The History Of Fashion

DECLARATION I, Anvaya Namjoshi from FYS-Section-E hereby declare that all digital and written work appearing in this book as part of my Imaging course 15th week submission under the academic guidance of my course faculty is my own and all sources of knowledge used have been duly acknowledged. I will be solely responsible for any irregularity found with respect to non-adherence of academic integrity as per ISDI School of Design and Innovation’s standards and requirements.

CONTENTS

SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION 4000 BC- 1900 BC EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION 3000 BC- 550 BC GREEK CIVILIZATION 1200BC- 323 BC ROMAN CIVILIZATION 753 BC - 1453 AD





Daily Costume The costume of the most ancient Pre- Aryan Civilization of the middle east were, in their purest forn, the same same as those of Sumer ; This form was very widespread before the third millenium and was no doubt worn from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. De- signed to cover the hips, it was generally made of skins and pelts, then of pieces of woolen material cut and roughly assembled by means of a few seams. The long shawl represents one of the most ancient pieces of Sumerian costumes. At the beginning of the third millenium, ordinary people swatched a coarse, fringed shawl, nar- rower than the Indian original, round their hios either leaving its full width to form a skirt or folding it in half sometimes. The same shawl could be rolled and wrapped around the body, with the end thrown over the left shoulder. Costumes made no clear distinction between the sexes except in the detail of the arrangement. Plain and tasseled fringe appear from the twenty-second century BC, embroidery a little later; but both decorative devices are used until the end of the Persian period. PG NO 5



Helmet of a commander with copper; Paris,Louvre In Mesopotamia, fashion didn’t need to change for 5,000 years. The Sumerian warriors wore raw caps or else copper helmets protecting the ears and the nape of the neck, sometimes fitted with chin- straps. Copper was used for its aesthetic qualities.

PG NO 8 Battle Costumes In Sumer, there were no specific military costumes, but certain characteristics in warriors which mark one of the first instances of specialization by a group. The warriors, perhaps semites are never clad in the kanaukes skirt, but wear a more or less long fringed gown, leaving the right arm free, with a thick knot at the back. This tunic gown is completely eveloping the body, falling upto the calf; at other times it is split and stops at knee level. A wide band of leather which is nailed, protects the chest and back. It is thrown over the left shoulder and reaches down the back.

The skins of various wild animals was worn on the shoulders. They were used to make the skirts and cloaks . Vertical fringes along the foot of the garments, perhaps made up of leather thongs seem to date from the beginning of the third milleniumNile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. An- cient Egypti From 2,700 BC at the earliest and until about the fourth century BC, the hides, originally used for the gowns and skirts were replaced by kaunakes cloth, a tex- rile, imitating goat’s skin, while short capes were still made of skin and hide . Kanukaes cloth was later used only for symbolic costume of godesses and gods, as in case of the God Shamash on the Hamurabi Code of Stele. Cloth was woven in rectangular pieces on vertical looms; wearers simply swathed them in various ways round their bodies.

PG NO 10 Skins And Woven Cloth In the oldest representation of humans, which date from the third millenium, the skins of various wild animals, formerly worn over the shoulders, were mnow draped around the hips like a skirt; these garments were made by long haired skins, especially sheep’s skin whose texture is represented by hatched patterns from 2900 to 2500 BC. Later, in Telloh, skins sewn together were represented by bands of straignt and wavy stripes on representation of skirts and cloaks worn throughout Sumer. These skins were used in skirts and cloaks from about 2885 BC to form complete gar- ments; then towards 2500 BC, they were made with sleeves, which may have been simple unsewn flaps of skin folded over the arm. During the third and the second millenia, the term kanukes was applied to this garment and thus referred to a form, not a material. Traces of woven cloth have been found on metal axes in tombs from the Susa necropolis, at the end of the ‘Al Ubaid’ period. Oxidization preserved the prints and chemical analy- sis have shown that these cloths were fine in texture.





From about 2130 BC during the Old Kingdom, garments were simple. The men wore wrap around skirts known as the shendyt, which were belted at the waist, sometimes pleated or gathered in the front. During this time, men’s skirts were short. As the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (1600 BC), came, the skirt was worn longer. Then, around 1420 BC, there was a light tunic or blouse with sleeves, as well as a pleated petticoat.cient Egypti All men wore a wrap-round skirt that was tied at the waist with a belt. Some- times the material was wrapped around the legs as well. The length of the skirt varied depending on the fashion of the time – in the time of the Old Kingdom they were short while in the Middle Kingdom they were calf length. . Rich Egyptian men were able to afford the best quality linen which was very fine and almost see-through. Rich Egyptian men also wore as much jewelry as they could afford and decorated their clothes. They also wore headdresses for special occasions.

