Egyptian costumes

Kalasiris
The single most distinctive and important garment worn by women throughout the
history of ancient Egypt was the kalasiris, a long linen dress. From the earliest
depictions of women at the beginning of the Old Kingdom to end of the New Kingdom
the kalasiris was the uniform of the Egyptian woman. In its earliest form, the kalasiris
was a very close-fitting tube dress, sewn at the side that was held up by two straps that
attached behind the neck. The straps came together at the front and the breasts were
exposed. Other versions of the dress had a single strap that went over one shoulder but
were still nearly formfitting. Egyptian women's garments underwent fewer changes over
time the major change with the kalasiris was that the top of the dress was extended
further up the women's torso to cover her breasts. The typical kalasiris was white.
Wealthy women wore kalasirises of finely woven fabric, some so thin that the dresses
became transparent. When the weather grew cool they might throw a shawl over the top
of their dress.
Shenti
The shendyt was a kilt (a skirt with many folds or pleats) like garment worn in Ancient
Egypt. It was made of cloth and was worn around the waist, typically extending to above
the knees. Shendyts are depicted on pharaohs (a ruler), deities (the God), and
commoners in a variety of situations in Egyptian artwork. The shendyt may have been
an adaptation of early hunting skirts which allowed freedom of movement for the
wearer. Members of the military wore a version of the shendyt, as they too would need
freedom of movement in battle. Shendyts worn by those of higher rank or class would
have been made of finer materials.
Shoulder collar:
While the people of ancient Egypt mostly wore plain white linen clothing of simple
design, this did not mean that they had no love of adornment. Two of the most notable
items of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt were collars and pectorals, both types of heavily
jeweled necklaces. Collars were created with beads made of glass, precious stones,
gold. These beads were strung on multiple strings of varying length that were then
bound to a ring around the neck to make a wide, semi-circular collar that covered the
shoulders and chest of the wearer with bright color. Collars were also sometimes made
by attaching beads, stones, and precious metals to a semicircle of fabric. The pectoral
was usually a large, flat breastplate made of gold or copper, often decorated with
symbols and inlaid with precious stones or glass. Pectorals were hung over the chest by
a chain around the neck. Both collars and pectorals were worn by men and women
alike. Egyptians who could afford it wore brightly colored jewelry to show their rank and
importance in society, as well as their love of beauty. Collars often had symbols of the
gods carved into their large metal clasps or into the beads of the collar itself.
Wigs:
Upper-class Egyptian men and women considered wigs an essential part of their
wardrobe. Wearing a wig signaled a person's rank in Egyptian society. Although a
shaved head was a sign of nobility during most of the Egyptian kingdoms, the majority
of Egyptians kept their heads covered. Wigs were worn in place of headdresses or, for
special occasions, with elaborate headdresses. Egyptian law prohibited slaves and
servants from shaving their heads or wearing wigs.
The base of an Egyptian wig was a fiber-netting skullcap, with strands of human hair,
wool, flax, palm fibers, felt, or other materials attached. The wig hair often stuck straight
out from the skullcap, creating large, full wigs that offered wearers protection from the
heat of the sun. For special occasions, wigs were decorated with gold, braided with
colorful ribbons, or adorned with beads. Wigs were made even more elaborate with the
addition of golden bands, caps, and fancy headbands. During the Roman Empire
wealthy members of Roman society developed a rich and fashionable lifestyle, which
included much attention to appearance and ornamentation.
Crowns:
