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The study of the history of clothing and textiles traces the development, use, and availability of
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...
and textiles over human history. Clothing and textiles reflect the materials and technologies available in different civilizations at different times. The variety and distribution of clothing and textiles within a society reveal
social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
customs and
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of most human societies. There has always been some disagreement among scientists on when humans began wearing clothes, but studies involving the evolution of body lice suggest it started sometime around 170,000 years ago. Anthropologists believe that animal skins and vegetation were adapted into coverings as protection from cold, heat, and rain, especially as humans migrated to new climates. Textile history is almost as old as human civilization, and as time has passed, the history of textile has been more enriched. Silk weaving was introduced to India circa 400 AD, whereas cotton spinning dates back to 3000 BCE in India. Textiles can be
felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
or
spun ''Spun'' is a 2002 American black comedy crime drama film directed by Jonas Åkerlund from an original screenplay by William De Los Santos and Creighton Vero, based on three days of De Los Santos's life in the Eugene, Oregon, drug subculture. The ...
fibers made into
yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manu ...
and subsequently netted, looped,
knit Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...
or
woven Woven fabric is any textile formed by weaving. Woven fabrics are often created on a loom, and made of many threads woven on a warp and a weft. Technically, a woven fabric is any fabric made by interlacing two or more threads at right angles to on ...
to make fabrics, which appeared in the Middle East during the late Stone Age. From ancient times to the present day, methods of
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
production have continually evolved, and the choices of textiles available have influenced how people carried their possessions, clothed themselves, and decorated their surroundings.Jenkins, pp. 1–6. Sources available for the study of clothing and textiles include material remains discovered via
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
; representation of textiles and their manufacture in art; and documents concerning the manufacture, acquisition, use, and trade of fabrics, tools, and finished garments. Scholarship of textile history, especially its earlier stages, is part of material culture studies.


Prehistoric development

The development of textile and clothing in prehistory has been the subject of a number of scholarly studies since the late 20th century. These sources have helped to provide a coherent history of these prehistoric developments. Nonetheless, scientists have never agreed on when humans began wearing clothes and the estimates suggested by various experts have ranged greatly, from 40,000 to 3 million years ago. Recent studies by Ralf Kittler, Manfred Kayser and Mark Stoneking—
anthropologists An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology—have attempted to constrain the most recent date of the introduction of clothing with an indirect method relying on lice. The rationale for this method of dating stems from the fact that the human body louse ('' P. humanus corporus'') cannot live outside of clothing, dying after only a few hours without shelter. This strongly implies that the date of the body louse's speciation from its parent, the human louse (''
Pediculus humanus ''Pediculus humanus'' is a species of louse that infects humans. It comprises two subspecies: *''Pediculus humanus humanus'' Linnaeus, 1758 – body louse *''Pediculus humanus capitis'' De Geer, 1767 – head louse The head louse (''Pedicu ...
''), can have taken place no earlier than the earliest human adoption of clothing. This date, at which the body louse diverged from both its parent species and its sibling subspecies, the head louse ('' P. humanus capitus''), can be determined by the number of mutations each has developed during the intervening time. Such mutations occur at a known rate and the date of last-common-ancestor for two species can therefore be estimated from the difference in number of their respective mutations. These studies have produced dates ranging from 40,000 to 170,000 years ago, with a greatest likelihood of speciation lying at about 107,000 years ago. Kittler, Kayser and Stoneking suggest that the invention of clothing may have coincided with the northward migration of modern ''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' away from the warm
climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, which is thought to have begun between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago. A second group of researchers, also relying on the genetic clock, estimate that clothing originated between 30,000 and 114,000 years ago. It is important to note that some of these estimates predate the first known human exodus from Africa. However, other Hominidae species, now extinct, may have also worn clothes and appear to have migrated earlier. It follows that the lice which presently infest human clothing may have first been acquired by ''Homo sapiens'' in colder climates from the bodies or discarded clothing of these cousin
hominins The Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas). The t ...
. Dating with direct archeological evidence produces dates consistent with those hinted at by lice. In September 2021, scientists reported evidence of clothes being made from 90,000 to 120,000 years ago based on findings in deposits in
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
. However, despite these archaeological indications and genetic evidence, there is no single estimate that is widely accepted. Cave paintings and pictorial evidence suggest the existence of dress in the Paleolithic period, around 30,000 years ago, though these were skin drapes. Textile clothing came to notice around 27,000 years ago, while actual textile fragments from 7000 B.C. have been discovered by archeologists.


Early adoption of apparel

Sewing needles have been dated to at least 50,000 years ago (
Denisova Cave Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
, Siberia)—and are likely to have been made by '' H. Denisova/H. Altai'', about 10,000 years before the arrival of
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...
and
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
groups in the cave. The oldest possible example is 60,000 years ago, a needlepoint (missing stem and eye) found in
Sibudu Cave Sibudu Cave is a rock shelter in a sandstone cliff in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is an important Middle Stone Age site occupied, with some gaps, from years ago to years ago. Evidence of some of the earliest examples of modern h ...
, South Africa. Other early examples of needles dating from 41,000 to 15,000 years ago are found in multiple locations, e.g. Slovenia, Russia, China, Spain, and France. The earliest dyed flax fibers have been found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia and date back to 36,000. The 25,000-year-old
Venus Figurine A Venus figurine is any Upper Palaeolithic statuette portraying a woman, usually carved in the round.Fagan, Brian M., Beck, Charlotte, "Venus Figurines", ''The Oxford Companion to Archaeology'', 1996, Oxford University Press, pp. 740–741 Most ...
"
Venus of Lespugue The Venus of Lespugue is a Venus figurine, a statuette of a nude female figure of the Gravettian, dated to between 26,000 and 24,000 years ago. Discovery It was discovered in 1922 in the Rideaux cave of Lespugue (Haute-Garonne) in the foothills ...
", found in southern France in the Pyrenees, depicts a cloth or twisted fiber skirt. Some other Western Europe figurines were adorned with basket hats or caps, belts were worn at the waist, and a strap of cloth wrapped around the body right above the breast. Eastern European figurines wore
belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...
s, hung low on the hips and sometimes string skirts. However, according to archeologists James M. Adovasio, Soffer and Hyland, the garments are more likely ritual wear, real or imagined, which served as a signifier of distinct social categories. Archaeologists have discovered artifacts from the same period that appear to have been used in the textile arts: net gauges from 5000 B.C., spindle needles, and weaving sticks.


