Chapter 1-5 history of fashion PDF

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Chapter 1-5 Lecture Notes, Professor Powell...

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History of Fashion Ancient middle east Not a lot of physical evidence of garments and textiles, mainly pictures, drawings, and sculptures Not until Egyptians are there a few remnants of cloth Start of using cloth as garments Mesopotamia- Sumerian towns and cities give refined skills for writing and textiles (3500-2500) Rome, Greece, Crete, Egypt, Assyria, Mesopotamia Fabrics and cloth production Main products of Mesopotamia were barley, wool, and oil (wool for garments) For domestic consumption and trade Flax is mentioned in ancient records, but although fragments of linen have been found in excavations and there were skilled linen weavers, linen was less important than wool (harder process) Women often played an important role in producing Mesopotamian textiles, did spinning and weaving (patrilineal society, but this was a big role) Men appeared to have done the dyeing and finishing of cloth and did trading (travel long distance) Back strap looms were an early tech for weaving textiles, with yarns wrapped around the waist, the weaver could increase or decrease the tension needed on the lengthwise by changing position Garments worn Skirts worn by men and women Were probably made of sheepskin with the fleece still attached Kaunakes- (Greek) has been applied to fleece or fleece like garment Costume components for men and women Wearing kaunakes (skirt nothing on the top but can be decorated on the bottom) some are wearing fringe skirt but lowest wearing loincloths or very short skirts instead Praying figure 2200 BCE Sumerian man wearing a kaunakes garment in the form of a wrapped skirt, the end of the skirt is thrown over his left shoulder Hair and headdress Shaving the head was a practice of several Mediterranean culture

Both men and women might have pulled their long hair into a Chignon-bun of hair in the back Fillet-another name for headband that held the hair in place Jewelry Evidence shows that some royal women wore elaborate gold jewelry, lapis lazuli, cornelian, gold Comb, hair rings, hair ribbons, earrings found during excavation of tomb in Ur, Mesopotamia (2800 BCE) Mesopotamians, sumerians, Babylonians 2500-1000BCE Men Garments-skirts, loincloths, and tunics probably most for poor Hair and headdress-before 2300 BCE are both clean shaven and with beards, later men are depicted with only beards. Hats are turbanlike and closely fitted at the crown, with a small brim or padded roll at edge Footwear-generally barefoot or occasionally sandals Nobility or mythological figures were depicted wearing a draped garment made from a square of fabric about 118 in wide and 56 in long (5 in wide rolls due to back strap looms) Statuette of ur-ningirsu, son of gudea Mesopotamia, neo-sumerian 2100BCE The garment shown here was probably made from a rectangular length of fabric wrapped around the body. On his head was a closely fitted hat with small brim or padded roll. Military dress Skirts were probably made of woven fabric, fringed décor around lower edge (status) Shawls were worn with skirts Soldiers wore helmets made of leather or metal, sometimes with horn shaped décor Footwear consisted of sandals, which were worn when rough terrain made it necessary , leather Women Garment-kaunakes persisted but gradually became associated with religious figures (goddesses, priestesses, or minor deities) Women-2 shoulder, men-one shoulder Hair and headdress The chignon held in place with fillet again or in rare representations a net Footwear

Barefoot, wealthy wore sandals Jewelry Tightly fitted dog-collar type necklace made from rings of metal common (coils) Start of Assyrians 1000-600BCE Adopted style of Babylonians but added much more decoration Woven or embroidered patterns are seen in great profusion on the costumes of the king and his chief officials Décor occurred due to higher knowledge and sophistication of weaving and embroidery Cross-cultural contacts through trade or warfare may have had the effect of introducing new style ideas Although the assyrians continued the tradition of wool garments, King Sennacherib (700) introduced cotton to Assyria (comes from trade with India) Tunic A generic term for a t-shaped garment with openings at the top for the head and arms, earliest seem to be made of linen, more structural than a wrap It has been speculated that they were adopted as an underlayer to prevent irritation Tunic-type garments were an essential part of dress in all the civilizations of antiquity Wool, cut, wash, into thread to weave Flax and linen is more time consuming to process, grow flax plant, separate components of plant, boil and put in water, draw out fibers to have to weave Royalty wore floor length tunics beneath several long, fringed shawls. The shawls were draped round the body Tunics for the laboring classes were worn with a belt, with little décor and above the knee Hair and headdress Men were bearded and hair and beard arranged in small curls, thought to have been achieved with curling irons, king’s beard was longer than that of other men, but supplemented with a false section Lower class men had shorter beards and hair Among the hat styles was a high brimless hat similar to the fez or tarbush In Assyrian art this hat is sometimes depicted with broad bands of fabric hanging down the back The king wore a higher straighter version Footwear