The ancient Egyptians cared very much about their appearance. They wore finely
tailored and flattering clothes and took great care of their bodies. It is often considered
strange then that the wealthiest Egyptians–both men and women–shaved themselves
bald. Evidence indicates that being clean shaven on the head and face was a sign of
nobility. Though some Egyptians shaved themselves bald, they still cared about having
a pleasing hairstyle, and so they wore a variety of stylish wigs. Egyptians were skilled
wig makers. They made wigs out of human hair and bound the wigs to their heads with
various headbands and headdresses. By the time of the New Kingdom wigs had
become very ornamental and were woven with gold and jewels. Poorer Egyptians,
however, wore wigs made from wool. Male Egyptian rulers sometimes wore beard wigs
during special ceremonies. Not all Egyptians shaved and wore wigs, however.
Hairstyles were used to show a person's position in society. Married women also had a
distinctive hairstyle. One style that was popular throughout Egyptian history for both
sexes was to have long hair that was combed behind the ears and then in front of the
shoulders, creating an attractive frame for the face.In addition to wigs and varying
hairstyles, Egyptians wore different types of hats and headdresses.
Greece Costumes:
Chiton:
Chiton, garment worn by Greek men and women. Essentially a sleeveless shirt, the
chiton was a rectangular piece of linen (Ionic chiton) or wool (Doric chiton) draped by
the wearer in various ways and kept in place at the shoulders by brooches (fibulae) and
at the waist by a belt. Excess fabric (the chiton was longer than the wearer was tall) was
pulled up under the belt in blouse fashion. At all times the chiton was worn at ankle
length by women.
There are two forms of chiton, the Doric chiton and the later Ionic chiton. The Doric
chiton is a single rectangle of woolen or linen fabric. It can be worn plain or with an
overfold which is more common to women. It can be draped and fastened at the
shoulder by pins (fibulae) or sewing, or by buttons. The Ionic chiton could also be made
from linen or wool and was draped without the fold and held in place from neck to wrist
by several small pins. The chiton was often worn in combination with the heavier
himation over it.
Exomis:
The exomis was a Greek tunic used by workers and light infantry. The tunic largely
replaced the older short chiton as the main tunic. It was made of two rectangles of linen,
which were stitched together from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving enough space at
the top for the arms. An opening at the top was also left for the head. The cylinder was
gathered up at the waist with a cloth belt using a reef knot, which made the cloth fall
down over the belt, hiding it from view. To allow freedom of movement to the right arm,
the seam at the right shoulder was taken apart, and the right hand was passed through
the head opening. The color of the tunic varied, but red was increasingly the standard
color.
Chlamys:
The chlamys was a type of an ancient Greek cloak. By the time of the Byzantine Empire
it was, although in a much larger form, part of the state costume of the emperor and
high officials. The chlamys was made from a seamless rectangle of woolen material
about the size of a blanket, usually bordered. It was normally pinned with a fibula at the
right shoulder. Originally it was wrapped around the waist like a loincloth. It could be
worn over another item of clothing but was often the sole item of clothing for young
soldiers and messengers, at least in Greek art.
The chlamys was typical Greek military attire from the 5th to the 3rd century BC. As
worn by soldiers, it could be wrapped around the arm and used as a light shield. The
chlamys continued into the Byzantine period, when it was often much larger and usually
worn sideways, at least by emperors, and likely made of silk. It was held on with a fibula
brooch at the wearer's right shoulder and nearly reached the ground at front and back.
The "chlamys costume" was the ceremonial wear of Byzantine emperors.

