Clothes & Makeup

 CLOTHING

All clothes were almost always made of linen which is made from flax that made of Plant having small leaves, blue flowers and stems about two feet tall.

Flax was pulled out of the ground, not cut.This backbreaking work was done mostly by men.Half-ripe flax stems made the best thread. If the stems were too ripe, they were used for mats and rope. Flax stems were soaked for several days.

The fibers were separated then the fibers were beaten Until soft and the spinner attached the fibers to the spindle.The fibers were twisted into strong thread Sothe weaving was done on a loom that is a frame made of two beams held by four pegs in the ground.

White linen needed constant washing. It was washed in the river or canal, rinsed, then pounded on a stone and, bleached in the sun and these clothes needed to be repleated every time they were washed. To do so they pressed the linen into grooves on a wooden board and let it dry.

CLOTHING OF WORKERS                           

Workers wore loincloths made of animal hide and linen. They also wore simple tunic dresses .the Loincloth: a piece of material fastened around the waist and worn by men. Most of the slaves worked naked.

CLOTHES OF WEALTHY

Men or women wore long see-through robes that were pleated. Better-off people wore   wide clothes of white cloth but Wealthy people did not wear more jewelry or fancier clothes to show wealth. They did wear gold jewelry and the most transparent clothes 

 Clothes For boys,

 a large white cotton t-shirt (it should come down to his knees) and a belt. Leather sandals are okay, or bare feet.

Or a boy could wear a long piece of white cotton (like a strip of a sheet) wound around his legs to make a pair of shorts, and tucked in at the waist. He would not wear a shirt with that

For girls,

a longer white outfit likes a long white nightgown – it should reach her ankles. This, too, should be tied at the waist with a sash. Both girls and boys in ancient Egypt often wore heavy gold jewelry, and blue or green eye shadow, and black eyeliner.

Footwear

 

 People living around the Mediterranean had little need for  elaborate footwear, with exceptions like the Hittites in their Anatolian highlands who wore shoes with turned up toes, though in Egyptian reliefs Hittites are depicted unshod.Egyptians went barefoot,

but wore sandals on special occasions or when their feet were likely to get hurt. The sandals were tied with two thongs and, if they had a pointed tip this

The sandals were tied with two thongs and, if they had a pointed tip this were often turned upwards. They were made of leather or rush woven or stitched together, and often had leather soles and straps.

 MAKE UP

 

The sun and heat required the Egyptians to pay considerable attention to their skin and their appearance for reasons of good health as much as vanity. Egyptians bathed frequently, some several times a day. Unguents and oils were applied to the skin by both sexes. One popular mixture was made of  plant extracts mixed with the fat of a cat, crocodile and hippo.

Both men and women made up their eyes and lips. Eyes were rimmed, eyebrows were painted and lashes were darkened with a black powder called kohl. The red cheek powder was called ochre. They used a dye called henna to redden their nails and hair. They mixed powdered minerals with oil to get colors. At parties women wore a cone of scented fat on their heads that slowly melted making their heads smell nice. 

WIGS

 

 

The most important of all the fashion accessories was the wig. Shiny, black hair, perhaps because of its association with youth and vitality, was associated with eroticism, and artificial hair was a simple way to maintain what nature neglected.

 Wigs served a more practical function, however. Natural hair that was thick enough to protect the wearer from the direct rays of the sun on a bright summer day or keep the heat in on a cold winter night, was much too hot to wear indoors and a luxuriant hair-do was a breeding ground for lice.

The compromise was simple: Egyptians who could afford it cut their hair short and then wore a wig. Unlike many toupee wearers of today, the Egyptians were quite proud of their wigs and made no attempt to pretend they were natural.  Paintings and sculpture frequently show an area of natural hair between the forehead and the wig. While the most expensive wigs were made with real, human hair,

the design and structure were such that it would be almost impossible to confuse a wig with the real thing. Egyptians were proud of their wigs and would have been distressed at the thought that someone might think they were not wearing one---or even worse, could not afford one. 

 

 

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