PG NO 14 Men’s Costume Certain elements of Egyptian costume ( gown, tunic, wig) are common to both sexes; others are reserved for men. The loin cloth is the long, straight piece of white cloth, similar to zôna. Workers held it in place with a girdle, as wide as a hand. With the reign of Tuthmosis IV, the tunic with sleeves and pleated skirts made their appearence. Under Amenophis IV, the fringed panel, that can be seen sometimes in earlier in the opening of theskirt emerged to be worn outside, and progressively developes into the wide triangular, pleated front panel The cloak of linen or wool, swathed around the waist like a skirt, was in fact almost a double of shenti, only longer.

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The Egyptian priests were supposed to wear linen clothes. They were forbidden to wear items from animal origin like wool or leather as they were considered unclean. There is not a particular style of clothes as such. Some preists have shoulder strap other just wear it like a skirt. They were also supposed to remove hair to maintain ritual purity Nile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egypti Some priests like Sem priests were supposed to wear a leopard skin. The leopard was considered a sacred animal, personification of the ancient sky-God- dess Mafdet. Perhaps the spots on the skin reminded the Ancient Egyptians of stars. Artificial leopard cloths had star-shaped items on it for the spots. A leopard skin was also seen connected to the beliefs of regeneration and rebirth in the afterlife, and with sun-God Ra. The high ranking priests wore sashes, probably with gold ornaments similar to the ones the Pharaoh used. The Priests were forbidden to wear leather so they wore papyrus sandals

PG NO 18 Religious Costume To judge from various statues, priests worse a tunic with goferded sleeves, two super im- posed skirts in similarly goffered material, one of which fell onto the anke level, while the other draped around the hips, showed a fringed panel though the front opening. A scarf was tied tightly around the hips and one of its ends fell down on the right. The most distinctive elemnt of this costume is a leapord skin, thown over the right shoul- der with a beast’s head falling on the belt. On a bas-releif showing lily-gathering, a priest wears a cloak edged with rectangular notches. Lastly, priests are represented with broad necklines, but only in ceremonies, not connectwed with funerary rights; they also wore square alt wigs

Royal Costumes The Royals wore the same shentoi as their subjects, but it was made of rich cloth, and it was supported at the waist by different types of girdles. In primitive Egypt and even in the time of Old Kingdom, the Sovereign was clad in the simple loin cloth with a lion’s tail at the back. From the 18th Dynasty, princes appear clad in an elegant and elaborate costume, called the ‘Royal Haïk’. It was held by one knot at the base of the neck, which rolled over one shoulder, round the hips and over the shoulder. It gave an impression of a costume composed of a shoulder kilt, a tunic with flaring sleeves and a flowing cloack. Coloured girdles, multicoloured ribbions, ornamnets and jewels of gold and enamel, all enhanced the royal dignity of thr Pharos, as did the tiered head-dresses sybolizing their power. Altogether, Egyptian Royal Costume shows a search of religious and temporal symbolism. PG NO 19







The male tunic when lengthened was worn as a ceremonial costume by import- ant personages and in festivities, by musicians and charoiteers. Like the short tunic, it could be worn, tucked up with an extra fold at the waist. Nile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egypti The Chiton could sometimes be made out of two pieces of cloth sewn together lengthwise. It could then be vary narrow and fit more closely to the body. Another male garment developed from the early exomis: the cloak made of a single large piece of cloth called himation, which was swathed round the body without fixed fastings. The cloak could be worn alone, bearing the white hand, shoulder and upper chest- either following the Spartan styleor simply for reasons of economy as in case of Socrates.

PG NO 24 Men’s Costume The primitive type o0f Greek costume worn by men was the rctangle of seamless cloth, forming a tunic when fastened on the left shoulder to leave the right arm free and belted at the waist, or when it was draped round the body , providing a cloak. Made at home with wool from the family flock, it still served as a blanket at night, as did the cloak of Homeric shephards and warriors, the chlaine. The opening over the right thigh was enclosed by a few stitches and the shoulder was gfastened, not by a pin but with ribbions, which hung over the chestor back or by some threads of the cloth. The primitive exomis worn by men gave the short, belted tunic or ‘chitin’ which was essentially an undergarment closed down the side by a seam. Without a belt this tunic hung loosely and served as a night garment; it was also easy to slip a cuirass over it.

