2. • Egypt is a city, known for its ancient golden look and overwhelming
beauty. With enormous pyramids, tombs, museums, and a treasure trove
of antique items.
• Among the great civilization of the past, Egypt opens the first record of
costumes. Pictures of Egyptian life were painted upon the walls of tombs
and temples. These drawings were distinct, with colors fresh and bright.
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 mummies and were put
away in the pyramids.
• Fashion in ancient Egypt epitomized the concept of simplicity and ease in
movement and remained relatively unchanged in this regard for over
3,000 years. Clothing and footwear differed in ornamentation between the
upper and lower classes but, overall, men and women's clothing took the
same basic forms in any era, quite unlike fashion in the modern era.
3. CLOTHING IN ANCIENT EGYPT
• Egyptian clothing was filled with a variety of colours. Adorned with precious gems and jewels, the
fashions of the ancient Egyptians were made for not only beauty but also comfort. Egyptian fashion
was created to keep cool while in the hot desert.
LINEN:
• Everyone in Egypt wore clothing made from a fabric called linen. Linen is made from spinning the
fibers from the stems of a flax plant. Linen fabric is strong and doesn’t trap heat next to the body
like heavy wool. For that reason, linen is comfortable and cool to wear. It is the perfect fabric for a
hot climate. Egyptian clothing is almost always white, the natural color of flax, because it was hard
to dye linen.
• 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 fibers 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.
• The materials used in the costumes was chiefly linen. In the most ancient types it was of a fairly
thick, coarse weave; but later a fine thin linen, loosely woven so as to appear almost transparent
was used.
6. • During the Old, Middle and New Kingdom, ancient Egyptian women mostly wore a simple sheath dress
called a kalasiris. Women’s clothing in ancient Egypt was more conservative than men’s clothing. The
dresses were held up by one or two straps and were worn down to the ankle, while the upper edge could
be worn above or below the breasts. The length of the dress denoted the social class of the wearer. Beading
or feathers were also used as an embellishment on the dress. Over the dress, women had a choice of
wearing shawls, capes, or robes. The shawl was a piece of fine linen cloth around 4 feet wide by 13 or 14
feet long. This was mostly worn pleated as well.
• Until the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty women wore a tight-fitting sheath dress, a simple garment that falls from
just below the breasts to just above the ankles, being held up by two shoulder straps.
• The dress hugs the body with no slack. Also when women are shown in movement, sitting or kneeling, the
dress still clings to the outline of the body as if elasticated. Surviving dresses consist of a body made from a
tube of material sewn up one side, supported not by straps but by a bodice with sleeves. In contrast to
dresses shown in art, such linen garments tend to be baggy, and would conceal rather than reveal the body.
• Depending upon the class the dresses differed, for instance, upper-class women wore kalasiris, which were
embellished with gems, jewels, and stones. Whereas, lower-class women wore plain dresses known as
galabeya.
• In ancient Egypt fashion,women wore a plain sheath dress also known as kalasiris. Unlike males, they used
to wear ankle-length clothes, but although this dress was long from the top it was a women’s choice to
wear it below or above the breast. The class of a person was denoted by their type of dress. For instance,
the upper class wore embellished dresses with capes, shawls, or robes.
• Whereas, peasant women wore a dress that was known as a galabeya or jellabiya. These were especially
worn when they went outdoors to do work. And when they were out in public they used to wear a dress
known as a tob sebleh. It is typically a wide full-length dress made out of cotton fabric.
8. • The traditional male garment was the schenti. A simple kilt, it was wrapped around
the hips with the ends hanging down in folds at the front of the body. Initially made
of leather or hide, it was later constructed of a light cloth, usually linen. Pharaohs are
sometimes shown with a loin’s tail hanging down at the back of their kilt, while
soldiers sometimes wore a kilt that was striped or cut from colored cloth.
• The schenti, or kilt, was the basic garment of the Egyptian nobleman, or upper class,
from the earliest days of the Old Kingdom(c. 2700–c. 2000 B.C.E.) all the way through
the New Kingdom (c. 1500–c. 750 B.C.E.). At its most basic, the schenti was a
rectangular piece of cloth, wrapped around the hips and held in place by tucking one
end into the tightly wrapped waist or by wearing a tied belt. Evidence of the schenti
comes from the many hieroglyphs, or picture drawings, that appear in the well-
preserved tombs of Egyptian nobles.
• It is believed that the first schenti were made of leather or animal hides, but soon
linen became the preferred fabric. Linen was made from a flax plant and was
produced by a well-developed weaving industry. It was a light fabric, comfortable in
the hot weather of Egypt, and it was easy to starch, or stiffen, into the pleats or folds
that were favored during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000–c. 1500 B.C.E.) and the New
Kingdom.
9. Headgears
• Nemes: headwear initially made by leather and then by
linen worn by pharroh and nobilities
• Khat: is also called as klaft worn by commoners and
nobilities, off white in colour. Servants and slaves did not
wear nemes or khat.
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.[12] 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.