Ancient textiles and clothing

Knowledge of ancient textiles and clothing has expanded in the recent past due to modern technological developments. The first actual textile, as opposed to skins sewn together, was probably
felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...
. The first known textile of South America was discovered in Guitarrero Cave in Peru. It was woven out of
vegetable fiber Fiber crops are field crops grown for their fibers, which are traditionally used to make paper, cloth, or rope. Fiber crops are characterized by having a large concentration of cellulose, which is what gives them their strength. The fibers may b ...
and dates back to 8,000 B.C.E. Surviving examples of
Nålebinding Nålebinding (Danish: literally 'binding with a needle' or 'needle-binding', also naalbinding, nålbinding, nålbindning or naalebinding) is a fabric creation technique predating both knitting and crochet. Also known in English as "knotless ne ...
, another early textile method, have been found in Israel, and date from 6500 B.C.


Looms

From prehistory through the early Middle Ages, for most of Europe, the Near East and North Africa, two main types of loom dominated textile production. These are the
warp-weighted loom The warp-weighted loom is a simple and ancient form of loom in which the warp yarns hang freely from a bar supported by upright poles which can be placed at a convenient slant against a wall. Bundles of warp threads are tied to hanging weights ...
and the two-beam loom. The length of the beam determined the width of the cloth woven upon the loom, and could be as wide as 2–3 meters. Early woven clothing was often made of full loom widths draped, tied, or pinned in place.


Preservation

Knowledge of cultures varies greatly with the climatic conditions to which archeological deposits are exposed; the Middle East, South America and the arid fringes of China have provided many very early samples in good condition, along with textile impressions in clay, and graphic portrayals. In northern
Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
,
peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...
s, rock salt mines, oak coffins, and permafrost also preserved textiles, with whole
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
garments surviving, Some of the most famous are those associated with Ötzi ("the Iceman"), along with artifacts associated with textile production. Early development of textiles in the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, sub-Saharan Africa and other moist parts of the world remains unclear.


Textile trade in the ancient world

Throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, the fertile grounds of the Eurasian Steppe provided a setting for a network of nomadic communities to develop and interact. The Steppe Route has always connected regions of the Asian continent with trade and transmission of culture, including clothing. Around 114 B.C., the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, initiated the Silk Road trade route. Geographically, the Silk Road or Silk Route is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes between
Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin S ...
(today's
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...
) in China, with
Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and the Mediterranean extending over on land and sea. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great
civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...
s of China, Egypt,
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
,
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, the Indian subcontinent, and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. The exchange of luxury textiles was predominant on the Silk Road, which linked traders, merchants,
pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...
s,
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
s, soldiers,
nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
s and urban dwellers from China to the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
during various periods.


Ancient Near East

The earliest known woven textiles of the Near East may be flax fabrics used to wrap the dead; these were excavated at a
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
site at
Çatalhöyük Çatalhöyük (; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a tell of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from app ...
in
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
. Carbonized, and "protected by several layers of clay/plaster, in an anaerobic milieu.... They were 'baked', or 'steam cooked'" in a fire, and are
radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and c ...
dated to c. 6000 BC.Jenkins, pp. 39–47 Evidence exists of flax cultivation from c. 8000 BC in the Near East, but the breeding of sheep with a wooly fleece rather than hair occurs much later, c. 3000 BC. Well preserved linen textiles were found in the Cave of the Warrior and are dating around 3200 BC. In
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
, the clothing of a regular Sumerian was very simple, especially in summer. In the winter, clothes were made of sheep fur. Even wealthy men were depicted with naked torsos, wearing only short skirts, known as ''
kaunakes A ''kaunakes'' ( grc, καυνάκης or ; akk, TÚGGU-NAK-KU) or ''persis'' was a woollen mantle associated with ancient Mesopotamia and Persia. It was woven in a tufted pattern suggesting overlapping petals or feathers, either by sewing tuft ...
'', while women wore long dresses to their ankles. The king wore a tunic, and a coat that reached to his knees, with a belt in the middle. Over time, the development of the craft of
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
weaving in Mesopotamia led to a great variety in clothing. Thus, towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC and later men wore tunics with short sleeves and even over the knees, with a belt (over which the rich wore a wool cloak). Women's dresses featured more varied designs: with or without sleeves, narrow or wide, usually long and without highlighting the body Sumerian Statues from Eshnunna and Khafajah of Diyala region, Iraq Museum.jpg, Sumerian Statues of worshippers (males and females); 2800-2400 BC ( Early Dynastic period);
National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...
(
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
) Sumerian Status from Tell Asmar, part of the Tell Asmar Hoard.jpg, The god
Abu Abu or ABU may refer to: Places * Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan * Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan * Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria * Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
(?) and a female statuette; 2800-2400 BC (Early Dynastic period); from the Square Temple of Abu at
Tell Asmar Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...
(ancient
Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in th ...
(
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
)); National Museum of Iraq. The loin-cloth has become recognizably a skirt and the twisted tufts have shrunk to a fringe Ebih-Il Louvre AO17551 n01.jpg, The '' Statue of Ebih-Il''; c. 2400 BCE;
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...
,
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
, shells and lapis lazuli; height: 52.5 cm;
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
(Paris)


