Through the Eras

Fashionimpossible if women wore a sheath that was as tight asartists portray. Thus the art historian Gay Robins suggestedthat the tight sheath was only an artistic conventionand not a real dress. A more accepted dress form byart historians was the complex wraparound dress. Artistsfirst depicted women wearing the complex wraparounddress during the New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E.).Women created these dresses from large cloth rectangleswrapped in various decorative manners. Sometimes a second,smaller length of cloth secured the garment in placeas a sash. The wearer could drape the cloth over one orboth shoulders, wrap it around the lower part of thebody, and tuck it into itself at the waist. Other versionsof the dress included knotting the cloth under the breast.The dresses could be pleated or plain. Women at all sociallevels wore the complex wraparound dress.V-NECKED AND BEADED DRESSES. V-neckeddresses were tailored and cut to shape. Some exampleshave sleeves, while others are sleeveless. The sleevelessv-necked dress first appears in the Third Dynasty(2675–2625 B.C.E.) and continues into the New Kingdom.Both royal women and upper-class women worethis dress. There are some examples with pleats, thoughpleating is less common than plain examples. V-neckeddresses with sleeves survive in the archaeological recordin greater numbers than sleeveless v-necked dresses. Theseamstress made the bodice and sleeves from two piecesof cloth that she attached to a large rectangle of cloththat formed the skirt. Archaeologists have discovered examplesof these dresses dating from the First to EleventhDynasties (3100–1938 B.C.E.), proving their popularityfor at least 1,200 years. Yet artists never seem to representsuch dresses in the artistic record. This evidenceprovides a caution concerning the reliability of tomband temple representations to provide a complete picturefor modern scholars. Bead-net dresses were oftenworn over V-neck dresses as well as wraparound dressesand were constructed in geometric patterns. Two archaeologicalexamples date to the Old Kingdom. Thebeads are cylinders of blue or green faience threadedinto a diamond pattern. In the artistic evidence thebead-net dresses are worn over a wraparound dress. Inart the bead-net dresses are fairly common in the Oldand Middle Kingdoms, but decline in number duringthe New Kingdom.BAG TUNICS. Both men and women wore bag tunics.They could wear them either full-length or halflength.Though the full-length bag tunic superficiallyresembled the modern Egyptian galabiyah due to itsshirt-like nature, the bag tunic differs from the moderncostume because male and female galabiyahs areThe Lady Tjepu wears a complex wraparound dress that becamefashionable in the New Kingdom. More complex and luxuriousfashions reflect the wealth of the period. BROOKLYNMUSEUM OF ART, 65.197, CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRO-DUCED BY PERMISSION.constructed in entirely different ways. Bag tunics formen and women, however, were both made from a singlepiece of cloth, folded, and then sewn together ontwo sides, leaving holes for the arms. The bottom wasleft open. A key-hole shaped opening was cut in theshorter side to allow the wearer to pull it over the head.The ends and the openings were hemmed. Some bagtunics were made from heavy material while others werefrom fine material, and people of all stations ownedboth kinds. Vogelsang-Eastwood and others suggestedthat the differences in weight represent summer andwinter wear. Some bag tunics were also decorated. Theycould have fringe, bead work, gold or faience sequins,applied patterns, or embroidery. The full-length bagtunic first appeared in the Middle Kingdom andArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 95