Himation:
Both Greek men and women wore an outer garment called a himation. Although made
in various dimensions, himations generally were large rectangular pieces of fabric
arranged around the body in a variety of different ways. They were made out of loosely
woven thick wool. Men normally wore the himation alone, although some wore it over a
short chiton, a basic garment that covered the upper body and varying portions of the
legs, much like a short dress.Fashionable men carefully wrapped their himation over
their left shoulder, because to bare one's left shoulder was a sign of being uncivilized.
Greek women wore himations in public as warm cloaks over their thin Ionic chitons (a
type of tunic). Women wore himations in a variety of different styles, such as the
symmetrical and the transverse himations. One of the most common ways for women to
drape the himation was to wrap it around the entire body. Starting with an end of the
cloth draped forward over the left shoulder, the himation would be wrapped across the
back and either under the right arm or covering the right arm and then slung across the
chest to the left shoulder or held over the left arm. For greatest protection from the
weather, women would completely cover themselves with their himations, draping the
cloth over their heads to veil their faces and covering both their arms with it.

Rome Costume
Stola:
The stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga,that
was worn by men. The stola was usually woolen .Originally, women wore togas as well,
but after the 2nd century BC, the toga was worn exclusively by men, and women were
expected to wear the stola. At that point, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to
wear a toga; wearing the male garment was associated with prostitution and adultery.
The stola was a staple of fashion in ancient Rome spanning from the early Roman
Republic through the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. The stola was a long,
pleated dress, worn over an undergarment called a tunic or tunica. The stola was
generally sleeveless but versions of it did have short or long sleeves. These sleeves
could belong to the stola itself or be a part of the tunic. The traditional sleeveless stola
was fastened by clasps at the shoulder called fibulae. The stola was typically girt with
ribbons, and typically had two belts. The first was worn just below the breasts creating a
great number of folds. The second and wider belt was worn around the waist. Stolas
were generally made of fabrics like linen or wool, but a wealthy woman could be seen
wearing a stola made of silk. The stola was worn as a symbol and represented a
woman's marital status. Stolas were made in a variety of colors including red, yellow,
and blue. Decorations were also added to the neckline and hem. For common women,
these would be a simple band of color or pattern. For wealthier women, more details
and embellishments were used to show wealth.

Toga:
The toga of man was a semi-elliptical, white woolen cloth some 6 feet in width and 12
feet in length, draped across the shoulders and around the body. It was usually worn
over a plain white linen tunic. A common man’s toga was a naturally off-white; the
senatorial version was more voluminous, and brighter. The toga of added a wide purple
edging was worn over a tunic with two vertical purple stripes. It could be worn by noble
and freeborn boys and girls, and represented their protection under civil and divine law.
The rare, prestigious toga picta and tunica palmata were purple, embroidered with gold.
They were originally awarded to Roman generals for the day of their triumph, but
became official dress for emperors. From at least the late Republic onward, the upper
classes favoured ever longer and larger togas, increasingly unsuited to manual work or
physically active workers. Togas were expensive, heavy, hot and sweaty, hard to keep
clean, costly to launder and challenging to wear correctly. The vast majority of citizens
had to work for a living, and avoided wearing the toga whenever possible.

Roman Sandals:
Romans used a wide variety of practical and decorative footwear, all of it flat soled
(without heels). Outdoor shoes were often hobnailed for grip and durability. The most
common types of footwear were a one-piece shoe, sometimes with semi-openwork
uppers; a usually thin-soled sandal secured with a laced, soft half-shoe; a usually
hobnailed, thick-soled walking shoe; and a heavy-duty, hobnailed standard-issue
military marching boot . Thick-soled wooden clogs, with leather uppers, were available
for use in wet weather, and by rustics and field-slaves
Shoemakers employed sophisticated strapwork and delicate cutting to create intricate
decorative patterns. Indoors, most reasonably well-off Romans of both sexes wore
slippers or light shoes of felt or leather. Brides on their wedding-day may have worn
distinctively orange-coloured light soft shoes or slippers. Public protocol required red
ankle boots for senators, and shoes with crescent-shaped buckles for equites. Costly
footwear was a mark of wealth or status, but being completely unshod need not be a
mark of poverty. Fashions in footwear reflected changes in social conditions.

Palla:
Palla is a traditional ancient Roman garment worn by women, fastened by brooches. It
was similar to the pallium that a man would wear. The shape was rectangular instead of
semi-circular as with the traditional toga. Over the stola, citizen-women often wore the
palla, a sort of rectangular shawl up to 11 feet long, and five wide. It could be worn as a
coat, or draped over the left shoulder, under the right arm, and then over the left arm.
Two ancient literary sources mention use of a coloured strip or edging on a woman's
hem of their tunic; probably a mark of their high status, and presumably purple.Outside
the confines of their homes, matrons were expected to wear veils; a matron who
appeared without a veil was held to have repudiated her marriage. High-caste women
convicted of adultery, and high-class female prostitutes , were not only forbidden public
use of the stola, but might have been expected to wear a toga muliebris (a "woman's
toga") as a sign of their infamy.

Tunic:
The basic garment for both genders and all classes was the tunica (tunic). In its
simplest form, the tunic was a single rectangle of woven fabric, originally woolen, but
from the mid-republic onward, increasingly made from linen. It was sewn into a
sleeveless tubular shape and pinned around the shoulders like a Greek chiton, to form
openings for the neck and arms. In some examples from the eastern part of the empire,
neck openings were formed in the weaving. Sleeves could be added. Most working men
wore knee-length, short-sleeved tunics, secured at the waist with a belt. Some
traditionalists considered long sleeved tunics appropriate only for women. Women's
tunics were usually ankle or foot-length, long-sleeved, and could be worn loosely or
belted. For comfort and protection from cold, both sexes could wear a soft under-tunic
or vest beneath a coarser over-tunic; in winter. Although essentially simple in basic
design, tunics could also be luxurious in their fabric, colours and detailing. They could
also be worn on their own, particularly by slaves who engaged in hot, sweaty or dirty
work. Women wore both loincloth and strophium (a breast cloth) under their tunics; and
some wore tailored underwear for work.

