Through the Eras

FashionWOMEN’SWardrobes: Continuity andChangenearly identical. New, more elaborate fashions becamepopular in the New Kingdom.SOURCE: Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Pharaonic Egyptian Clothing(Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1993).Women’s wardrobes were very conservative in ancientEgypt. Old and Middle Kingdom wardrobes wereGarment Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New KingdomCloth loincloth X X XSkirts, various lengths X X XSimple wraparound dress X X XComplex wraparound dressXV-necked dressXBag tunicXBead-net dressXSashes and straps X X XLong cloak X X XShawl X X XSOURCE: Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Pharaonic Egyptian Clothing (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1993).CREATED BY GGS INFORMATION SERVICES. GALE.became widespread in the New Kingdom. While bothmen and women wore the full-length bag tunic, onlymen wore the short bag tunic. This garment was identicalto the long bag tunic, differing only in its length.The existing archaeological examples of short bag tunicsdate to the Eleventh Dynasty (2081–1938 B.C.E.)and to the New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E.). Theyvary in length from seventy to ninety-three centimeters(27.5 to 36.6 inches). Mainly workmen wore thesegarments that seem to replace the archaic wraparoundworn during the Predynastic Period and the Old Kingdom.These changes suggest that the Egyptians increasinglywore sewn garments during the transition tothe New Kingdom.SHAWLS AND CLOAKS. Shawls and cloaks are similarbecause people wore them over other garments. InEgypt, shawls and cloaks were both fashioned from oblong,square, or rectangular pieces of cloth. Scholars havepaid little attention to archaeological examples of shawls.Of nineteen shawls that Howard Carter, the archaeologist,mentioned in his notes on the tomb of Tutankhamun,scholars have had access to only one finelinen example. Carter, however, discovered it wrappedaround the neck of a statue of the jackal god Anubis.Thus it is not clear that this is an example of humanclothing. In tomb and temple reliefs, some officials inthe Middle Kingdom wore pleated shawls. But the majorityof representations of shawls are worn by foreignmusicians during the reign of Akhenaten (1352–1336B.C.E.). Cloaks were similar to blankets, a large oblong,square, or rectangular piece of cloth worn for warmth.People could either wrap them around the body or knotthem at the shoulder. No archaeological examples havebeen recognized, but artists often depicted people wearingcloaks. Normally wraparound cloaks were worn overboth shoulders and held together with the hands, especiallyin Old Kingdom examples. In some Middle Kingdomand New Kingdom examples in art, the cloak passesover only one shoulder and is wrapped tightly aroundthe body. More active people, such as hunters and chariotdrivers, wore knotted cloaks. The difference inwhether an Egyptian wore a wraparound or knottedcloak seems to depend on whether his/her hands neededto be free. Thus the wraparound cloak was worn whena person could hold the cloak closed, while active peoplewhose hands were otherwise occupied knotted theircloaks.ACCESSORIES. There were three types of accessoriesthat could be added to most types of clothing:sashes, straps, and codpieces. Sashes differed from beltsbecause they were made from cloth rather than leather.Sashes were an important element in ancient Egyptianclothing and were commonly illustrated in depictionsof men and women. Surviving examples of sashes fromarchaeological contexts are made from rope or tasseledcloth. In general the cloth sashes had hemmed edges96 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)