Whats Fashion

Fashion is something we deal with everyday. In today’s world each and every person is  conscious about what he is wearing ,his looks etc. Every one likes to look good and the only medium for looking good is clothes. A perfect clothing can make any imperfect figure look good.

What is fashion?

Fashion is a very vast term. Fashion is a state of mind. Fashion is a form of free speech.  Fashion talks, it express one's own self. It’s very difficult to define fashion. Most of all fashion is about being comfortable with ones self, translating self-esteem into a personal style. Fashion is a mean of communication. It tells each and every thing about the person who wears it. It indicates the person’s status level. Fashion is about change that is necessary to keep life interesting.

   . There are many deformities in a natural human body. If people are always nude then they will feel ashamed of one another due to many weak points they have e.g. scars on body, full or flat breasts, fat or thin body etc. To cover these defects in a human body fashion is required .It communicates things like social status and sex as well as enhancing attractiveness. Fashion is not only restricted to our clothing but also includes our hairstyles, footwear, jewellery, way we smoke, bodily decoration such as piercing, tattooing etc..

Fashion is not what we wear but how we wear. E.g. a normal pant is not into fashion but ways like folding it from below, making embroidery on it, making some patchwork, opening a slit, cutting the belt etc is in fashion.

Importance of fashion

Clothes indicate occupation, rank, gender etc Fashion is revealing so it can be used to express ones self. People judge others by what they is wearing. Clothes reveal what group’s people are in. Today a personality is judged by what he is wearing and not by his educational qualifications. People will always prefer talking to a guy who is wearing a decent blazer and looking up to date even if he has no educational qualifications. But will avoid talking to a shabby looking scholar.

Fashion is the way of measuring a mood that can be useful in many aspects, culturally, socially even psychologically. A right fashion indicates your occupation. For instance, a businessman might look as a boy with funky clothes, colored hairs and multiple piercing Acceptance or rejection of a style is a reaction to the society we live in.

Occupation, Status and Purpose of Clothing

Clothes protect us from climatic conditions like cold, rain etc. Clothes should be worn according to the climate. One cannot wear a sweater in summer, or a raincoat when it’s not raining. Clothes express your inner feelings. If you are wearing a sweater the opposite person will definitely come to know that you are feeling cold.

Status Symbols

Those with high status occupations will wear the clothes they think others expect them to wear. They will not wish to experience role conflict by wearing the incorrect clothing. Branded and designer wears are in trend if high society today. Even if a renowned designer manufactures a very normal shirt it has a great demand. It’s not the demand of the shirt but it’s the demand of the designers name in the market. People feel proud to say that they are wearing a shirt exclusively designed by  Abhay Samant or whosoever the designer might be.

Birth of fashion.

Evolution: We use clothes to protect our selves from different vagaries of climate, to look good etc but what led to the evolution of clothes since the Stone Age……….

   It is a common belief that clothes came into being to protect one self from the climate but this belief may be untrue as we see through this point.

For protection against climate?

Two thousand years before people in England were not used to wearing clothes and they never felt a need to do so in spite of very cold climate in England. It was certainly not a necessity.

Till the last century tribes in different cold regions used to stay stark nude as they were used to the climatic condition of the region. Several tribes in the hilly and remote region of India and Africa too have the same practice. Particularly Naga and Bali tribes follow the same custom till date.

Even the women folk are bare till waist.

   Though our face is too sensitive we do not cover it, this shows that clothes are not a necessity.

For Self Dignity?

   Different studies revealed that different countries and regions, religions and faith have had their own customs in way of clothing. A few centuries ago when different parts of the world were not accessible to each other each region had its own unique style and code of dressing. With the advent of transport and communication facilities people traveled across the globe, exchanged ideas and exchanged each others style and code of dressing.

   European females felt it below their dignity to be seen bare feet. Even in their houses they have their footwear on but have no hesitation in revealing their cleavage to the maximum.

It is considered common for the fishermen and tribes to wear only napkins around their groins but if any white-collar man does the same it is considered a taboo.

In western countries striptease dance club have a place of pride for mischievous night where women stripe off their costumes one by one till they are completely nude. A few stage shows have women performing nude on stage and mingling in the audience.

The Rio carnival is a tradition followed in Brazil where women have crazy costumes, which are more revealing than covering

So to sum it up all costumes are not necessarily a means of self-dignity.

From above mentioned things we come to a conclusion that need for clothes is more psychological than physical.

   How the clothes came into being

The need for clothes can be traced to the psychological need for looking good and beautiful. Before the clothes came into being, body painting and tattooing were practiced to look good

 Let us have a look at how it changed form

Since Stone Age man started to struggle for looking good let us see how this struggle led to evolution of clothes

Body Coloring: - The Stone Age man started using ash, mud, and different colors of soil to color their body. But this method of coloring was temporary and time consuming. So he started making blocks of different images such as sun, moon, stars, hills, trees etc for looking good

Tattooing: - to make the color long lasting and effective he started coloring his body with different oils extracted from uses of plants and fats of different animals but this color too used to fed in a few days.

So to give a permanent effect man started tattooing his body with the help of fish bones, pointed stones and animal teeth. He used to tattoo his body with the images like flowers animals God sun, moon, hills, trees etc.

The next step was coloring this tattoos with different colors but these colors were also not long lasting, so a process of filling permanent colors during tattooing was evolved Tattooing is practiced even today in various forms. The custom of tattooing was so much accustomed to that each and every body was been colored and people came to know that body looks beautiful when it was decorated.

The stage of evolution in fashion was weaving of rings and garlands made up of flowers fish bone animal bones etc. The ancient people in Brazil and South Africa used to pierce their lips in the center and the Equinox people staying on the bank of the river Mackenzie used to pierce their chicks. People in north America and Samoa in Pacific ocean and Tahiti Islands thought that there was real beauty in broad forehead .So people started making the foreheads broad by applying pressure on the fore head, soon after birth. The females in Hautentaut felt that there was more beauty in big breasts. So they used to pull their breasts, some women pulled their breasts so long that the child strapped to the back suckle the milk right from its position.

