Ancient Egyptian Clothing

Ancient Egyptian clothing is quite different from the ancient Mediterranean one. The Egyptians usually worn tunics that were sewn to fit them. These were like a long T-shirt that reached to the knees in case of men or upto the ankles in case of women. The material was generally linen and has white color. The heads were left bare. The feet were also bare and occasionally leather sandals were worn. Those men who worked outside adorned short skirts rather than tunics. A piece of cloth was covered around the waist and legs. Men and women wore blue and green eyeshadow and black kohl eyeliner when it was aimed to dress up fancy. Men kept their hair short and did not prefer retaining beards and mustaches. Women grew their hair so that they reached the shoulders. As per their affordability, individuals of either sexes used gold jewelry.

The type of clothes worn were proportional to the status. The routine dress in the Old Kingdom was a rectangular piece of linen that was 0.5 to 1 meter long and nearly 60 centimeters wide. This was wrapped clockwise around the body so that the area between the waist and knees was covered. The end of this loincloth was turned backwards so that a double thickness was made and the top was tucked under the part that was already wrapped. Further, a piece of material was pulled upwards across the body and twisted so that the inside part was not slipped down. The nobles used to wear a half-pleated kit that was rotated in an anti-clockwise direction around the body. The pleated part was protected from soiling or wrinkling by the fingers when pulled into place by using a tab behind the belt. A knot that could be seen at the center of the belt was a peculiarly tied bow where the ends were tucked out of sight. The leopard skin was associated with a particular type of priests generally called the Sem priests. This was worn above the normal dress and held in place by a strap or cord. This was shortened by a type of slipknot on the shoulder. Nobles used long garments having pleated sleeves which were flared at the elbow. Sometimes they could be seen in short kilts under long transparent ones.

Ancient Egyptian Clothing at different levels of society
Different classes of people adhered to disparate clothing styles in ancient Egypt. The styles of Pharaoh, Priests, Workers and Women are mentioned below.
Pharaoh

• The clothes were more transparent than others to display the wealth and status
• Cloth was wrapped around the waist
• Plentiful gold jewelry was used as he could afford it
• The head garments were large

Priests

• Leopard robes were used while praying their god Amun
• Leather sandals or wool clothing were not permitted as they were thought to be unclean
• The priests washed their bodies several times in a day so that they could keep themselves free from body hair and purify their bodies for Amun
• A wig was not worn like other people in the society

Workers

• Many slaves were totally nude while working
• The usual people wore loin clothes manufactured from animal hide and linen and simple tunic dresses that were fitted
• The clothes were less transparent than the rich people

Women

• Before dressing, women had a wash. Scented oil was rubbed on the body to have a pleasant odor.
• A piece of cloth was worn above the head.
• The hair was held upwards with pins or a metal band around the head.
• Ankle length dresses were tied around the neck or behind the shoulders.

Materials for clothing
The different materials used for ancient Egyptian clothing were:

• Flax : These fibers are the longest and strongest of all the natural fibers put into use. The strength increases when they are wet due to a high pectin content that acts like a glue in wet conditions. These become dry quickly and resist decay better that other natural fibers.
• Linen : These yellowish or greyish fibers were in the form of a flat, 60 to 80 centimeters long strips. Every one of these consisted of 20 to 40 single fibers.