Ancient India

Excavations of Indus Valley civilization sites to date have yielded a few twisted cotton threads, in the context of a connecting cord for a bead necklace. However, terracotta figurines uncovered at Mehrgarh show a male figure wearing what is commonly interpreted to be a turban. A figurine, from the site of
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Dancing Girls, excavated from Mohenjo-daro, only show the wearing of bangles and other jewelry. However, the figurines do not provide any concrete proof to legitimize the history of clothing in the Harappan times. Harappans may have used natural colors to dye their fabric. Research shows that the cultivation of indigo plants (genus: ''
Indigofera ''Indigofera'' is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Description Species of ''Indigofera'' are mos ...
'') was prevalent.
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
, an ancient Greek historian, mentions
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
cotton in the 5th century BCE as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep." When
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
invaded India, in 327 BCE, his troops started wearing cotton clothes that were more comfortable than their previous
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
en ones. Strabo, another Greek historian, mentioned the vividness of Indian fabrics, and Arrian told of Indian–Arab trade of cotton fabrics in 130 CE. Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg, Statue of "Priest King" wearing a robe; 2400–1900 BCE; low fired
steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the ...
;
National Museum of Pakistan The National Museum of Pakistan ( ur, ) is located in Karachi, Pakistan. History The National Museum of Pakistan was established in Frere Hall on 17 April 1950, replacing the defunct Victoria Museum. Frere Hall itself was built in 1865 as a ...
(
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
) Didarganj_Yakshi_statue_in_the_Bihar_Museum.jpg, The
Didarganj Yakshi The Didarganj Yakshi (or Didarganj Chauri Bearer; hi, दीदारगंज यक्षी) is one of the finest examples of very early Indian stone statues. It used to be dated to the 3rd century BCE, as it has the fine Mauryan polish ass ...
depicting the ''dhoti wrap''; circa 300 BC;
Bihar Museum Bihar Museum is a museum located in Patna. It was partially opened in August 2015. 'The children's museum', the main entrance area, and an orientation theatre were the only parts opened to the public in August 2015. Later, in October 2017 r ...
(India) Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg, The
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
wearing kāṣāya robes; circa 200 BC;
Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...
(Japan) GuptaDanceMusic02.jpg, Ancient form of ''
Churidar Churidars, also churidar pyjamas, are tightly fitting trousers worn by both men and women in Indian Subcontinent. Churidars are a variant of the common shalwar pants. Shalwars are cut wide at the top and narrow at the ankle. Churidars narrow more ...
'' worn during the
Gupta period The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...
; circa 300 AD; National Museum (
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
) Raja Ravi Varma - Mahabharata - Shakuntala.jpg, Shakuntala, wife of
Dushyanta Dushyanta ( sa, दुष्यन्त, translit=Duṣyanta) is a king of the Chandravamsha (Lunar) dynasty featured in Hindu literature. He is the husband of Shakuntala and the father of Bharata. He appears in the Mahabharata and in Kalidas ...
and the mother of
Emperor Bharata Bharata ( sa, भरत, Bharata) is a legendary king featured in Hindu literature. He is a member of the Chandravamsha dynasty, and becomes the Chakravarti (universal monarch). He is regarded to be the ancestor of the Pandavas, the Kauravas, ...
, from Kalidasa's play ''
Abhijñānaśākuntala ''Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (Devanagari: अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तलम्, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam''), also known as ''Shakuntala'', ''The Recognition of Shakuntala'', ...
'', wearing a
sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...
, painting by Raja Ravi Varma, c.1870. British Museum silk princess painting.jpg, Painting on wooden panel discovered by Aurel Stein in
Dandan Oilik Dandan Oilik (), also Dandān-Uiliq, ''lit.'' "the houses with ivory", is an abandoned historic oasis town and Buddhist site in the Taklamakan Desert of China, located to the northeast of Khotan in what is now the autonomous region of Xinjiang, b ...
, depicting the legend of the princess who hid silk worm eggs in her headdress to smuggle them out of China to the Kingdom of Khotan; 7th to 8th century;
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
(London)


Ancient Egypt

Evidence exists for production of linen cloth in Ancient Egypt in the Neolithic period, c. 5500 BC. Cultivation of domesticated wild flax, probably an import from the
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
, is documented as early as c. 6000 BC. Other
bast fiber Bast fibre (also called phloem fibre or skin fibre) is plant fibre collected from the phloem (the "inner bark", sometimes called "skin") or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the phloe ...
s including rush,
reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...
,
palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...
, and
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
were used alone or with linen to make rope and other textiles. Evidence for
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
production in Egypt is scanty at this period.Jenkins, pp. 30–39 Spinning techniques included the drop spindle, hand-to-hand spinning, and rolling on the thigh; yarn was also spliced. A horizontal ground loom was used prior to the New Kingdom, when a vertical two-beam loom was introduced, probably from Asia. Linen bandages were used in the burial custom of
mummification A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
, and
art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
depicts Egyptian men wearing linen
kilt A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish ...
s and women in narrow dresses with various forms of shirts and jackets, often of sheer pleated fabric. Pair of Sandals MET 10.184.1a-b EGDP014939.jpg, Pair of sandals; 1390–1352 BC; grass, reed and
papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
;
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
(New York City) Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian costumes and decorations (1920) (14741944536).jpg, Illustration from the book ''Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian costumes and decorations'' Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian costumes and decorations (1920) (14761789471).jpg, Illustration of a Goddess from ''Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian costumes and decorations'' Berlín Sebekhotep Khahotepre.JPG, Statue of
Sobekhotep VI Khahotepre Sobekhotep VI (also known as Sobekhotep V) was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. According to Egyptologist Kim Ryholt he was the thirty-first pharaoh of the dynasty, while Darrell Baker believ ...
, who wears the Egyptian male skirt, the ''
shendyt The shendyt (šnḏyt, Schenti, Schent, Shent, Skent) was a type of loincloth similar to a skirt. It was a kilt A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven w ...
'', from
Neues Museum The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, ...
(Berlin, Germany)


Ancient China

The earliest evidence of silk production in China was found at the sites of
Yangshao culture The Yangshao culture (仰韶文化, pinyin: Yǎngsháo wénhuà) was a Neolithic culture that existed extensively along the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC. The culture is named after the Yangsh ...
in Xia, Shanxi, where a cocoon of
bombyx mori The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...
, the domesticated silkworm, cut in half by a sharp knife is dated to between 5000 and 3000 BC. Fragments of primitive looms are also seen from the sites of
Hemudu culture The Hemudu culture (5500 BC to 3300 BC) was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The culture may be divided into early and late phases, before and after 4000 BC respec ...
in Yuyao, Zhejiang, dated to about 4000 BC. Scraps of silk were found in a
Liangzhu culture The Liangzhu culture (; 3300–2300 BC) was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. The culture was highly stratified, as jade, silk, ivory and lacquer artifacts were found exclusively in elite burials, while pottery ...
site at Qianshanyang in Huzhou, Zhejiang, dating back to 2700 BC. Other fragments have been recovered from royal tombs in the hang Dynasty(c. 1600 – c. 1046 BC). Charles Meyer, ''Des mûriers dans le jardine du mandarin'', Historia, no. 648, December 2000. Under the Shang Dynasty,
Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
clothing or
Hanfu ''Hanfu'' () is the traditional styles of clothing worn by the Han Chinese. There are several representative styles of ''hanfu'', such as the (an upper-body garment with a long outer skirt), the (an upper-body garment with a long underskirt ...
consisted of a ''yi'', a narrow-cuffed, knee-length tunic tied with a sash, and a narrow, ankle-length skirt, called ''shang'', worn with a ''
bixi Bixi, or Bi Xi (), is a figure from Chinese mythology. One of the 9 sons of the dragon, 9 sons of the Dragon King, he is depicted as a Chinese dragon, dragon with the shell of a turtle. Stone Chinese sculpture, sculptures of Bixi have been used ...
'', a length of fabric that reached the knees. Clothing of the elite was made of silk in vivid primary colours. Ma Lin - Emperor Yao.jpg, Painting of
Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan name i ...
wearing a shenyi Yellow Emperor.jpg, The
Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
wearing a mianguan Woven silk, Western Han Dynasty.jpg, Woven silk textile from the Mawangdui in
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a popul ...
( Hunan province, China), from the 2nd century BC Jin Wu Di.jpg, The ''mianfu'' of Emperor Wu of Jin dynasty, 7th-century painting by court artist
Yan Liben Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed indep ...


Ancient Thailand

The earliest evidence of spinning in Thailand can be found at the archaeological site of Tha Kae located in Central Thailand. Tha Kae was inhabited during the end of the first millennium BC to the late first millennium AD. Here, archaeologists discovered 90 fragments of a spindle whorl dated from 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD. And the shape of these finds indicate the connections with south China and India.


Ancient South America

The earliest textiles found in South America date back to an estimated 12,000 years ago. These woven textiles were excavated from the Guitarrero Cave in Peru. It is assumed that they were being used by settlers for a variety of creations like baskets and wall coverings. Contrary to the assumptions that these early raids in the Andes mountains were executed exclusively by men, Edward A. Jolie's research indicates that women must have been among these settlers as well. His reason for believing so is the general cultural connection of textile weaving being produced by women.


Ancient Japan

The earliest evidence of weaving in Japan is associated with the Jōmon period. This culture is defined by pottery decorated with cord patterns. In a shell mound in the Miyagi Prefecture, dating back about 5,500, some cloth fragments made from bark fibers were discovered. Hemp fibers were also discovered in the
Torihama shell mound The is a shell midden and remains of an Early Jōmon period settlement located in the Torihama neighbourhood of the town of Wakasa, Fukui, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It is a waterlogged midden site that was occupied mainly from the Inci ...
, Fukui Prefecture, dating back to the Jōmon period, suggesting that these plants could also have been used for clothing. Some pottery pattern imprints depict also fine mat designs, proving their weaving techniques. The patterns on the Jōmon pottery show people wearing short upper garments, close-fitting trousers, funnel-sleeves, and rope-like belts. The depictions also show clothing with patterns that are embroidered or painted arched designs, though it is not apparent whether this indicates what the clothes look like or whether that simply happens to be the style of representation used. The pottery also shows no distinction between male and female garments. This may have been true because during that time period clothing was more for decoration than social distinction, but it might also just be because of the representation on the pottery rather than how people actually dressed at the time. Since bone needles were also found, it is assumed that they wore dresses that were sewn together. Next was the Yayoi period, during which rice cultivation was developed. This led to a shift from hunter-gatherer communities to agrarian societies which had a large impact on clothing. According to Chinese literature from that time period, clothing more appropriate to agriculture began to be worn. For example, an unsewn length of fabric wrapped around the body, or a poncho-type garment with a head-hole cut into it. This same literature also indicates that pink or scarlet makeup was worn but also that mannerisms between people of all ages and genders were not very different. However, this is debatable as there were probably cultural prejudices in the Chinese document. There is a common Japanese belief that the Yayoi time period was quite utopian before Chinese influence began to promote the use of clothing to indicate age and gender. From 300 to 550 AD was the Yamato period, and here much of the clothing style can be derived from the artifacts of the time. The tomb statues (haniwa) especially tell us that the clothing style changed from the ones according to the Chinese accounts from the previous age. The statues are usually wearing a two piece outfit that has an upper piece with a front opening and close-cut sleeves with loose trousers for men and a pleated skirt for women. Silk farming had been introduced by the Chinese by this time period but due to silk's cost it would only be used by people of certain classes or ranks. The following periods were the Asuka (550 to 646 AD) and Nara (646 to 794 AD) when Japan developed a more unified government and began to use Chinese laws and social rankings. These new laws required people to wear different styles and colors to indicate social status. Clothing became longer and wider in general and sewing methods were more advanced.


Classical Period of the Philippines

The classical Filipino clothing varied according to cost and current fashions and so indicated social standing. The basic garments were the bahag and the tube skirt—what the Maranao call malong—or a light blanket wrapped around instead. But more prestigious clothes, lihin-lihin, were added for public appearances and especially on formal occasions— blouses and
tunics A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rom ...
, loose smocks with
sleeves A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to '' slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, ac ...
, capes, or ankle-length robes. The textiles of which they were made were similarly varied. In ascending order of value, they were abaca, abaca decorated with colored
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
thread,
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
, cotton decorated with silk thread, silk, imported printstuff, and an elegant abaca woven of selected fibers almost as thin as
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
. In addition, Pigafetta mentioned both G-strings and skirts of bark cloth. Untailored clothes, however had no particular names. ''Pandong'', a lady's
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...
, simply meant any natural covering, like the growth on banana trunk's or a natal caul. In Panay, the word ''kurong'', meaning curly hair, was applied to any short skirt or blouse; and some better ones made of imported chintz or calico were simply called by the name of the cloth itself, tabas. So, too, the wraparound skirt the Tagalogs called tapis was hardly considered a skirt at all: Visayans just called it habul (woven stuff) or halong ( abaca) or even hulun (
sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...
). The usual male headdress was the pudong, a turban, though in Panay both men and women also wore a head cloth or bandana called ''saplung''. Commoners wore pudong of rough abaca cloth wrapped around only a few turns so that it was more of a headband than a turban and was therefore called ''pudong-pudong—as'' the
crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
s and
diadem A diadem is a type of crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", from διαδέω ''diadéō'', " ...
s on Christian images were later called. A red ''pudong'' was called magalong, and was the insignia of braves who had killed an enemy. The most prestigious kind of ''pudong'', limited to the most valiant, was, like their G-strings, made of pinayusan, a gauze-thin abaca of fibers selected for their whiteness, tie-dyed a deep scarlet in patterns as fine as embroidery, and burnished to a silky sheen. Such pudong were lengthened with each additional feat of valor: real heroes therefore let one end hang loose with affected carelessness. Women generally wore a kerchief, called tubatub if it was pulled tight over the whole head; but they also had a broad-brimmed hat called sayap or tarindak, woven of sago-palm leaves. Some were evidently signs of rank: when Humabon's queen went to hear mass during Magellan's visit, she was preceded by three girls carrying one of her
hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
s. A
headdress Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, d ...
from Cebu with a deep crown, used by both sexes for travel on foot or by boat, was called ''sarok'', which actually meant to go for water.