Sandals, depending on whether they were to be given heavier or lighter use, had thicker or thinner soles, respectively Closed shoes are depicted though less common Horses and horsemen, high boots are shown on, protective for military forces Jewelry Earrings, bracelets, armlets Decorative motifs used and often resembled those seen on patterned fabrics (consistency) Military dress Soldiers wore a short tunic, corselet of mail, and a wide belt. Mail was probably made by sewing small metal plates or disks onto leather or heavy cloth (linen or wool) Representation of soldiers indicate that mail covered only upper torso, sometimes entire tunic Helmets, peaked point at back of head Sandals, tall boots Women Tunics, longer sleeves than men Fabrics worn for women’s tunics were elaborately patterned Women also wore fringed shawls Hair and headdress Veils-distinguishing of a free, married woman, slaves and prostitutes not permitted to wear, concubine could only wear a veil when accompanied the principal wife, covered face in public Hairstyles-earlier styles for Assyrian women are elaborately arranged all curled, later styles were simplified to curly, shoulder-length hair (no short hair) Sandals and closed shoes Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and amulets all gold, some gems, no diamonds (not traded w southern Africa yet), lapis lazuli Children (3500-600) No solid info, subservient, in babylonia father could sell his children into slavery or leave them on deposit with a creditor as security for repayment of a loan, Minimal, adult garments: loincloth, skirt, tunic Children of upper classes probably wore clothing like that of parent Egyptian civilization

Developed quite different ways from Mesopotamia, have extensive evidence from works of art, real objects, and written records (weather and climate preserved, tombs, pyramids) Old to middle to new See chart Social structure Hierarchy compared to shape of pyramid Upper class costume served to delineate social class Draping, quality of fabrics, and addition of costly jewelry, belts distinguished upper from lower Workmen are shown with stubbly beards, and upper is always shown with clean shaven Family- marriage was a civil contract, divorce was easy to obtain, multiple marriages were not common, but wealthy men had a harem or several concubines Art Depicted people going about their daily activities Did not always depict costume with absolute fidelity Frontal views of garments Contents of tombs Personal possessions, models of useful objects Paintings show one colored garments but multicolored garments and elaborate sandals from tomb of Tutankhamen, might have been ceremonial garments, special funeral garments, or actual items from king’s wardrobe Egyptian decorative motifs Décor of temples and tombs, furniture and utilitarian objects, clothes, jewelry, Scarab-beetle that represented sun god and rebirth Ureaus Eye of horus Textile production and tech Linen mostly used Linen-fiber from flax plant, mostly used by Egyptians Mordants-substances used to fix color to fabric, unfamiliar therefore textiles were left natural, not dyed (reason for surprise in king tut tomb)

