Ancient Civilizations ~Fashion~

By Weiwei

~Introduction~

Fashion. Ahhh. Everyone adores fashion. What

are you wearing right now? T-shirts? Shorts? Dresses with a belt? Well, everything we wear is developed from ancient clothing, which I am going to tell you about right now. Ancient people don't know a lot about fashion, but they do, in fact, tries to be fashionable. Fun, huh? Listen for a bit more. Here we go...

In Mesopotamia... Mesopotamians have developed impressi

ve skills for clothing and textiles. The textiles were used for trade purposes and were also given as gifts to kings and queens. Although at first they still used animal skins to protect them selves, but soon they learned how to pound wool and goat hair into felts or weave them into cloth. Wool was the most common fabric used in Mesopotamia and it was used for almost every type of clothing and garments. Mesopotamians started using looms for weaving in as early as 3000 B.C. The weaver’s skills were extraordinarily--some clothes fragments found in the royal tombs are as fine and detailed as modern linen fabrics. At that time, linen was very luxurious and was only woven for the wealthy people. After several decades, soft cotton was introduced in Assyria around 700 B.C.E. , and silk became available later.

Fashion Trends? The earliest civilization in Mesopotamia is Su

merians. At first, the males typically wore waist strings or loin skirts that barely covered anything. The females wore only a shaw wrapped around their bodies that were often decorated with simple patterns and borders. Later on, though, the wraparound skirts were introduced and they were usually decorated with fringes or petal-shaped fabrics. Late Sumerians wore more sewn outfits that were covered with tiers of fringe. During the Babylonian rule, there were less evidence about what people wore. Available ones suggested that they still wore fringed shawls and skirts similar to what Sumerians wore, but some men did wear loins skirts. The Assyrians continued to wear fringed and tiered clothes, including long shawls that were wrapped around their bodies to nearly their ankles and were held in place by a belt. Around 1,000 B. C. E. , Assyrian men started to wear short sleeved knee-length tunics that were also held by a belt. After Mesopotamia was conquered by the Persian Empire, Assyrians also adapted to Persian trousers.

In Egypt...

The most important fabric in ancient Egypt is linen, made from flax’s fiber. Ancient Egyptian’s weaving techniques were well-developed, and many worker were involved with the production of linen. It is light (which goes great with hot weather) and easy to starch or stiffen into pleats and folds (which was a really popular fashion trend for both men and women, especially beginning in the Middle Kingdom, from 2000 B. C. E. to 1500 B.C.E. ). Linen is useful in other ways, too. Egyptians used colours in special ways, like how blue represented Amon, the god of air, green stood for life and youth, while yellow is the symbol for gold. White is the most common-used colour in ancient Egypt, which represents purity. Luckily, white is the natural colour of flax. Linen is also appealing in its thinness. It is so thin, it could actually be made transparent. Which Egyptians loved, because they’re not modest and likes to show off their bodies.

Fashion Trends? The ancient Egyptians were the first hum

an society to have their “own” style of clothing. They idolize the human body, and tries to emphasis it as much as possible. Ancient Egypt has really warm weather, so they often tends to dress lightly. For nearly 1,500 years it was very rare for men to wear anything on their upper body. Noble or upper class people usually wore a schenti, a simple kilt that tied around the waist and hung to their knees. Work men first wore loin cloth, but after a while, loin skirts were introduced, which was somewhat longer and covers more skin than loin cloths. In about 1,500 B. C. E. Men started to wear simple tunics on their upper bodies. The women also dressed lightly, and they too, often bared their upper bodies. A common female clothing back then is called the Kalasiris - capes, which is a tube of clothing that’s sewn along one side with one or two shoulder straps.

In Greece... Minoan Fashion Trends

In ancient Greece, clothing’s purpose wasn’t only to cover and protect the body, but also to decorate and enhance the beauty of the wearer. The earliest civilization in Greece is the Minoans, developed on the Greek island of Crete in about 3,000 B.C.E. Minoans created a thriving community and managed to survive for a long time. Minoan clothes were fitted very tightly and required a lot sewing knowledge to make. Men usually wore loin clothes and rarely covered their upper bodies, while women wore bell-shaped skirts with tiers. Minoans seemed to idealize tiny waists, so both men and women wore tight-fitted belts or girdles.

Mycenaean Fashion Trends? When the Minoan culture disappe

ared in about 1,600 B.C.E., Mycenaeans eventually took lead. Influenced by the Minoans, they wore similar clothing as to the Minoans. Women still wore the same long skirts and short-sleeved tops, however they did occasionally cover their upper body with a bib or blouse. Men usually wore similar loin clothes as the Minoans, but they were often seen to be wearing short-sleeved tunics with a belted waist as well. However the most distinguishing clothing in the Mycenaeans’s culture was the armors. They were known as war-like people. Soldiers will wrap their body from neck to thigh in bronze plates, bronze leg guards, and helmets constructed of boar's tusks.

Greek Fashion Trends? While the Mycenaeans started to suffer fro

m famines and other disasters, another culture developed quickly and soon conquered the struggling Mycenaeans. The Dorians - ancient Greeks - had great appreciation for naked bodies. At first, they didn’t forbid people to be naked, at least for men. Men were always encouraged to stay naked for athletic games and exercises. By the seventh century B.C.E., Greek was ruled by a wealthy class who wore finely woven clothes and decorative jewellery. Starting at this time until the invasion and the defeat of the Romans, the Greeks have developed several styles of clothing. They draped finely woven cloth over their bodies. The most distinctive Greek garment is the chiton, or tunic. There were 2 different styles of it: the Ionic chiton and the Doric chiton. They were usually crinkled or pleated to enhance the fullness of the fabric. Over top of the chiton, the Greeks usually wore a wrap to keep them warm. There were a variety of them, including the himation, chlamys, chlaina, and diplax.

Greek Fashion Trends Continued... The draped fashion continued to be

popular, but by the fourth century both women and men began to wear sewn tunic with a U or V neck. Although many people think the Greeks only wore white, the ancient Greeks loved colour, and many dyed their clothes. Wealthy aristocrats wore purple clothes dyed from a species of shellfish or pure white linen robes. Yellow clothes were worn mostly by women. Black clothes were worn by those mourning the death of a loved one. Peasants dyed their clothing a variety of greens, browns, and grays. Soldiers wore dark red garments to minimize the appearance of blood on the battlefield. Additionally, they added decorative, colourful designs by painting, embroidery, or weaving. Garments were also decorated with geometric shape patterns or trimmed with colorful border designs.

In Canda... In Canada, there are not a preference of fabrics. Many

were used: from linen to wool to cotton to leather, from finely made to delicately sewn, from edgy and chic to fresh and colourful to ruffled and cute...LOADS of trends and designs to choose from. People really got fashionable these days, huh?

Fashion Trends & Stores? Canada is, indeed, a multicultural country. It has many fashi

on trends (and brands), but almost all of them are from the other countries. As time passes, even more is coming up. Right now there are so many of them, you can’t count them using all of your fingers and your toes. Some examples are denim, wraps, ruffles (Lolita Fashion), T-shirts, etc. There many clothing stores in Canada: In fact, if you go into a mall, most of the stores will be selling clothes of some sort. However, few are genuine Canadian. Some of the well-known clothing brands in Canada are Roots, Lululemon, Canada Goose, Arc'teryx, etc.

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LISTENING!!!