Classical Greece

Fabric in Ancient Greece was woven on a warp-weighted loom. The first extant image of eavinghttps://www.britannica.com/technology/weaving in western art is from
terracotta lekythos
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. The vase, c. 550-530 B.C.E., depicts two women weaving at an upright loom. The warp threads, which run vertically to a bar at the top, are tied together with weights at the bottom, which hold them taut. The woman on the right runs the shuttle containing the weaving thread across the middle of the warp. The woman on the left uses a beater to consolidate the already-woven threads. Dress in
classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
favored wide, unsewn lengths of fabric, pinned and draped to the body in various ways.
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
clothing consisted of lengths of wool or linen, generally rectangular and secured at the shoulders with ornamented pins called
fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...
e and belted with a sash. Typical garments were the
peplos A peplos ( el, ὁ πέπλος) is a body-length garment established as typical attire for women in ancient Greece by circa 500 BC, during the late Archaic and Classical period. It was a long, rectangular cloth with the top edge folded down a ...
, a loose robe worn by women; the chlamys, a
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...
worn by men; and the chiton, a tunic worn by both men and women. Men's chitons hung to the knees, whereas women's chitons fell to their ankles. A long cloak called a himation was worn over the peplos or chlamys. The
toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...
of ancient Rome was also an unsewn length of wool cloth, worn by male citizens draped around the body in various fashions, over a simple
tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
. Early tunics were two simple rectangles joined at the shoulders and sides; later tunics had sewn
sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, acro ...
s. Women wore the draped
stola The stola () (pl. ''stolae'') was the traditional garment of Roman women, corresponding to the toga that was worn by men. It was also called ''vestis longa'' in Latin literary sources, pointing to its length. History The ''stola'' was a staple ...
or an ankle-length tunic, with a
shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...
-like palla as an outer garment. Wool was the preferred fabric, although linen, hemp, and small amounts of expensive imported silk and cotton were also worn.


Iron Age Europe

The
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
is broadly identified as stretching from the end of the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
around 1200 BC to 500 AD and the beginning of the
Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
period. Bodies and clothing have been found from this period, preserved by the anaerobic and acidic conditions of
peat bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg ...
in northwestern Europe. A Danish recreation of clothing found with such bodies indicates woven wool dresses, tunics and skirts. These were largely unshaped and held in place with leather belts and metal brooches or pins. Garments were not always plain, but incorporated decoration with contrasting colours, particularly at the ends and edges of the garment. Men wore
breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's c ...
, possibly with lower legs wrapped for protection, although Boucher states that long trousers have also been found. Warmth came from woollen shawls and capes of animal skin, probably worn with the fur facing inwards for added comfort. Caps were worn, also made from skins, and there was an emphasis on hair arrangements, from
braids A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...
to elaborate Suebian knots. Soft laced shoes made from leather protected the foot.


Medieval clothing and textiles

The history of
Medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
an clothing and textiles has inspired a good deal of scholarly interest in the 21st century. Elisabeth Crowfoot, Frances Pritchard, and Kay Staniland authored ''Textiles and Clothing: Medieval Finds from Excavations in London, c.1150-c.1450'' (Boydell Press, 2001). The topic is also the subject of an annual series, ''Medieval Clothing and Textiles'' (Boydell Press), edited by Robin Netherton and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, Emeritus Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the
University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
.


Byzantium

The Byzantines made and exported very richly patterned cloth, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and
printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The e ...
for the lower. By Justinian's time the Roman toga had been replaced by the
tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
a, or long '' chiton'', for both sexes, over which the upper classes wore various other garments, like a ''dalmatica'' (
dalmatic The dalmatic is a long, wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, United Methodist, and some other churches. When used, it is the proper vestment of a deacon at Mass, Holy Communion or other ...
), a heavier and shorter type of tunica; short and long
cloak A cloak is a type of loose garment worn over clothing, mostly but not always as outerwear for outdoor wear, serving the same purpose as an overcoat, protecting the wearer from the weather. It may form part of a uniform. Cloaks have been and ...
s were fastened on the right shoulder. Leggings and hose were often worn, but are not prominent in depictions of the wealthy; they were associated with barbarians, whether European or Persian.


Early medieval Europe

European dress changed gradually in the years 400 to 1100. People in many countries dressed differently depending on whether they identified with the old Romanised population, or the new invading populations such as
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
,
Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
, and
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
. Men of the invading peoples generally wore short
tunic A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
s, with belts, and visible trousers, hose or leggings. The Romanised populations, and the Church, remained faithful to the longer tunics of Roman formal costume. The elite imported silk cloth from the Byzantine, and later Muslim, worlds, and also probably cotton. They also could afford bleached linen and dyed and simply patterned wool woven in Europe itself. But embroidered decoration was probably very widespread, though not usually detectable in art. Lower classes wore local or homespun wool, often undyed, trimmed with bands of decoration, variously
embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...
, tablet-woven bands, or colorful borders woven into the fabric in the loom.Østergård, Else, ''Woven into the Earth: Textiles from Norse Greenland'', Aarhus University Press, 2004,