Women’s Costumes Since the earliest times, women’s costume had been formed of the primitive rectangle of cloth. From the very precise information given by Herodotus, confirming Homer after several centuries, we know that the Dorians had a female costume known as ‘Dorian’, the Homeric peplos, which had formerly been the costume of all Greek women. The old peplos, a gown or outer garment won by women, remained basically a sort of shawl, with two fibulae, completely open, down one side, usually the left; this open peplos was not normally belted at waist. However, Greek women, who attached great importance to pesonal modesty, seamed together the two free edges of the garment, instead of leaving them open on the thigh. This gave the closed peplos. The long linen gown, Ionian in origin, also described as a tunic, consisted of a piece of cloth whose side edges were seamed together. The piece of cloth used could measure as much as nine feet. PG NO 25



Statue in National Historic Museum, Athens The Greek helmet has b een the subject of various studies. The Mycenaean helmet, which has been described as of leather with metal shaped plates, would most probably have been made of some plaited material. Instead of helmets the Greek sometimes wore the leather cap or kyne current among the lower classes and apparently of

PG NO 28 Battle Costumes In military life, mounted and foot soldiers and youth in training wore the chlamys, originally called the Chlaine, which responded to civil himation. The term referred to the garment as well as to the mate- rial, a thick warm woolen cloth made of a strongly, tight warped yarn The piece of cloth was rectangular in shape, narrower than the himation but as long. The Macedonians, cut away the corners so that the lower edge of the cloak hung evenly. From being a military garment, the Chlamys became a royal vestment, with the dyework becoming more careful and the ornamentation richer under oriental influence





Men’s Costumes The indumenta compromised the sublingaculum and the tunica. The sublingaculum or licinium, was a linen loincloth knotted at the waqist, originally the only undergarment. Under the Empire, only athletes wore nothing else in public. Workmen wore a tunic on top. The sewn linen tunica, another version of the Greek Chiton but give a name with a Semitic or Phoenician derivation, had come originally from the East, while the primitive woolen shawl wo- ven by women fro the wool of theor own flocks bespeaks the mountain origins of the Hellenic people. Under the empire, men wore tunics,the subucula underneath and tunica exteriodum on top; peo- ple who felt cold wore two under-tunics. The femoriala, although not wore by women consisted of half length trousers worn under the toga particularly by emperors in winter. The amictus was essentially the toga, a specifically Roman cloak during the Republic and the Early empire. originally it was the only outer garment for both men and women, and at night it was spread over the bed to serve as a blanket. PG NO 31



Statue of woman wearing peplos, Rome, Vatican Museum Noble Roman ladies wore a short tunic of luxurious silk, dec- orated by gold fringes. They covered this with either the half- sleeved linen sapparum, which seems to have been a short out- er garment, pr with the palla, a large square or rectangular piece of cloth, folded lengthwise and held on each shoulder with a fibula.

PG NO 34 Women’sCostumes Several garments were common to men and woen, and it seems that their variety stemmed more from the di- versity of names applied to them than from any genuine differences. The specifically feminine garments was the breast band which was added to the fitted loin cloth as an undergarment. The woolen subucula, worn next to the skin, and the sto- la, the long talaris gown reserved for matrons, generally with sleeves, lengthened by a pleated train corresponded to the male tunica and toga; the toga was held on the hips by a wide flat belt called succinta and below the breasts by another girdle, the cingulum.

Battle Costumes The togaworn during campaigns could also play a protective role. Roman soldiers wrapped it round their waists, fastening it firmly enough to wear it on a haorseback. One of these ways of wearing it acquired the name ‘ toga gabiana’. The Romans wore stirdy boots (caligae) with thick soles and numerous leather thongs, reaching over the ankle but leaving the toes bare. The helmet originally of bronze then of iron, had a smooth crown, a neck guard and in some cases a fixed or movable visor and cheek guards. As distinguished accoutrements soldiers had a broad belt of soft leather with a buckle, or of stiff leather with metal plates. Emperors and higher officers tied a sort of scarf around their waists as an emblem of command. PG NO 35



CITATIONS

SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION 20,000 Years Of Fashion by François EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION 20,000 Years Of Fashion by François GREEK CIVILIZATION 20,000 Years Of Fashion by François ROMAN CIVILIZATION 20,000 Years Of Fashion by François