I. ANCIENT EGYPT

Background Ancient Egypt's Menswear

Ancient Egypt in North Africa was one of the most powerful and influential civilizations in the region for over 3,000 years, from around 3100 B.C to 30 B.C. It left behind numerous monuments, documents and works of art that continue to be studied by scholars today. However Egyptian civilization existed long before this period, and it has survived and flourished since. While the civilization's rulers, language, writing, climate, religion and borders have changed many times over the millennia, Egypt still exists as a modern-day country.

Poor Egyptian men often only wore a loin cloth while working. Upper-class men wore knee-length kilts, made of a rectangular piece of linen, with pleats or a stiffened front. They wrapped the kilts around their bodies and either tied them or used something to fasten them in place. Sometimes, men wore cloaks during cool weather.

Ancient Egypt's Womenswear

Women in ancient Egypt wore straight, full-length dresses with one or two straps on the shoulder. Women's clothing in Ancient Egypt tended to be more conservative than that of men. Dresses were pleated or draped during the New Kingdom era. Rich women wore clothes made out of fine and almost transparent linen and wore jewelry and headdresses. The shawl, or sari, was very popular among upper-class women in the New Kingdom. It consisted of a piece of cloth approximately 4 feet wide by 13 or 14 feet long. The shawl worn by the rich was often made of pleated material.

Grooming & Styling

The black eyeliner is one of the most recognizable elements of fashion in ancient Egypt. Egyptians used Kohl, a black substance that served as protection against the glare of the sun. Some theories speculate it was also used for protection against the 'evil eye'.

Both men and women wore wigs, often made from human hair or wool. These wigs were an important part of daily life and were used to protect the head from the sun as well as to convey social status and wealth.Both men and women wore intricate hairstyles that featured braids, curls, and other decorative elements. These hairstyles were often adorned with beads, jewels, or other accessories.

They also adorned themselves in a variety of embellishments including rings, earrings, bracelets, pectorals, necklaces, crowns, girdles and amulets.

both men and women used scented oils and ointments to clean and soften the skin (and to mask body odor), . They rouged their lips and cheeks, stained their nails with henna.

Footwear was the same for both sexes. It consisted of coiled sewn sandals of leatherwork, or for the priestly class, papyrus.

Muse & Icon

Queen of Egypt (51–30 BCE), Cleopatra actively influenced Roman politics at a crucial period and was especially known for her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She came to represent, as did no other woman of antiquity, the prototype of the romantic femme fatale

Queen Nefertari, who was renowned for her beauty and prominence Called “the one for whom the sun shines,” Nefertari was the favorite wife of pharaoh Ramesses II. She and other women of ancient Egypt are brought to life through 230 objects from temples, tombs, palaces and the artisan village of Deir el-Medina, presenting the richness of Egyptian culture some 3,000 years ago

Influence or Current Trends

The Lebanese designer, Zuhair Murad, paid homage to ancient Egypt in the SS 2020 collection by incorporating elements such as the shapes of hieroglyphics, tomb paintings, scarabs, and eagles as well as integrating the warm-toned colors of the sand and the vibrant colors in the jewels.