Nov 26, 2012

The Pyramid Costume

Generally the ancient Egyptian Empire is placed in time between 3000 BC and 300 BC.


Given the warm climate of Egypt, the clothing was made of thin materials and with an easy construction. The raw material was flax, a plant which was grown along the Nile. Once harvested, the flax was prepared and woven into linen. In colder periods they used woolen coats and sometimes leather but these materials were considered impure. Along time, their garments were always simple in their construction and cut. The style changed very little in those almost 3000 years. As time passed the major changes occurred only in the quantity of the material used. As the Empire took control, the amount of material used, grow ample.




 





















The clothes had an important social role. The Cast System defined the costumes of the various social groups.  Slaves and children were generally naked; the commoner class wore loin clothes. The kalasiris, a kind of tunic, was worn by every social class above slaves. Basically it is a large piece of fabric made from a rectangle of sheer linen and held up by a girdle or shoulder straps. This varied in length along time. In the Old Kingdom they were short to the knees.



   
  [REF]

Later, in the Middle Kingdom kalasiris gained in length, until it reached calf for men and the ankles for women. The shendyt, a kind of skirt worn around the waist, typically extending to above the knees, didn’t grow in length. It was a garment, which allowed freedom of movement. Shendyts are depicted on pharaohs, deities, and commoners in a variety of situations in various Egyptian artworks.
Rich women wore colored shoulder straps, sometimes studded with precious stones, and even decorative collars, those, who could afford it. Most of the time women’s breasts were covered, but now and then, hanging out was the fashion. The clothes usually were secured by a belt.
Upper class Egyptians frequently wore clothes made from thin, transparent linen. The degree of transparency indicated the wealth and status of the wearer. The same was standing for the amount of colored linen and gemstones used.


 








 [REF] 








The Pharaoh’s royal garment, the royal apron, was most expensive and elegant look. The material was transparent; it came in one piece and with a belt decorated heavily with expensive rocks.






 















Jewelry was worn by women in every social class in form of ear studs, rings and necklaces. The pectoral was a trapezoidal piece of metal, made mostly of gold and plated with gemstones, worn around the neck by nobility. The fillet was wrapped around the head to hold the hair for both sexes.
The pharaoh had some reserved jewelry as the false beard named postiche and the crown. Representing the Lower Egypt was the Red Crown and for the Upper Egypt it was the White Crown.
It was a common tradition amongst Egyptian people to shave their heads. Wigs were an important thing in fashion, worn by both sexes made from wool, vegetable fibers or human hair, depending on the social status of the wearer. Usually they were made straight. They had an important practical function: in the hot climate it could be taken out for cooling, unlike the real hair and also protected from the heat of the sun. Te wealthier one was the more elaborated the wig it was. They adorned the wigs using ribbons, flowers and gemstones.
When actual hair was in fashion women had a bit longer style than men, so they had one more support to braid with jewelry.

 
Both sexes wore makeup. They believed that cosmetics had magical power. As the eye of Horus was a powerful symbol in their religion, people wore green eye paints along the known black, to ward off evil spirits. The green paint was made of malachite. The famous black eyeliner was called kohl. It was a black powder, traditionally made by grinding galena and other ingredients. Actually it was used in South Asia, Middle East and across many other parts of Africa also. In the first period it was used only by queens and noble woman in Egypt as protection against diseases of the eye. It was providing color for the eyelashes, eyelids and eyebrows.
Egyptians used to paint their hand, nail and even their hair with henna.



As footwear they used sandals made of leather, papyrus or palm leaves. Most of the time people walked barefoot and only carried them to have it in case they needed to protect their feet. Only the pharaoh had his sandals always on and everyone in the same room with him had to take them off. It was the highest honor, when the pharaoh gave someone the right to keep his sandals on in his presence.

This article was corrected by Mathe Klara. I hope you enjoyed it! Stay tuned for weekly look and like us on FB!

No comments: