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Men of all social classes wore a wrap-round skirt or kilt called a schenti which was tied at the waist using a belt. The length of the schenti varied depending on the fashion of the time and how rich you were. In the Old Kingdom they were short while in the Middle Kingdom they were calf length. Throughout the ages the schenti worn by ordinary men remained short and plain. From about 1500BC (the beginning of the New Kingdom) it was fashionable for wealthy men to have the garment pleated.
Egyptian women wore full length tubular dresses with shoulder straps known as a kalasiris. This remained the basic type of garment worn by ordinary women for thousands of years. Like the men the clothing of wealthy women became more elaborate during the New Kingdom. It became fashionable for rich women have their dresses pleated or draped. Rich Egyptian men and women decorated their clothes, wore jewellery and wore elaborate wigs often made from real human hair. Everyone except the very poorest wore at least a string of beads or a bracelet often as an amulet to ward off evil spirits.
T?å m?¾t commonly used fabric for clothing was linen. It was light, fine and easily draped over the body. Linen is woven from vegetable fibres obtained from the flax plant, extensively grown in ancient Egypt.
The quality of cloth denoted your position in the pecking order. The higher a person’s social rank the better quality cloth he or she wore. The Pharaoh’s kilt was made of the finest linen, possibly embroidered with gold, whereas the commoner’s kilt was made of plain unbleached cloth.
Complete nakedness for an elite Egyptian was not acceptable, only children, slaves and peasants could go about without clothes. Such an Egyptian would not raise an eyebrow at the sight of thousands of naked slaves working on the construction of a monument. It was quite likely that these slaves had no clothes at all.
Children of all classes did not wear clothes until they were about six years old. After then they wore the same clothes as adults.
Most 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 fronds while those worn by the rich were made of leather.
Colours were loaded with symbolism: green symbolized life and youth; yellow was the symbol of gold, the flesh of the immortal gods. Dyeing techniques using natural ingredients had been developed in Egypt but not well developed as dyeing linen was difficult.