Next step was to color different items put on the body with different color shades. Certainly strings made up of plants used to tie up these things together were also colored with different color such as re yellow blue etc.People started becoming fed up of this excruciatingly painful way of looking good. So now they thought of decorating their bodies by using different things. So they used to put different things in the holes pierced in the body. Australians used to put shells on the holes pierced in their nose and Papuans used to put small and rotund bones in the holes of their nose. The Brazilians used to put bones in the holes of their lower lips Even the African used to put feathers on their head. Some tribes used to hang Elephant tusks on their hands and legs.

As time progressed barks of trees were used to decorate the body this led to weaving of different barks of different colors to add variety. This gave birth to the cloth, which was made similar to the mat, by criss – cross weaving. This was cloth in its earliest form.

Different people used this by tying it around the waist or necks, and around their chest. Some even tied it around their head. People in that time used to stay in large groups. This custom was slowly and steadily transformed from one group to the. So after watching each of the tribes started filling ashamed and started practicing the same custom. This custom progressed in such a way that people felt ashamed to show their groin parts and started covering them with clothes. This woven mat like cloth was transformed and improved slowly and steadily into cloth.

The private parts of the body were always covered with cloth and provided protection from the climate .So the body became accustomed to the cloth and thus cloth became a necessity. This is how the cloth, which was evolved for looking good, became an indispensable necessity

Fashion in Ancient India

FASHION IN ANCIENT INDIA.

Scouring the ancient Indian texts such as Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Upanishads reveal that the Aryans who inhabitant India several thousands of years ago, had a great sense of style in tune with simplicity. It also reveals their progress and knowledge of weaving various kinds of clothes, especially cotton and silk. Cotton was grown extensively and exclusively only in India during the early Vedic period.

During the mahabharata time, which dates back to some 5000 years ago, the Aryans had a simple dress code. The men wore ‘Dhoti’ below their waist up to the ankles and another ‘uparna’ of the same length around their upper body. This practice is followed in rural India even today.

There are references to the Greeks and the Romans in the epic and their style was similar and the length of the cloth also did not vary. But the Romans and Greeks tied the cloth around their waist in a circular manner whereas the Aryans formed the pleats and would tie a tail extension from the front- bring it back from in between the legs – tuck it to the back of the waist. Thus, the Aryans revealed better taste in styling of clothes and were well versed with the tying of the ‘Dhoti’, which was more practical and gave more freedom to the movement of legs.

The style and quality of the cloth varied across different classes according to the position in society and profession. The common-folk or working class wore clothes that were made of coarse and unevenly textured cotton which were usually white. The officers in the administration and the king’s court wore clothes made of fine and evenly textured cotton in varied hues and colors. The rich and nobles wore clothes made up of silk which was a bit coarse, but colorful.

            The ministers, princes and kings wore clothes made of super-fine silk and had superior colors. The king’s clothes were trimmed with expensive articles and woven with silver and gold threads to create different patterns and designs. The kings and princes also had a couple of yards long piece of cloth tied on the ‘dhoti’ around the hips and were pleated knotted at the front on the abdomen to justify their rank and position. It was topped up with a ‘cummer-bund’ i.e. a belt of gold encrusted with pearls, diamonds and other precious stones. A large ruby, diamonds or other gem was encrusted at the center of the ‘cummer-bund’ to signify his authority.

The common man wore clothes according to the profession he pursued. It he was a farmer he would use yellow or brown colored clothes. If he was a fisherman he would wear only a loincloth known as ‘langot’. If a cook, he wore black colored clothes due to smoke and grime involved in his profession. The keepers of stables and cowsheds would wear knee-length ‘dhoti. All of these had to forsake the ‘uparna  ‘ during work.

The priests would wear spotlessly white ‘dhoti’ and ‘uparna’ to signify the renouncing of the world. The head priest or "mahant" also known as ‘rajpurohit’ i.e. priests of the royal family, wore yellow colored clothes made of superfine cotton. The pradhan or the prime minister wore coarse silk or superfine silk depending on his experience, knowledge of the administration and the king’s confidence in him. It was certainly not as superfine as the prince or the king. It also had lesser trimmings and intricacies in weaving than the prince or the king. The same for nobles. The ascetics sometimes also wore ‘Valkalas’ made by weaving mats of grass. It symbolized renouncing worldly manifestations, artificial attachments and living in sync with nature.

The womenfolk also followed dress code according to rank and position.

The ‘dasi’ or maidservant wore coarse cotton clothes. If she was a close confidante of the queen or princess she wore superfine cotton and in some exceptional cases, the queen’s or princess’ cast-offs. The women’s dress code was in harmony to their husband’s profession. A priest’s wife wore green or red cotton sari known as ‘kanchuki’. A noble’s wife would be dressed in fine cotton in varied hues according to her husband’s rank. A minister’s wife would be dressed in superfine cotton or coarse to fine silk according to her husband’s position and office. The worker’s wife had to live in sync with her husband’s income and so, more often than not, wore coarse cotton and cast-offs from the society ladies of the time. The colors of their clothes would match their husband’s and she too played a part in her husband’s profession.

                                    HEADGEAR            

The Aryans had a sense of style even when it came to donning the headgear. Almost the entire population had headgears of various styles in accordance with their profession. It was known as ‘Ushnish’ or ‘Pagota’.

The farmers and the working class while working wore short in –length cotton headgear, which was tied casually around the head and sometimes, covering the ears. It doubled up as a napkin or towel to wipe away sweat, grime etc. it also served as a protection from the sun.  During the past time or a day –off the headgear would be longer in length and was systematically tied in several windings around the head. The cook used to make do without one, as it was impractical while cooking due to the smoke and vapours. On an off day, he too would don the headgear known as ‘Pagota’ like other people.

The officer-cadre would wear headgear made out of fine cloth usually cotton in varied hues and colors. The color of the headgear would complement the color of the dress. The nobles would wear super-fine cotton headgear with trimmings. The head priest or purohit would wear superfine cotton headgear in a particular style unique to his position with gold or silver trimmings. The ministers, particularly ‘Pradhan’ or the prime minister, would wear headgear of cotton –silk blends or pure silk to assert their authority. It would be decorated with feathers, lace, pearls, brooch and other trimmings.

            The prince and other members of the royal household would have a gold crown on their heads. A young prince would usually wear a half-crown façade with intricate designs. The ‘Yuvraj’ or the king-in-waiting would wear a full crown encrusted with precious stones. The height of the crown would be less than that of the king’s crown. The king’s crown was the most majestic and tallest of them all. It was encrusted with several precious stones and was intricately carved in gold. At the center of the crown, above his forehead, would be a large diamond, ruby or other precious stone. It was known as ‘Shiromani’. No other crown or ‘Shiromani’ in the kingdom was as large or even nearer in size to the king’s. The size would also depend on the wealth, might and expanse of his kingdom. The vassal king’s would have smaller crown and lesser-valued ‘Shiromani’.   A ‘Kalash’ topped the crown.

            The elderly members of the royal family would usually wear white silk headgear with trimmings. It underlined their wisdom and experience. It also went well with their white hair and beard. A Greek historian, Arian notes in his anecdotes on Indian life-style:” The people of Bharat wear a lengthy cloth below their waist to the ankles and it is pleated and has numerous folds. Each leg has an independent cover of cloth and it is taken from the front and tucked in the back. The same quality of cloth is used to cover upper body and tied in a knot above the left shoulder. This is to ensure maximum freedom to the right hand. The head is covered by tying the same cloth around the head by multiple windings.”

Another Greek historian of the time, Herodotus, remarks:” The natives of Bharat wear a fine material from the waist to the feet and wrap cotton clothe around their heads. They also pay great attention to the footwear. The art of foot-wear is well-developed there.”

Hair dos: - The Brahmins or the priests were clean shaved and there heads tonsured, except the "shikha", that is a collage of hair at the top of the head. It asserted their profession and brooked respect in the general populace. The "Rishis" i.e. had long hairs which was tied in a knot at the top of the head and also had beard and moustaches on. They practiced yoga and the laws of nature and hence accepted the natural anatomy of the whole body. Hence the look. The ascetics would fully tonsure the head and clean shave the face, as they renounced the worldly ways the working class generally had long hair and were clean-shaven. Cooks are mentioned to have close cropped hair, as long hair was miserable to handle due to smoke and vapour and thus he beard was impractical to their profession, the young men were generally clean shaven ad had long hair, It was oiled and combed back to prevent it from interfering with vision while     working. The nobles, minister, etc used to have long hairs and sometimes kept the moustaches but shaved the beard.

The royal family men too had long hair. The prince was clean-shaven and had long flowing hair.  A young king had moustaches on but shaved off the beard, and elderly king would have trimmed short beard and moustaches on.

It expressed its control on the kingdoms affair, and underlined his authority as a keeper of the law, and dispenser of the justice. The older men would have flowing beard and bushy moustaches.

 Arian, a Greek philosopher and historian points in his anecdotes that –“ the elderly men in Bharat have a long flowing beard which has whitened with age. They are known as men of wisdom, they have white colored clothes and headgear on to match it. The whole get up is white, some men dye their hair, beard and moustaches with juices from leaves of particular trees, some juices render copper color (henna)”. He also points out that though the style of dressing is simple the Indians have great taste and experiment with jewelry, hair dos, accessories and colors.

The women had long hair dangling up to the waist; the hair was usually divided at the center of the head to form two plaits. On ceremonial occasional however the hair dos would be formed in to a bun, noted at the top and the remaining divided into three parts and formed into a “ veni”. The maidservants had to knot the hairs at the back and the remaining length to be brought in the front over the right shoulder,

Jewellery: -The Aryans wore simple clothes, but were very conscious and had a high test in jewellery and accessories. The art of jewellery making was very well developed and organized even in those times. The Aryan obsession with jewellery and their knowledge of metallurgy had various precious gems found a mention in Asian Greek and roman scriptures. Milton, a roman historian describes in his literature work the abundance of gems, particularly pearls in the Indian subcontinents. Jewellery making was the skillful profession with emphasis for intricate details. Some jeweler made jewellery exclusively for the royal house hold that each chief jewellery had several other art cents working under him and they having their hands full all year round, speaks volume about Aryans fondness for jewellery. The kings, nobles and the rich citizens vied competitively with each other, to have the best and innovative jewellery on them and their family

The Greeks and the Romans were amazed by the Indian art cent skill in stringing the pearls together, exactly through the epicenter of the pearls, with gold. The discretion of wealth and the rich culture of the Aryans, in Greek textures by their historians prompted Alexander to invade India, which is described by Greek traders and nobles who visited it, as the “sparrow of gold”

            The general population used to wear silver and gold ornaments any Indian worth his salt, poor though he may be, used to wear at least a thread of gold around his neck. From plain designs to intricately carved gems and crusted jewellery, the jewellery varied across all economical classes. Silver ornaments were common with the poor. Silver utensils were common in the upper class and gold ones wit the kings and super rich.

            The armlets known as “ Kebur” or “Angada” were worn on the arms. The royal members had gems encrusted in them. The anklets known as “ Toda’ s were worn on the ankles. Earrings were known as “ Kundala” s.  These made in gold with jewels and pearls encrusted in them. The common man had silver version of the same minus the gems.

The crowns of the princess and kings had designs in great detail and resembled a mesh of gems. The queens and princesses had half crown. In addition, they had a band of gold and gems   to be worn around their foreheads. The partition in the foreheads of the queens had a string of diamonds set in gold. The crowns were known as “ Mukut” or “ Kirit”. The queens, the princesses and the rich ladies wore a diamond or a ruby or an emerald brooch. Another ornament worn around the waist by the rich and royals was ‘Cummerbund’ for men and ‘Cummerpatta’ or ‘mahishi’ for women. In simple words-belt. They varied according to the status and wealth quotient. The king had the thickest and the widest. It generally had a large gem prominently at the center and other gems encrusted along the length. The queen’s Cummerpatta was similar with an exception to the head queen. Hers was known as “Mahashi” and the bearer herself was known as “Patta-rani” or “Nayika”.

The queen also wore a “Kanchi” or a “Rashna” around the waist and “Nupurs” on the ankles. The kanchis and rashnas were several strings of pearls and gems respectively, were left dangling below the waist. They would originate from under the center of Cummerpatta or Mahishi and extent to the back at the spine position. The nupurs were a form of anklets, which had several tiny bells, which while walking or even a little moment of the feet created a musical jingle.

The nupurs and cummerpattas find a mention by historian- Strobe who says, “ the people of bharat, especially women, are very fond of jewels and ornaments. The arm bands and anklets worn by women their would put any Greek woman to shame. Such is the inferiority of the finest Greek ornaments compared to those of Bharat. The art is very well developed and far ahead of Greeks and Romans” .He light heartedly points out that the Indian obsession with jewellery may lead to prohibitive excavation of prices of jewels and ornaments. Any foreign visitor visiting India may have a feeling that all of the world’s wealth is concentrated there. One cannot figure out how old the art is. The name “sparrow of gold” is very apt, he notes.

Another ornament which was an exclusive privilege of married woman is mangalsutra, also known as saubhagya sutra, It was a string of black beads interwoven in gold. The wristband or “Kada” was also on same lines as armlets . Another ornament unique to women was “Nath” or nose ring. It was  a bunch of pearl outside the nose dangling from a gold string wore inside out. The lowest end of the bunch in the royal household had a ruby or an emerald or both. Besides women wore necklaces such as “Kanthi” – chokers and  “Haar” such as Laxmi haar , Chandra haar etc. The Laxmi haar was a string of gold coins, which dangled up to the naval. The chandra haar had a design resembling the crescent moon . There were several variations of necklaces, which were made to the preference of the wearer.

            Greek historian Homer notes that the Indian women appeared due to the jewel and application of various oils and pastes to their bodies. But inspite of all this they were very well manner and cultured in their behaviours. This men respect the women and both are very faithful to each other.

            The Indianwomen were very  conscious of theirlook and make up was a practice very common even in those days. The artificial make up packs as of today were naturally non existence then the emphasis was on natural ingradiants such as milk and fruit juces rose patels serial sandal woods herbal oils etc.

            Milk was used for tonning and cleancing .The princeses and the queens were bath by maid servants in milk . the rose patels were ground to paste and makes with milk which was filled into bath tuband the royal women bathed in it. It nourished the skin making it supple and taut.It is also helped to enance the complexion making it fairer.

            Almond milk and oil was used to tone and massage the face, arms and legs or sometimes the whole body. It imparted a golden glow to the skin and made it supple .  This eradicated all the blemeshious Almond oil was also use by royal women to massage their hair root and scalp.  It was thus use as a hair vitalizer too.

            Soon After bathing the royal women folk used to apply sandal wood paste to their bodies and face. It would be left to dry and penetrate the skin. It acted as a fairness agent. It was later washed off. The sandal wood pasteacted as a sunscreen and gave a cooling effect to the body. It also made the skin soft.

            The paste of red sandal woodwas applied to hands and legs. The fingers,toes, feet, palms were given a red hue by this paste. It acted as a beauty aid and a temporary colour. It had medicinal properties and acted as a anticeptic.

            Orange juice was applied to the skin. It did away with the dead skin cells and acted as ableaching agent giving the skin a vibrant glow and a healthy look instantly.

            The gram flour was used as a skin scrub. It was mixed with sandal wood powder , kesar (saffron) powder and milk. To create  a face pack. It gave  the face a clean finish,and enhanced the complextion.

Clothes:-

            ‘Aruna’ was a cloth made from the sheep’s wool. ‘Rankav’ was from  ‘Ranku’ deer’s wool. The silk came principally from china. The shahtoosh shawls were made from the hair of shahtoosh  deet found largely in Kashmir. The hair of shahtoosh is ultra soft and the art of weaving the shawls is very fine and requires great deal  of expertise. The shawl was intricate artwork and very expensive. It was very warm and light and was worn by royals during marriage, crowning ceremonies, cristening of prince and princess and other functions. The shahtoosh deer were hunted for their hair and skin. The hairs had to be extracted  from two to three  shahtoosh deers to be made into one shawl.

The shahtoosh deer were bred during the mahabharata and medic times and the hair would be obtained by neately trimming it off their bodiesThe Mahabharata notes that King Yudhisthira was presented one such type of shahtoosh shawl by the ruler of Kambhoj underlining the former’s  supremacy and to earn his goodwill.

            In last two centuries with the advent of sophisticated machines and demand for leather goods the shahtoosh deer was poached for its tender skin to create luxurious leather  accessiories. Its highly rated leather led to  enourmous killing of shahtoosh deer and is on the verge of extinction and so is the fine art of shahtoosh shawl weaving.

            Woolen shawls were also made from mountain goats wool, burrowing deers wool etc. The poor and the common used shawls made from cotton wool blends.

            The weavers when wearing the super fine variety of cotton ,silk or woollen   cloth were not in a financial position of manufacturing the expensive looms and weaving machinery. Hence the kings patronized and financed the artists  with required setup. The king would be benefited by exporting the surplus production  to  other provinces. According to the mahabharata, King yudishthira would arrange  the ‘dravya’- finance and the ‘upakaran’ – machinery  for the production of cloth.

            In the near past , Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore patronized the art of weaving and inspired the art of wearing silk with traditional  motifs and carvings from temple architecture. It heralded a modern and sophisticated art form in the wearing of sarees.  Maheshwari sarees were distributed exclusively  through an established setup  by Ahilyabai to give thee artists their right dues. Due to this  the demand for maheshwari saree increased which is in great demand even today.

Mohenjodaro and harappa civilisation.

Mohenjodaro and harappa civilisation.          

According to the survey by archealogical department in Harappa and Mohenjodaro in Sindh it was clear that fashion existed in this part of ancient India. Men and women both wore colorful garments.  Males wore a two piece garment called robe. The robe was worn with or without embroidery. The robe had only left shoulder. It was taken over the left shoulder under the right arm and extended below the knees. Women were bare till the waist but covered the below waist part with a cloth draped in a skirt like manner, which ended at the knee.This cloth was held at the waist with the help of girdle made of string or beads. They wore plenty of jewellery on their body. Jewelery like pendants, earings, bangles, finger rings etc  were used by people in Mohenjodaro. Ornaments like long necklaces made up of steatite beads, beads made up of natural stones and golden beads were used by mens as well as women.A single copper bead was tied at the waist The most prominent pendant bead is made of a rare variety of onyx with natural eye designs in alternating shades of red, white, tan and green. Gold beads were placed at each end of the bead to frame this important ornament. The other two stone beads were made of banded jasper and turquoise, with a single gold bead at one end of the turquoise bead.

Certain types of lipsticks , face paint  ,eyemakeup etc were also used at that time. The people in Mohenjodaro civilization  knew the art of how to spin and weave the cotton cloth. Their bangles were painted in red and black design         

During the medic age both sexes wore a two piece dress consisting of upper and lower garment. Women’s upper garment consisted of a scarf like garment drawn across the bust and tied at the back. It was called as Kancholika. A covering shawl called Adivastram was sometimes worn. The lower garment consisted of a cloth tied around the waist.

Both sexes kept long hairs either parted in the middle or coiled in the ring on the top of the head. Ornaments like bangles, earrings, anklets, rings etc made up of various metals including gold and silver was used. No headdresses or footwear were used.

Roman Culture

ROMAN CULTURE

In the ancient city of Rome men wore Toga and females wore stola. Materials like wool and linen were used for clothing.

Tunic ( Tunica) :- Tunics are made up of two pieces of woolen cloth sewn together at sides and shoulder. Male  tunic was short and reached till the knees.  Female tunics were longer and reached till the ground.  If the warmth if summer meant that one tunic was enough, then the cold of winter might call for several tunics to be worn on top of each other. Tunic was even worn by the slaves. Women tunic was long sleeved. Men tunic was sleeveless. Men of the equestrian class wore a tunic with narrow stripes. The color of the stripes was purple and they extended from the   shoulder to the hem. The broad stripes distinguished the tunics of men of the senatorial class. Working men and slaves wore the same type of tunic, usually made of coarse and dark wool, and they frequently hitched the tunic higher over their belts for free movement.

Toga:-  It was like a long blanket about 5 ½ meter long  and 2 meters wide  at its widest point. It was made of a large woolen cloth cut with both straight and rounded edges. It was draped carefully over the body on top of the tunic. The cloth was folded lengthwise and partly pleated at the fold, which was then draped over the left side of the body, over the left shoulder, under the right arm, and back up over the left arm and shoulder. The large over-fold in the front of the body was called a ‘sinus’, and part of the material under this was pulled up and draped over the sinus to form the ‘umbo’. The back of the toga was pulled over the head for religious ceremonies. It was difficult to put the toga on properly by oneself, and prominent Romans had slaves who were specially trained to perform this function. Citizens were supposed to wear togas for all public occasions. The color of the toga was significant and varied according to age and status:

• toga virilis also called toga pura: unadorned toga in the off-white color of the un-dyed wool that was worn by adult male citizens
• toga praetexta: off-white toga with a broad purple border shown in the right-hand drawing. This toga was worn by curule magistrates and also upper-class Roman children, especially boys, who laid aside the bordered toga during their puberty ceremony  and ceremonially donned the toga virilis.
• toga pulla: was made of dark-colored wool and was worn during periods of mourning.
• toga candida: was an artificially whitened toga and was worn by candidates for political office.
• toga picta:  was a purple toga. It was embroidered with gold thread and was worn by a victorious general during a triumphal parade and was later adopted by emperors for state occasions.

Stola: Women probably worn togas in the early stages of Roman empire, by the middle of the Republican era the women who wore togas were common prostitutes. Thus the toga became a mark of honor for Roman men, but a sign of disgrace for women. The stola was much like toga except that it was rectangular in shape, draped around the body  and reached till the ground.

Cloak:-  Cloaks and other overgarments helped protect the Roman against bad weather. A variety are known, at times worn over the toga itself, but more often replacing it.

As an overgarment women in the early days of the republic wore the ricinium, a simple square cloak, covering the shoulders. But later the ricinium was replaced by the palla. Society women also wore a long cloak, called a palla(or pallium), over their tunic and stola when they went outside. This was rectangular in shape and was typically draped over the left shoulder, under the right arm and back across the body, carried by the left arm or thrown back again over the left shoulder. The palla could also be pulled up to cover the head,

The lacerna was originally a military cloak, but during the empire it begun to be extensively worn by the middle class. The wealthier people tended to wear brightly coloured lacerna, whereas the poor wore cheaper dull, dark ones. The paenula was a very simple type of cloak, used especially as protection against bad weather. It was put on by simply pulling one's head through the central hole and was normally fitted with a hood. They could be made of either leather (paenula scortae), or very heavy felt (paenula gausapina). The laena (also called duplex) was thick, round cloak which was folded double at the shoulders and was generally of heavy material, much like the military cloak, the sagum. The poor wore short and dark laena, whereas the wealthy would wear brightly coloured one to cover their shoulders at banquets during the cold season.