High Middle Ages and the rise of fashion

Clothing in 12th and 13th century Europe remained very simple for both men and women, and quite uniform across the subcontinent. The traditional combination of short tunic with hose for working-class men and long tunic with overdress for women and upper-class men remained the norm. Most clothing, especially outside the wealthier classes, remained little changed from three or four centuries earlier. The 13th century saw great progress in the dyeing and working of wool, which was by far the most important material for outerwear. Linen was increasingly used for clothing that was directly in contact with the skin. Unlike wool, linen could be laundered and bleached in the sun. Cotton, imported raw from Egypt and elsewhere, was used for padding and quilting, and cloths such as
buckram Buckram is a stiff cotton (occasionally linen or horse hair) cloth with a loose weave, often muslin. The fabric is soaked in a sizing agent such as wheat-starch paste, glue (such as PVA glue), or pyroxylin (gelatinized nitrocellulose, dev ...
and
fustian Fustian is a variety of heavy cloth woven from cotton, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used figuratively to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare. This literary use is beca ...
.
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
returning from the
Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
brought knowledge of its fine textiles, including light silks, to Western Europe. In Northern Europe, silk was an imported and very expensive luxury. The well-off could afford woven brocades from Italy or even further afield. Fashionable Italian silks of this period featured repeating patterns of roundels and animals, deriving from Ottoman silk-weaving centres in Bursa, and ultimately from
Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
China via the Silk Road. Cultural and costume historians agree that the mid-14th century marks the emergence of recognizable "fashion" in Europe. From this century onwards, Western fashion changed at a pace quite unknown to other civilizations, whether ancient or contemporary. In most other cultures, only major political changes, such as the
Muslim conquest of India The Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 13th to 17th centuries. Earlier Muslim conquests include the invasions into what is now modern-day Pakistan and the Umayyad campaigns in India in eighth century and res ...
, produced radical changes in clothing, and in China, Japan, and the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
fashion changed only slightly over periods of several centuries. In this period, the draped garments and straight seams of previous centuries were replaced by curved seams and the beginnings of tailoring, which allowed clothing to more closely fit the human form, as did the use of lacing and
button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...
s. A fashion for ''mi-parti'' or ''parti-coloured'' garments made of two contrasting fabrics, one on each side, arose for men in mid-century, and was especially popular at the English court. Sometimes just the hose would have different colours on each leg.


Renaissance and early modern period


Renaissance Europe

Wool remained the most popular fabric for all classes, followed by linen and hemp.Koslin, Désirée, "Value-Added Stuffs and Shifts in Meaning: An Overview and Case-Study of Medieval Textile Paradigms", in Koslin and Snyder, ''Encountering Medieval Textiles and Dress'', pp. 237–240 Wool fabrics were available in a wide range of qualities, from rough undyed cloth to fine, dense
broadcloth Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then he ...
with a velvety nap; high-value broadcloth was a backbone of the English economy and was exported throughout Europe.Crowfoot, Elizabeth, Frances Prichard and Kay Staniland, ''Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 -c. 1450'', Museum of London, 1992, Wool fabrics were dyed in rich colours, notably reds, greens, golds, and blues. Silk-weaving was well established around the Mediterranean by the beginning of the 15th century, and figured silks, often silk
velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
s with silver-gilt
weft Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is dra ...
s, are increasingly seen in Italian dress and in the dress of the wealthy throughout Europe. Stately floral designs featuring a
pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
or
artichoke The globe artichoke ('' Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green artich ...
motif had reached Europe from China in the previous century and became a dominant design in the Ottoman silk-producing cities of
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
and Bursa, and spread to silk weavers in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, Venice,
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
and
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
in this period. As prosperity grew in the 15th century, the urban middle classes, including skilled workers, began to wear more complex clothes that followed, at a distance, the fashions set by the elites. National variations in clothing increased over the century.Boucher


Early Modern Europe

By the first half of the 16th century, the clothing of the Low Countries, German states, and Scandinavia had developed in a different direction than that of England, France, and Italy, although all absorbed the sobering and formal influence of Spanish dress after the mid-1520s. Elaborate slashing was popular, especially in Germany. Black was increasingly worn for the most formal occasions. Bobbin lace arose from
passementerie Passementerie (, ) or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings (in French, ) of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings. Styles of passementerie include the tas ...
in the mid-16th century, probably in
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
.Montupet, Janine, and Ghislaine Schoeller: ''Lace: The Elegant Web'', This century also saw the rise of the
ruff Ruff may refer to: Places *Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community *Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
, which grew from a mere ruffle at the neckline of the shirt or chemise to immense cartwheel shapes. At their most extravagant, ruffs required wire supports. By the turn of the 17th century, a sharp distinction could be seen between the sober fashions favored by Protestants in England and the Netherlands, which still showed heavy Spanish influence, and the light, revealing fashions of the French and Italian courts. The great flowering of
needlelace Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to stitch up hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself. In its purest form, the only equipment and materials used are a needle, thread and scissors. The origins of needl ...
occurred in this period. Geometric reticella deriving from cutwork was elaborated into true needlelace or ''punto in aria'' (called in England "point lace"), which reflected the scrolling floral designs popular for embroidery. Lacemaking centers were established in France to reduce the outflow of cash to Italy. According to Dr. Wolf D. Fuhrig, "By the second half of the 17th century, Silesia had become an important economic pillar of the Habsburg monarchy, largely on the strength of its textile industry."


Mughal India

Mughal India (16th to 18th centuries) was the most important center of
manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
in
international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...
up until the 18th century. Up until 1750, India produced about 25% of the world's
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
output. The largest manufacturing industry in Mughal India was
textile manufacturing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
, particularly
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
manufacturing, which included the production of
piece goods Piece goods were the textile materials sold in cut pieces as per the buyer's specification. The piece goods were either cut from a fabric roll or produced with a certain length, also called yard goods. Various textiles such as cotton, wool, silk, ...
,
calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
s, and
muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate hands ...
s, available unbleached and in a variety of colours. The cotton
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...
was responsible for a large part of India's international trade. India had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century. Indian cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
to Japan. The most important center of cotton production was the
Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Be ...
province, particularly around its capital city of
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
.Richard Maxwell Eaton (1996)
''The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760'', page 202
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
accounted for more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks imported by the Dutch from Asia, Bengali silk and cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan,
John F. Richards John F. Richards (November 3, 1938 – August 23, 2007) was a historian of South Asia and in particular of the Mughal Empire. He was Professor of History at Duke University, North Carolina, and a recipient in 2007 of the Distinguished Contributio ...
(1995)
''The Mughal Empire'', page 202
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...
and Bengali muslin textiles from Dhaka were sold in
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
, where they were known as "daka" textiles. Indian textiles dominated the
Indian Ocean trade Indian Ocean trade has been a key factor in East–West exchanges throughout history. Long-distance trade in dhows and proas made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Southeast Asia to Ea ...
for centuries, were sold in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
trade, and had a 38% share of the
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...
n trade in the early 18th century, while Indian calicos were major force in Europe, and Indian textiles accounted for 20% of total English trade with
Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alba ...
in the early 18th century. In early modern Europe, there was significant demand for textiles from Mughal India, including
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
textiles and
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
products.Karl J. Schmidt (2015)
''An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History'', page 100
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...
European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on Mughal Indian textiles and silks. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Mughal India accounted for 95% of British imports from
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.
Om Prakash Om Prakash (born Om Prakash Chibber 19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber and went on to become a well-known character actor of Bollywood. His most well-known movies are Na ...
,
Empire, Mughal
, ''History of World Trade Since 1450'', edited by John J. McCusker, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp. 237-240, ''World History in Context'', accessed 3 August 2017
Emphasis was placed on the adornment of women. Even though the purdah was made compulsory for the Mughal women, we see that this did not stop themselves from experimenting in style and attire. Abul Fazal mentions that there were sixteen components that adorned a woman. These not only included clothing but also other aspects like that of oiling the body and iqtar. Mughal women wore long loose jamas with full sleeves and in winters it was accompanied by a Qaba or a Kashmir shawl used as a coat. Women were very fond of their perfumes and scents. Jewellery in the Mughal tradition signified not only religious values but also style statements.