Egyptians used a horizontal ground loom to weave fabrics of varying widths Warp- lengthwise yarns Weft or filling-crosswise yarns (think about bottom of cut hem jeans, you can pull out the weft) Selvage-the place at the sides of a fabric where a weft yarn turns to make its return trip across the fabric Lacking a cash economy, the Egyptians used textiles as a type of currency when trading for other goods Jewelry, gold prized, silver not found in egypt and had to be imported Pectorals-decorative pendants, semi precious and precious stones such as carnelian, lapis lazuli, feldspar, turquoise were worked into large, multicolored round collars Dress showed power, wealth, dignity Garments consisted of pieces of fabrics draped and tied around the body 3000-300BCE No raw edges, all were turned under and hemmed, fringe occurred when left unfinished Loincloth Linen were under or outer garments, triangular diaper shape Sometimes sole garment worn by laborers A few are leather, but mostly reinforcement Aprons-separate items that covered the genital area and were worn alone or over skirt or over loincloth and under a skirt, attached w sash or belt Wrapped skirt-length width and fit varied with time, called schenti, shent, skent, schent, knee length or shorter and fitted around hip, some had pleating or a diagonal line across front Egyptian wall painting 1415, schentis, sheath dress, sheer tunics, loincloths Upper body coverings May see skin of leopard or lion fastened across men shoulders (early) In later periods, fabrics replaced skins but design stayed, reserved for most powerful kings and priests Worn to transfer power of animal to wearers Corselet-sleeveless, decorative armor, strapless or suspended by straps Men also worn straps tied around torso decoratively Tunic-often sheer, w or wo sleeves, loincloths or short skirt under or skirts wrapped over tunics Linen that was transparent (sophistication, hard to handle) Long wrapped garments

On all classes Shawls and cloaks, skirts Slaves had small cloth covering or no clothes Wrapped dress or sheath and bead net dresses Well developed beadwork (over sheath) Pleated and draped, v-neck dresses (tailoring elements) Cosmetics Henna, eye paint, red ochre for lips, nail polish, scented ointments Eye paint served to protect from sun and represent eye of horus

120-150 words for discussion

Roman Toga chapter 4 Roman empire assigns special dress according to status (31 BCE – 395 CE) Held in place with minimal pins and ties but mainly folds in opposition to the greek use of brooches? Toga was not always worn, and was especially important at big public events Longer togas were more difficult to tie and therefore noting of more complexity and status

Greek chiton

Often worn with a himation (Cloak) Secured with ornamental pins rather and being intricately embroidered Fabrics were dyed naturally with plants and common colors: violet, green, gray colors did not mean anything though Wool (wool and colored fabrics were more expensive which probably denoted class) Archaic period: white or offwhite and commoners couldn’t wear red chitons By 5th century, wide range of colors Homer depicts extravagantly embroiderered silver and cold Border design

Chapter 5 The Early Middle Ages (c. 330-1500) Constantinople, capital of the byzantine empire

Open book, online exams!

Chapter 7 The Italian renaissance Starts in Italy and moves through out Europe (England France Germany spain)

c. 1400-1600 cultural changes, medieval institutions started to crumble genoa and venice started to trade with middle east, rich merchants (show off) display wealth through clothing renascere (latin) to be reborn curiosity, sculptors painters writers crusades renaissance: configuration of present day Europe as a number of independent nations was gradually est. during population divided among aristocracy, merchant upper class, artist, townspeople, peasants sumptuary laws: what fabrics to wear, what men should wear, number of items an individual could acquire guardaroba: a set of clothing made up of 3 garments: 2 layers of indoor clothing and a mantle for outdoors middle class- one new set of clothing a year discarded clothing sold as secondhand or passed down to poor cloth industry -wool and silk -wool imported from England and silk locally cultivated Manufacture and acquisition of clothing -tailors (highly skilled, craft), ready-made (garments depicted on rails in shoppes), second-hand Costume for men Linen drawers, undershirts, doublets to which hose were attached and outer jackets Workman: laborer wears jacket open and detached from his hose in order to allow him to move freely. Under his jacket one can see his camecia and at the hip under his camicia one gets a slight glimpse of short drawers. Loosened hose are rolled below knees and over hose he wears leather shoes to ankle Headdress Mainly turban like styles but also brimless pill box medium to short length hair Footwear Pointed toes began to round off at front Leather-soled footed hose

Women Floorlength camicia, layered with dress and overdress (mantles and capes) 16th century Looks and applications of styles from Spanish and French influences Camicia with black embroidery (Spanish influence) Codpiece becomes larger and notable (may be response to syphilis)

Discussion read more about regional distinctions in costume in venetian costume

Chapter 8 Northern renaissance 1500-1600...