The cucullus (meaning 'hood'), as well as the bardocullus, birrus, and the caracalla, was a heavy hooded cloak. The caracalla (caracalla talaris) in particular reached to feet. It is especially famous as it lent its name to the emperor who still today is known under his nickname 'Caracalla' for habitually wearing the garment. However, this heavy cloak should not be confused with the female caracalla, which was a light, sleeveless linen wrap.

Under garments:- As undergarments men and women in rome wore  a simple lion cloth known as subligar knotted at each side Women wore a band of cloth or leather around their breast to support their busts

Footwear :- Both sexes wore identical footwear. The color of the footwear showed the status of the person. The patrician shoes were red in colour. So  were the noble’s. The super-rich and the Emperor wore foot-wear made of gold. The citizen’s shoes were made of regular leather and so had the original colour of the leather. The General’s shoes were lengthy and went upto the knees. It had metal trimmings and straps in tune with his profession. The slaves had to forsake the shoes

The roman footwear were classified into three main types.

1. calcei :-  These were leather shoes  which covered the foot and the toes. They were  used for outdoors with toga
2. Soleae or sandalia:-  The upper class romans removed their shoes at the door and slipped on the sandals  called as solea. These were regarded as the indoor footwear.  The upper class men had with them slaves  to carry their sandalia.
3. Socci:- It was a type of slipper meant for indoor use.

Jewellery: Roman men didn’t  wear much jewellery. They only wore a signet ring, that was used to make an impression in sealing wax in order to authorize documents. Originally made of iron, these signet rings later came to be made of gold, whose seal-stone is missing. Roman boys wore a ‘bulla’, a large round locket on a chain containing protective amulets, usually phallic symbols Jewellery like earrings, necklaces, pendants, bracelets and rings of gold, gems, garnets  and cameos were very popular. Pearls were particularly prized and costly. Silver was less used. Garnets were worn on the head. Common men and women would wear a branch of  olive leaves around the head . The nobles, rich and royals would wear  a look alike of olive branch, made of gold.

Greek Culture

GREEK CULTURE

Greek people were very well aware of fashion.  There costumes were classified as Doric and the Ionic. Doric were at the time of the Archaic period and Ionic were adopted later.

 At the time of the greek there were three major types of costumes

Himation

Peplos

Chiton

Male and female dresses were almost similar both wore Himations and chitons.

Himation:- This was the garment worn by the greeks in the early fifth century. It was made up of rectangle of woven wool.. at the start of the archaic period Himation was comparatively small and worn over shoulder as cloak, but as the time passed its size increased. It was about 10- 12 feet long and 5 feet  in width. It was at first worn as a outdoor wear  but with the invention of lighter materials they became a regular wear.

         Peplos: 

Peplos was other garment worn by greeks women. It was also a rectangle of woven wool about 3 meters wide and length equal to the height of the wearer . the fabric was wrapped round  the wearer with the excess material folded over the top.. It was then pinned on both shoulders and the excess material was allowed to fall free. The arms were left  bare. The peplos was held at the waist with the girdle.

Chiton:-

Doric chiton:- the Doric chiton was evolved from peplos. The Doric chiton was worn somewhat in the same manner as the peplos. It was folded to form overlap of  materiall on the bodice and the cloth was secured at the shoulder by the pins It consisted of two piece of rectangular cloth and was larger in dimensions as compared to peplos. It was of full length till the feet.

Ionic chiton:- It was knee length and a advance version of Doric chiton. It was sometimes pinned only on the left shoulder leaving the right shoulder and arm free. A girdle was tied at the waiste which lifted the chiton till the mid thigh level. 

Ancient Egyptian Fashion

Ancient Egyptian Fashion

The civilisation of Ancient Egypt, in which women had a relatively high status, was to become one of the most widely known and influential civilisations of the ancient world.``

Ancient Egyptian woman had the same notions and outlook as the women of today. She worried about how she looked, about her weight, about the first appearance of wrinkles on her skin. She was very fussy about her looks. She followed a diet regimen and vied competitively with other women for a shapely body and good looks. Bad breath and stretch marks were taboo. Although her life predates modern women's by some thousands of years, it would seem that her preoccupations were very similar to today’s woman.

 Both Egyptian men and women were concerned about their appearance  and took proper care of them selves. Men and women took proper care of their body. Art depicts men as slim, broad shouldered and muscular. Women had proportionate figures with rounded bust, flat stomach and  good hip curves.

All the garments in ancient Egypt were made up of Linen the threads of which were formed from flax fibres, a by-product of local agriculture. Being light, airy and cool, linen was ideal in such a hot climate. Egyptian women always kept themselves  entirely shaved and their pleated skirts were worn wide open in front to reveal this. Men wore a skirt like garment called kilt.the kilt was tied at the waste and was knee length. Women wore  a one piece close fitting garment called as Kalasaris. It started from the breast and ended at the feet.

  It was found during research that Egyptians had formulae for removal of stretch marks after pregnancy, the reduction of wrinkling, or the diminishing of scarring, facilitating hair growth and getting rid of bald spots. 

Egyptians were very specific about cleanliness. They kept their bodies very clean. They  applied some pastes  to their bodies while taking bath, which did the work of soap. It was found that women  used a cleansing paste out of water combined with Natron, a compound which occurs naturally in sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate. Women also massaged  their bodies with oils, possibly fragranced with frankincense or myrrh. It is a amazing fact that in spite of hot, arid climate in Egypt the Egyptian women took good care of their skin and maintained their complextion.