Pre-Colonial North America

Across North America, native people constructed clothing using natural fibers such as cotton and agave as well as leather skins from animals such as deer or beavers. When traders and colonists came from Europe, they brought with them sheep and travelers highly valued the beaver pelts in particular for their warmth. Beaver pelt trade was one of the first commercial endeavors of colonial North America and a cause of the Beaver Wars.


Enlightenment and the Colonial period

During the 18th century, distinction was made between ''full dress'' worn at Court and for formal occasions, and ''undress'' or everyday, daytime clothes. As the decades progressed, fewer and fewer occasions called for full dress which had all but disappeared by the end of the century. Full dress followed the styles of the French court, where rich silks and elaborate embroidery reigned. Men continued to wear the coat,
waistcoat A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...
and
breeches Breeches ( ) are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's c ...
for both full dress and undress; these were now sometimes made of the same fabric and trim, signalling the birth of the three-piece suit. Women's silhouettes featured small, domed hoops in the 1730s and early 1740s, which were displaced for formal court wear by side hoops or
panniers A pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from a Middle English borrowing of the Old French '' ...
which later widened to as much as three feet to either side at the court of Marie Antoinette. Fashion reached heights of fantasy and abundant ornamentation, before new enthusiasms for outdoor sports and country pursuits and a long-simmering movement toward simplicity and democratization of dress under the influence of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
and the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
led to an entirely new mode and the triumph of British woollen tailoring following the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. For women's dresses, Indian cottons, especially printed
chintz Chintz () is a woodblock printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile that originated in Golconda (present day Hyderabad, India) in the 16th century. The cloth is printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colour ...
es, were imported to Europe in large numbers, and towards the end of the period simple white
muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured. Muslin of uncommonly delicate hands ...
dresses were in fashion.


Industrial revolution

During the
industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, fabric production was mechanised with machines powered by waterwheels and steam-engines. Production shifted from small cottage based production to mass production based on assembly line organisation. Clothing production, on the other hand, continued to be made by hand. Sewing machines emerged in the 19th century streamlining clothing production. Textiles were not only made in factories. Before this, they were made in local and national markets. Dramatic change in transportation throughout the nation is one source that encouraged the use of factories. New advances such as steamboats, canals, and railroads lowered shipping costs which caused people to buy cheap goods that were produced in other places instead of more expensive goods that were produced locally. Between 1810 and 1840, the development of a national market prompted manufacturing which tripled the output's worth. This increase in production created a change in industrial methods, such as the use of factories instead of hand made woven materials that families usually made. The vast majority of the people who worked in the factories were women. Women went to work in textile factories for a number of reasons. Some women left home to live on their own because of crowding at home; or to save for future marriage portions. The work enabled them to see more of the world, to earn something in anticipation of marriage, and to ease the crowding within the home. They also did it to make money for family back home. The money they sent home was to help out with the trouble some of the farmers were having. They also worked in the millhouses because they could gain a sense of independence and growth as a personal goal.


20th-century developments

The 20th century is marked by new applications for textiles as well as inventions in synthetic fibers and computerized manufacturing control systems.


Unions

In the early 20th century, workers in the clothing and textile industries became
unionized A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
in the United States.


Education

In the 20th century, the industry had expanded to such a degree that such educational institutions as UC Davis established a Division of Textiles and Clothing, The
University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
also created a Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design that offers a Masters of Arts in Textile History, and
Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
established a Department of Textiles and Clothing that features a History of costume collection, 1865–1948. The Smith College Historic Clothing Collection, maintained by the college's theater department, houses 3000 items, everyday type clothing often overlooked by collections that focus on items that are considered unique or otherwise of interest. Even high school libraries have collections on the history of clothing and textiles.


New applications

The changing lifestyles, activities, and demands of the 20th century favored clothing producers who could more effectively make their products have desired properties, such as increased strength, elasticity, or durability. These properties may be implemented through mechanical solutions, such as different weaving and knitting patterns, by modifications to the fibers, or by finishing (textiles) of the textiles. Since the 1960s, it has been possible to finish textiles to resist stains, flames, wrinkles, and microbial life. Advancement in dye technology allowed for coloring of previously difficult-to-dye natural fibers and synthetic fibers.


Synthetic fibers

Following the invention of plastics by petroleum and chemical corporations, fibers could now be made synthetically. Advancements in fiber spinning actuators and control systems allow control over fiber diameter and shape, so synthetic fiber may be engineered with more precision than natural fibers. Fibers invented between 1930 and 1970 include nylon, PTFE, polyester, Spandex, and Kevlar. Clothing producers soon adopted synthetic fibers, often using blends of different fibers for optimized properties. Synthetic fibers can be knit and woven similarly to natural fibers. Synthetic fibers are made by humans through chemical synthesis as opposed to natural fibers.


Automation and numeric control

The early 20th century continued the advances of the Industrial Revolution. In The procedural loops required for mechanized textile knitting and weaving already used logic were encoded in punch-cards and tapes. Since the machines were already computers, the invention of small-scale electronics and microcontrollers did not immediately change the possible functions of these machines. In the 1960s, existing machines became outfitted with computerized numeric control (CNC) systems, enabling more accurate and efficient actuation. In 1983, Bonas Machine Company Ltd. presented the first computer-controlled, electronic, Jacquard loom. In 1988, the first US patent was awarded for a "pick and place" robot. Advancements such as these changed the nature of work for machine operators, introducing computer literacy as a skill alongside machine literacy. Advances in sensing technology and data processing of the 20th century include the spectrophotometer for color matching and automatic inspection machines.


