during that time was by applying kohl. Both the men and women applied it. Perfumes and body oils were also used. 

 

Linen textile scraps still remain to indicate the fact they might have been using fine linens. The linen pleated garments were usually depicted were straight pieces and gave a body hugging stretch and wrapped around in various ways or tucked. The Egyptian artists were very good at showing proper human body proportions. Men were showed having muscular arms nd legs and had broad shoulders with slim bodies while the women had smaller waists, flat stomachs and rounded busts. Beadwork is shown through their art work and intricate weaves were also very common. 

The men wore knee-length skirts. It was usually made of loincloths, kilts made of linen. Even leather loincloth was seen. The garments were seen having decorations with gold threads and beadwork that was colourful. 

There were different types of clothing. A coat was made to cover the body from the hips to the abdomen, supported by a band passing over from one shoulder. This was the Kalasiris. There were many types of this particular garment. Some form of the kalasaris did not have a sleeve but some also had short sleeves or long and fairly wide sleeves. This garment also had width variations. The sewn type of kalasaris was short and it resembles a woman’s petticoat. The width of the material determined the length. Therefore it only has one seam. The folds were distributed at equal distances from the body. At times, it was also worn in an apron manner and because of that, it did not require any sewing it. The other type of kalasaris was the one that covered the whole body up to the neck and was made from a rectangular piece of material which was longer (as much as twice) that the garment. The sides were then sewn together. Later, came the sleeved kalasaris. The sleeves were either cut separately and sewn. Or there would be a slight change in the garment itself. 

 

 Other than the kalasaris, there were capes too. It was worn by both the sexes. The earliest version was used as a daily wear, had a circular shape. It was made out of linen painted in diverse colours.

Another style of the cape was made out of transparent materials. It fell from the shoulders till the elbows or a little above them. This cape would either be rectangular or circular in shape with a hole in the centre for the head to pass through. The rectangular one had stripes forming the cape and was laid over the shoulders, gathering on the breast and held by a clasp so that the ends would hang down loosely. The most important style of or element in clothing was draping. Each person had their own style of clothing and putting on garments the resembled each other in the way they were cut and styled.

 We still follow some forms and elements of Egyptian fashion in our daily wear as well. They left us with styles that are unique and increase the level beauty even today.