Egyptian women had a good knowledge of make-up. Ochres were made of iron oxides, while malachite, a copper ore, was the derivative of a green cosmetic used to adorn to eye. Galena a lead ore was the basis of dark grey eye paint used for decorating eyes. Galena was not only used to look good but contained disinfectant and deterred flies

They used to enhance their beauty by wearing wigs and jewellery. Egyptian women had a craze for thick hairs and so they used wigs and hair extentions. Wigs were worn by both men as well as women and was considered as a status symbol

Wigs were made of a combination of layers of human hairs and vegetable fibres They also used combs and hair pins They even dyed their hair and wigs  with a variety of colours such as blues, greens, red, blondes , gold color and were often scented with perfume. Each wig had about 300 strands which were then looped and waxed around the inner wig netting at very high temperatures. This prevented the melting of wax causing  the ruin of the wig.

Egyptians also had a good knowledge of Body art. They practiced tattooing on their breasts, thighs, arms, torsos, chins and even noses. Ancient Egyptians were more open to sex and fashion. Prostitudes in ancient Egypt were often dressed very sexually and were tattooed to enhance their beauty. Wigs were made of a combination of layers of human hairs and vegetable fibres They also used combs and hair pins They even dyed their hair and wigs  with a variety of colours such as blues, greens, red, blondes , gold color and were often scented with perfume. Each wig had about 300 strands which were then looped and waxed around the inner wig netting at very high temperatures. This prevented the melting of wax causing  the ruin of the wig.

English Culture

ENGLISH CULTURE

Women's Clothing in the Time of William the Conqueror

The ancient English women costume during the reign of William – I was simple plain and homely.  The costume consisted of a gown, chemise, girdle

The gown was well fitted around the shoulder but was loose below. It had wide sleeves which came just below the elbows. The neck had a short opening. The border of neck and sleeves was well embroidered. Through the neck opening the white chemise could be seen. Sometimes openings of both chemise and gown were held together with the help of brooch 

Below the gown chemise was worn which was a plain white garment with tight full sleeves wrinkling at the wrists.

The girdle is a belt like thing, tied simply round the waist with short ends, which did not show. With the help of girdle the English women would gather the gown at the waist The girdle was, perhaps, the richest portion of their attire.. The girdle was mostly made up of  wool, cloth, silk or cloth of gold web The girdle showed the financial status of the women wearing it. The rich women wore a girdle of silk interwoven with gold thread. The poor wore a girdle made of wool

. When the gown was girded up the border of it fell only to the knees revealing  the long chemise below.

Towards the end of the reign of William the Conqueror there was improvement in the dressing style of the English. The gown which was worn loose before was made tight from the neck to the waist. This enhanced the beauty of English women. Over all was a cloak of the semicircular shape, very voluminous-about three feet in diameter-which was brooched in the centre or on the shoulder.

The English women mostly didn’t show their hairs. They tied their hairs closely coiled with a few curls at the forehead, a wimple was worn, which was wound about the head and thrown over the shoulder. These wimples were sometimes so broad that they fell over the shoulders below the breast. Tied round the wimple they sometimes had a snood, or band of silk. 

Needle work

Position of hands and Method of working

The simplest stitch that is tacking should be chosen to begin with. Hold the needle between the first finger and thumb, the thimble should be put on the  middle finger must be placed to the eye of the needle, which is then urged on its material by all three fingers. The thumb and the first finger are slipped along to the point of the needle, in order to draw it up and out, the thread meanwhile slipping between the second and the third fingers, where it is held firmly.. The needle having now completed an elliptical motion is ready for the next stitch. Worked in this way the making of a stitch becomes in time a continuous motion, making for speedy work. The wrist must be slightly bent so as to bring the line of work almost parallel with the worker’s body.

      These positions of right and left hand will of course have to be modified in the management of certain pieces of work, but tacking illustrates the most common way of working.

                 

Basting:-  There are three types of basting—even basting, uneven basting and diagonal basting. It is a temporary stitch.

It is used for  adjusting the length of a dress, draping a skirt, temporarily fastening together materials that are later to be permanently sewed together.

Even basting :-

Even basting is used for marking purposes and for very particular fastenings, such as important seams. The stitches should be very carefully taken.Always knot the end of the threadBegin at the right-hand end of the work, passing the needle through the material or materials from the upper side. Take a stitch underneath the exact length you want all succeeding stitches to be and bring needle up again through the material. Make even stitches on both side of the material For all ordinary purposes make your stitch about one-half inch long.Place the needle again through the material at the same distance from where the thread came through as the stitch underneath is. Take another stitch the same length as the one previous, and continue until the whole length of the material is basted.

 Uneven basting     :- Uneven basting is used for very much the same purpose as even basting, except that it is more often used to hold together temporarily edges of material that are later to be permanently sewed together. Begin in the same way as you did for even basting, but instead of taking a long stitch underneath, take a short one of about one-quarter of an inch.

      Bring the thread out and draw it over about an inch before taking another short stitch. In other words, make a long stitch on top and a short one underneath.

Diagonal basting :- Used to hold the lining to the garment as in coat or jacket while it is being fitted. Take diagonal stitches on right side and short vertical stitches on wrong side Begin at the upper end of the materials to be basted together. Take a short stitch on underneath side, about one-quarter inch, from right to left horizontally across the work Your needle is now on the right side of the material. Take a diagonal stitch bringing the needle out directly under the point where you first brought it to the right side. This diagonal stitch may be one inch or more long, depending on how easily the material slips out of place.