10. Make-up
• Embalming allowed the development
of cosmetics and perfumes. The perfumes of Egypt were
the most numerous, but also the most sought and the
costliest of antiquity, which used them extensively. The
Egyptians used makeup most of all the ancient people.
Nails and hands were painted with henna.
• Black kohl, which was used to mark eyes, was obtained
from galena. Eye shadow was made from
crushed malachite. Red, which was applied to lips, came
from ochre. These products were mixed with animal fat
to make them compact and to preserve them. Both men
and women wore galena or malachite eyeliner to protect
the eyes and enhance their beauty.
11. Jewelry
• Egypt is known for its aesthetic places and especially intricate jewelry. As they
wore plain linen clothes, jewelry was a means to enhance their beauty. Moreover,
they preferred gold jewelry, bright-colored stones, and precious metals. In
addition, silver was rarely worn but it was considered more precious than gold.
• An exceptionally beautiful stone that was blue in color with stories crafted on it
was one of the most lovable stones among the upper class. Stories, in the sense,
from nature to anything that you imagine were crafted on them. The essence was
its serene blue color.
• The ancient Egyptians loved jewelry. Everyone wore it. The bigger, the better! They
wore huge necklaces, bracelets, pendants, and anklets. The ordinary person would
wear jewelry made with clay beads. Wealthier people wore gold and gems. This is
a large pendant, called a pectoral, that would have been worn on a long string of
beads so that it hung in the middle of the chest.
12.
13. Footwear
Egyptians were usually barefoot but, on special occasions, both genders wore the same
type of footwear - the sandals made from leather. For priestly class were reserved
sandals made of papyrus.
14. pharaohs
Royal clothing is particularly well documented, as well as the khat, nemes, and crowns of the pharaohs. The pharaohs
would often wear animal skins, usually leopard or lion, as a sign of
• The following are unique Egyptian clothing items that were not reserved solely for pharaohs but were made more
elaborate for the Egyptian rulers:
• Shent: A wrapped skirt, typically made of linen, worn by all classes of ancient Egyptian society. Pharaohs, along
with wealthy nobles and other royal family members, sometimes wore a shent of finer quality with an ornamental
belt or apron.
• Wigs: Many ancient Egyptians, both men and women, shaved their heads. Usually, a shaved head symbolized
status, and there are many other theories, from rituals to cleanliness standards, on why an average Egyptian may
have done this. What we know for sure is that wigs were trendy for keeping shaved heads covered in ancient
Egypt, especially during occasions.
• Khat: A simple cloth headdress made of linen worn by nobility and pharaohs. Unlike the nemes headdress (see
below), a khat was never pleated or patterned and was not tied in the back.
• Jewelry: Ancient Egypt’s jewelry is world-renowned and among the most elegant pieces of pharaoh attire.
Wealthy Egyptians wore jewelry that we are familiar with today, but some pieces had distinct elements that are
now less common.
– Usekh: a broad collar necklace draped over the neck and shoulders, often secured with a clasp in the back. Many usekh collars
were made with glazed ceramic beads and precious gemstones. Sometimes, they were made entirely from precious metals such
as gold and silver.
– Pectoral: a pendant or ornament worn as a brooch or attached to a necklace. The pendants often had iconography carved or
painted on them and had symbolic importance.
– Belts and Decorated Aprons: You might not think about belts or aprons as particularly ornate, or even as jewelry at all. But the
ancient Egyptians decorated their belts and aprons with beads, gems, leatherwork, and woven details to accessorize their basic
linen clothing.
15. Headgears of pharaoh symbolized the status and power
• Nemes: a nemes is a head covering made of stiff cloth that is pleated and striped. It has two decorative flaps
called lappets, which hang on either side of the head behind the ears and over the shoulders. The remaining cloth
was gathered and tied into a ponytail in the back, symbolizing a lion’s tail. A rearing cobra and Egyptian vulture
were often attached to the front.
• Deshret: the Red Crown, associated with the rulership of Lower (northern) Egypt. This crown features the rearing
cobra fixed on the front.
• Hedjet: the White Crown, associated with the rulership of Upper (southern) Egypt. This crown features an
Egyptian vulture fixed on the front.
• Pschent: the Double Crown, associated with the rulership of both Upper and Lower Egypt together. Made by
combining the red and the white crowns, this crown symbolized the unification of all Egypt.
• Khepresh: the Blue Crown or the War Crown. Pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1550 BCE to 1077 BCE) are depicted
in reliefs wearing this crown when at war. The khepresh symbolized military power and included the rearing cobra
on the front.
• Atef: a hedjet crown with feathers attached to either side. The atef was known as the god Osiris’ crown, and
Pharaohs wore this crown because they believed they would become a form of Osiris after death.
• Hemhemet: a more elaborate form of the atef crown. These often included spiraled sheeps’ horns and more than
one rearing cobra. Pharaohs only wore this on special occasions, possibly because it was large and cumbersome.
16. • The Postiche: Egyptian pharaohs wore a quirky accessory strapped onto
their chins called a postiche. A postiche is more commonly known as
a false beard, and they wore this false beard instead of growing a real one.