21st century issues

In the 2010s, the global textile industry has come under fire for unsustainable practices. The textile industry is shown to have a 'negative environmental impact at most stages in the production process.
Global trade of secondhand clothing The global trade of secondhand clothing has a long history. Until the mid 19th century, second hand clothing was an important way of acquiring clothing. Only through industrialization, mass production, and increasing income, was the general publ ...
shows promise for reducing landfill use, however international relations and challenges to textile recycling keep the market small compared to total clothing use. Over consumption and waste generation in global fashion culture has led brands and retailers worldwide to embrace textile recycling, which has become a key focus of worldwide sustainability efforts. Brands increasingly advertise products made from recycled materials in according with shifting consumer expectations. From 2010, investments in textile recycling companies have boomed to scale recycling solutions to the global demand, with
Inditex Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, in Spain. Inditex, the biggest fast fashion group in the world, operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. ...
backing textile-to-textile recycling company Circ in July 2022 or Goldman Sachs leading an investment in mechanically recycled cotton company Recover Textile Systems. Advancements in textile treatment, coating, and dyes have unclear effects in human health, and textile
contact dermatitis Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes are ...
is increasing in prevalence among textile workers, and regular people. Scholars have identified an increase in the rate at which western consumers purchase new clothing, as well as a decrease in the lifespan of clothing. Fast fashion has been suggested to contribute to increased levels of textile waste. The worldwide market for textiles and apparel exports in 2013 according to United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database stood at $772 billion. In 2016, the largest apparel exporting nations were China ($161 billion),
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
($28 billion),
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
($25 billion),
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
($18 billion),
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
($16 billion),
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
($15 billion) and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
($7 billion).


See also

*
History of fashion design History of fashion design refers specifically to the development of the purpose and intention behind garments, shoes an accessories, and their design and construction. The modern industry, based around firms or fashion houses run by individual de ...
* History of hide materials *
History of silk The production of silk originated in Neolithic China within the Yangshao culture (4th millennium BCE). Though it would later reach other places in the world, the art of silk production remained confined to China until the Silk Road opened at 11 ...
*
History of Western fashion The following is a chronological list of articles covering the history of Western fashion—the story of the changing fashions in clothing in countries under influence of the Western world⁠—from the 5th century to the present. History of fa ...
* Otzi's clothing and shoes *
Timeline of clothing and textiles technology This timeline of clothing and textiles technology covers the events of fiber and flexible woven material worn on the body; including making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, and manufacturing systems (te ...


References


Bibliography

* Boucher, François.
20,000 Years of Fashion ''20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment'' is a dictionary of western fashion from ancient times up to the 1960s, edited by Francois Boucher and his longtime assistant Yvonne Deslandres. The book is widely cited a ...
: The history of costume and personal adornment. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1987 * Jenkins, David, ed.: ''The Cambridge History of Western Textiles'', Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003, * Payne, Blanche; Winakor, Geitel; Farrell-Beck Jane (1992) ''The History of Costume, from the Ancient Mesopotamia to the Twentieth Century'', 2nd Edn, HarperCollins * Piponnier, Françoise, and Perrine Mane; ''Dress in the Middle Ages''; Yale UP; 1997;


Further reading

* Ashelford, Jane: ''The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500–1914'', Abrams, 1996. * Arnold, Janet: ''Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560–1620'', Macmillan 1985. Revised edition 1986. () * Barber, Elizabeth Jane Wayland. ''Women's work: the first 20,000 years: women, cloth, and society in early times'' (WW Norton, 1994). * Braudel, Fernand, ''Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life,'' William Collins & Sons, London 1981 * Besancenot, Jean. ''Costumes of Morocco'' (Kegan Paul International, 1990) . . * Conrad, James L. "' Drive That Branch': Samuel Slater, the Power Loom, and the Writing of America's Textile History." ''Technology and culture ''36.1 (1995): 1-28
online
* Good, Irene. "Archaeological textiles: a review of current research." ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' (2001): 209–226
online
* Gordenker, Emilie E.S.: ''Van Dyck and the Representation of Dress in Seventeenth-Century Portraiture'' (Brepols, 2001), * Hodges, Nancy, et al. "Women and apparel entrepreneurship: An exploration of small business challenges and strategies in three countries." ''International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship'' (2015
online
* Kõhler, Carl: ''A History of Costume'', Dover Publications reprint, 1963, from 1928 Harrap translation from the German, * Kortsch, Christine Bayles. ''Dress Culture in Late Victorian Women's Fiction: Literacy, Textiles, and Activism'' (2009
excerpt
* Lee, John S.: ''The Medieval Clothier'', Woodbridge, Boydell, 2018, * Lee, Mireille M. ''Body, dress, and identity in ancient Greece'' (Cambridge University Press, 2015). * Lefébure, Ernest: ''Embroidery and Lace: Their Manufacture and History from the Remotest Antiquity to the Present Day'', London, H. Grevel and Co., 1888, ed. by Alan S. Cole, a
Online Books
retrieved 14 October 2007 * Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, ''Medieval Clothing and Textiles'', (3 vol Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY, the Boydell Press, 2005–2007, * Olson, Kelly. ''Dress and the Roman woman: self-presentation and society'' (Routledge, 2012), in ancient Rome. * Payne, Blanche: ''History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century'', Harper & Row, 1965. * Postrel, Virginia. ''The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World'' (Bassic Books, 2020
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* Rosen, Ellen. ''Making sweatshops: The globalization of the US apparel industry'' (Univ of California Press, 2002). * Tortora, Phyllis G. ''Dress, fashion and technology: From prehistory to the present'' (Bloomsbury, 2015). * * Welters, Linda, and Abby Lillethun. ''Fashion history: A global view'' (Bloomsbury, 2018). * Yafa, Stephen. ''Cotton: The biography of a revolutionary fiber'' (Penguin, 2006)
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Primary sources

* Sylvester, Louise M., Mark C. Chambers and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, ''Medieval Dress and Textiles in Britain: A Multilingual Sourcebook'', Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, and Rochester, NY,
Boydell Press Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, editio ...
, 2014.


External links


Textile production in Europe, 1600–1800
at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Spindle, Loom, and Needle
– History of the Textile Industry * – Why have a Museum of Clothing and Textiles?
Linking Anthropology and History in Textiles and Clothing Research: The Ethnohistorical Method by Rachel K. Pannabecker
– from Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3, 14–18 (1990)
The drafting history of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing


Clothing and Fashion
All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume


{{Historical clothing * Textiles Clothing and textiles