Back stitching :- Used where strength is necessary as in seams and bands. Take a short  stitch backward on the upper side of the material and pass needle under twice  that space on the wrong side. Bring needle through to right side and back to first stitch then repeat process       

Hemming:- Used for folding the bottom of  skirt, pant etc. Also used for folding the necklines if blouses and various western garments. These  stitches are  put diagonally and minimum upper and lower cloth is caught in the thread. There are two folds to a hem—a first narrow fold to conceal the raw edge of the material, and another deeper fold as wide as is desired. Hold the work to be hemmed in a vertical position, placing the hem over the forefinger and under the middle finger and holding it down firmly with the thumb. It is always wiser to baste first, especially on good material, as this insures a perfectly straight hem. Begin at the top, fastening the thread with a back stitch under the fold.Pointing the needle toward the left shoulder, make a slanting stitch taking up a few threads of the foundation material and a few threads at the fold of the hem. Draw needle through and repeat. Keep your stitches small and even, for the whole beauty of hemming depends upon fine stitching.

Running Stitch

Never knot the end of your thread when you begin a running stitch as it impairs the appearance of the work and thus indicates poor workmanship. Take a small stitch passing the needle over and under as few threads as possible. The smaller your stitch is the finer the finished work will be.Take several of these stitches on your needle, making all uniform in size, and then draw the thread through the material and continue until complete length of the material is covered.

Twisted running :-This is very simple and quick worked decorative stitch. Work one or two rows of running, then pass the needle with thread of different color under each stitch without catching the material.

Combined stitch:- A stitch that is stronger than the running stitch and yet one that can be made more quickly than the half-back or back-stitch is called the combined stitch. To make it, take three or four tiny running stitches and then a back stitch. Repeat this procedure for the length of the seam.

  Over Handing

To join folds or selvedges, or to apply bits of lace or other trimming, where it is necessary to have a flat-finished seam, over-handing is used.  Hold the work lightly between your fingers with the edge up and draw the needle through both edges.Holding the edges even, draw the thread across the top and take another stitch the same as the first. Be sure you make your stitches fine and close together,

Over casting stitches :- This stitch is used to keep the edges of seams or parts of the garments from fraying. Trim raw edges evenly; then with needle pointing towards the left shoulder, make slanting stitches.

Top sewing 

This is the simplest way of joining finished edges. In making the stitch, keep the needle perpendicular to the work by bending the right wrist. Hold the work in the left hand along the first finger. The beginning is made secure by leaving a short end on the surface of the work and sewing it down.. End off by sewing back a few stitches.

Catch Stitches

This stitch is used to finish flannel seams and hems, to fasten down linings, and sometimes it is even used for trimming purposes.In making the catch stitch, work from left to right—the point of the needle is always to the left. Begin at the left end of the work, taking your first stitch in the foundation.Now bring the thread to the right side of the work, carrying it diagonally across the seam and take a small straight stitch with the needle pointing left. Carry the thread diagonally across the seam again and continue in this manner with small even stitches, being careful that they do not show on the right side

Chain stitching :

Insert the needle in the loop made by bringing out the needle downwards over the thread. In finishing a thread, catch down the last loop formed and in joining bring the new thread through that loop. Finish ends by running in the thread on the wrong side

Magic chain stitch:-

 This stitch is worked in the same way as chain stitch, but having two contrasting threads. In the needle at the same time. When making the loops, pass one color under the needle point and let the other color lie on top. Pull through both threads , work the next loop with the other color under the needle point.

Blanket stitching :- Blanket stitching form decorative finish for edges Working from left to right, insert needle at desired depths. Hold thread under left thumb and pass needle through with thread underneath needle.

feather stitching :- The method of working is similar to those of blanket and chain stitch, but the stitches are worked first on right and then on left of an imaginary vertical line. In finishing a thread catch down the last stitch formed and in beginning   a new thread bring the needle out through last loop

satin stitch :- Satin stitch consists of rows of tacking stitch, placed below each other very closely and regularly, so that when the work is finished it will have a perfectly smooth and satiny surface. It is one of the simplest and most useful stitches in embroidery

Fish bone stitch:- It looks like satin stitch. Draw a line in center of design and work  straight stitch closely side by side.

Lazy daisy stitch:-  Mark position for stitches. Bring needle up at center of flower as close as possible to starting point; then make a long stitch and form loop by passing thread under the point of the needle. Cough the loop down with  a short stitch bringing the needle back to the center for the next petal.            

Buttonhole stitch:- The buttonhole stitch may be used as an edge as a decorative finish. Begin buttonhole stitch as follows: Take a several overcastting stitches; then bring needle down to the desired depth through wrong side, having the thread behind the eye and under the point of the needle. Draw needle through, forming the pearl or twist at edge of the material. Do not draw thread tight.

Long and short stitch:- This is a decorative stitch  used to create a shading effect. First mark the outline of the design with basting stitches. Fill the design using long and short stitches close to each other.

Herringbone stitch:- Draw the needle upwards at a point.Take a diagonal stitch and again go down. Then again come up from a point at same level  and a little away. Now again go down from the point at same level to the first one making a diagonal stich crossing the first one. Continue the process.

French knot :- First draw needle through to right side; then wind thread around needle two or three times. Holding thread firmly around needle, insert through material as close as possible to the place where it first came up. When last knot is completed fasten on wrong side with several back stitches.

Bullion knots:- First make a backstitch and then draw the needle up till the eye and wrap the thread around the point the desired number of times.Holding the twisted thread pull the needle smoothly with least disturbance to the twists.Then draw the needle needle downwards where it is inserted before and pull the thread firmly.

Seedings:- First draw the needle from beneath the cloth to the upper side. Then again draw it down very close to the first point , again draw the needle up from the first point and go down very close to the second point.This gives a thick  effect. The stitch should be as broad as long. Work a series of such stitches all scattered over the surface in different directions.

Mirror work:- Attach the mirror with the help of four long stitches.Then insert the needle in fabric making loops around the long stitches.Fix the entire mirror in the same manner.