Ancient Egyptian Clothing
In
ancient Egypt men and women usually wore light clothes made out of linen.
This linen was made out of
flax which is a plant which grew along the banks on the river Nile.
The flax was soaked
in water to soften it and was then separated into fibres which were beaten
before being spun into thread from which the linen cloth was woven.
Men wore a wrap-round skirt tied with a belt and sometimes this
fabric
was wrapped around the men's legs also. The length of the skirt varied depending on the fashion of
the time, for example in the time of the Old Kingdom they were short
but in the Middle Kingdom they were
calf length. During the New Kingdom period it was fashionable to wear a pleated garment. Rich
Egyptian men were able to afford the best quality linen which was very fine and almost
transparent.
Rich Egyptian men also wore as much jewellery as they could afford and decorated their clothes. They
also wore headdresses for special occasions.
Egyptian women wore full length straight dresses with one or two shoulder straps. During the New
Kingdom it became fashionable for dresses to be pleated or draped. The dresses worn by rich
Egyptian women were made from fine transparent linen. Like the men, rich Egyptian women decorated
their clothes and wore jewellery and headdresses.
Ancient Egyptian children did not wear clothes until they were about six years old when they would
wear the same clothes as men and women.
The Ancient Egyptians went barefoot most of the time but wore sandals for special occasions or if
their feet were likely to get hurt. The sandals worn by the poor were made of woven papyrus or palm
while those worn by the rich were made of leather.