Veil:
A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the
head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European,
Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent in different forms in
Christianity, and Islam. The practice of veiling is especially associated with women and
sacred objects, though in some cultures it is men rather than women who are expected
to wear a veil. Besides its enduring religious significance, veiling continues to play a role
in some modern secular contexts, such as wedding customs.
Roman women were expected to wear veils as a symbol of the husband's authority over
his wife; a married woman who omitted the veil was seen as withdrawing herself from
marriage. Veils also protected women against the evil eye, it was thought. A veil called
flammeum was the most prominent feature of the costume worn by the bride at Roman
weddings. .

Byzantine and Gothic costume:

Cloak:
A cloak, or outer draped garment that looks like a cape, was used by almost every
Native American tribe since the beginning of their civilizations. Made of a square,
circular, or rectangular piece of cloth, a cloak was most often pinned at the neck and
draped over the shoulders and hung down the back to the ankles. Another style of cloak
was made out of a piece of cloth with a hole cut in the center for the head and looked
like a modern poncho. Cloaks could be made of antelope, buffalo, caribou, deer, rabbit,
whale, or other animal skin, mulberry bark, or of woven buffalo hair. During the earliest
years inhabitants often wore no covering on their upper bodies except for cloaks on cold
or rainy days. By the seventeenth century cloaks continued to be used as outer
garments. However, cloaks were no longer the only covering for the upper body. Men
wore tunics, or shirts, and women wore dresses to cover their upper bodies.Cloaks
could be simple outerwear for both women and men, but they could also be prized
status symbols for some.Cloaks are among the most common garment in human
clothing history; cultures across time and the globe have used cloaks to keep warm.
Blanket-like cloaks were worn by both men and women. Each empire used a different
name for their cloaks, and often cloaks worn by men had different names than those
worn by women.

Tablion:
Paludamentum was a broad term referring to several varieties of cloaks that were worn
during the time of the Byzantine Empire. Worn by both men and women, these cloaks
were worn over the standard garments of the day: the tunic and dalmatica worn by men,
and the stola, or long dress, and palla worn by women. There were actually several
different kinds of paludamentum. The most common was a large semicircle of fabric,
pinned at the right shoulder and reaching to about the hips. Another very common
paludamentum was shaped like a trapezoid and was also pinned at the right shoulder. A
variant on the paludamentum, called a paenula, was a large circle with a hole cut in the
center for the head. All forms of the paludamentum were variations of garments worn by
the Romans, but they were adapted to Byzantine customs. For example, paludamentum
were sometimes made of rich Byzantine silk and were highly decorated, sometimes with
embroidered borders. A common form of decoration was a square-or diamond-shaped
pattern called a tablion, which was sewn on the front of the garment. Tablions were
symbols of rank and could only be worn by members of the upper class

Dalmatica:
The standard overgarment of upper-class men, and sometimes women, in the
Byzantine Empire was the dalmatica. The basic form of the dalmatica, like the tunic, or
shirt, from which it descended, was simple it was made from a single long piece of
fabric, stitched together along the sides and up the sleeves, with a hole cut for the head.
The Byzantines added two changes to this basic form. They enlarged the sleeves,
making them large, draping bell shapes, and they broadened the hem dramatically, also
into a bell shape, allowing the garment to hang in folds about the legs.
The basic Byzantine dalmatica was made from fairly simple cloth, usually linen, wool, or
cotton. Depending on the wearer's wealth. Decorative trim could be added to the hem,
sleeves, and neckline, and woven or embroidered patches could be sewn on to different
parts of the garment. The dalmatica worn by the very wealthy or the emperors might be
made of rich silk brocade, with its raised patterns of silver and gold, and could be
ornamented with pearls, gemstones, and even enameled metal panels. Like other
Byzantine clothes, the quality of the cloth and the richer levels of ornament indicated the
social status of the wearer.