Ancient Egyptian Fashion

Among scholars, there is some debate regarding ancient Egyptian fashion as to whether or not women were bare breasted when wearing a simple sheath dress. These garments were rectangular in nature, folded once and sewn down the edges that formed a tube. These sheath dresses would run down to the ankles and either below or above the breast area. This type of dress was worn through the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. There is also some debate as to the function of the shoulder straps, some believe the snugness of the sheath dress was enough to hold the garment in place; others believed the shoulder straps were wide enough to cover the breasts. Ancient Egyptian fashion was not so kind when it came to female slaves who wore simple loin cloths. Children were usually wire wrapped cloths during winter. Materials were mostly linen or wool. Shoes were in the form of sandals that were either held together by another strip of leather or papyrus. Full shoes would not appear until the New Kingdom when other cultures would come to influence Egypt. Jewelry was often large and gaudy, usually made of carnelian or lapis. The rich loved wigs. Being without a wig meant you could not afford one. The most expensive wigs were made of real human hair with others being made of wool. They were twisted, braided and adorned with all sorts of jewels. Ox tallow and scented beeswax were great for not only scenting wigs, but made great perfume as well.

By the New Kingdom, both men and women could wear a two piece robe made of rectangular cloths of four by feet. These two pieces would be sewn together at the narrow ends to leave space for the neck. Women would bunch together the bottom, bring them to the front and tie them under the breasts. This garment would be the basic outline of Ancient Egyptian fashion and could be further adorned with other things like vertical pleats which were popular at the time. Shawls were also popular during the New Kingdom. Shawls were made of pleated material. Pleated capes and sashes were often tied around the front waist area and hung just above the floor. Shawls, capes and sashes were usually reserved for the upper classes. Kohl was used as eyeliner to protect the eyes from the sun with women using red ochre to color the lips and cheeks.