Ancient Egyptian Clothing
Do you like to shop with your parents for new clothes? Or do you think that shopping is boring? How different do you think your clothing is from people who lived 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt? Let’s journey through time to discover more.
The first thing to know about clothing in ancient Egypt is that people wore as little as possible! This is because Egypt was extremely hot much of the year. Of course, when the weather was colder, children and adults wore more clothes.
CHILDREN’S CLOTHING
In ancient Egypt, if you were a boy or girl, you would not have to worry about clothes because children did not wear clothes for most of the year. Children were usually naked until the age of six! Even though children didn’t wear clothes, they wore jewelry, such as bracelets, necklaces, or earrings.
An Egyptian family with four daughters. Wikimedia Commons.
Most children and adults went barefoot and did not wear shoes very often. The type of shoe worn by an ancient Egyptian was a sandal. Sort of like the flip-flops you wear today. The ordinary person wore sandals made of straw. Wealthier people wore sandals made of leather, usually for special occasions. Here is a picture showing the difference. The small straw sandals on the left belong to children. The sandals on the right are made of leather for an adult.
Sandals for a child and an adult. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
During the winter, Egyptians wore socks to keep their feet warm. Here is a picture of a sock for a child’s left foot. It is not quite as old as the sandals pictured above. Its very colorful, isn’t it!
British Museum
Boys and girls wore their hair in a braid on the right side of their head, called the “sidelock of youth”. This was allowed to grow until they became an adult. They either shaved the rest of their head or wore the rest of their hair in shorter braids. In the picture below, you can see the mummy of a young boy showing his “sidelock of youth.”
Mummy of Prince Webensenu.
When a boy or girl became older, children would shave off their sidelock of youth. This was a sign to the rest of the world that they were growing up and becoming an adult. This usually happened around the age of six although sometimes it could be later. They also began to wear clothing that looked like the clothing worn by their parents.
LINEN
Everyone in Egypt wore clothing made from a fabric called linen. Linen is made from spinning the fibers from the stems of a flax plant. Linen fabric is strong and doesn’t trap heat next to the body like heavy wool. For that reason, linen is comfortable and cool to wear. It is the perfect fabric for a hot climate. Egyptian clothing is almost always white, the natural color of flax, because it was hard to dye linen.
Flax plants. Wikimedia Commons.
MEN’S CLOTHING
The most common piece of clothing worn by men was called a kilt. The men in the picture below are wearing kilts. A kilt is a skirt that wraps around the body and is tied with a belt. It is cool and easy to wear in a hot climate. Wealthy men wore kilts made from lighter-weight linen.
Men in White Linen Kilts. The Louvre.
WOMEN’S CLOTHING
Women’s clothing was also made from linen. Wealthy women wore linen that was much lighter weight. It was much more expensive to make. Wealthy women also wore dresses made from beads. Sometimes the dresses had pieces on the hem that were like bells that made a sound when they walked. Women’s dresses were usually long and fitted to the body. Here are some women musicians wearing linen dresses in the picture on the left. On the right, you can see an actual dress from ancient Egypt that is made from beads. Isn’t it beautiful?
Musicians. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bead Dress. Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
MAKEUP, WIGS, AND JEWELRY
Both men and women wore makeup, wigs, and jewelry, as you can see below. Can you see the white kilt that the man is wearing, as well as the white linen dress worn by his wife? Notice that both of them are barefoot and that they are both wearing wigs and makeup around their eyes in addition to big jewelry.
Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Men’s wigs were usually shorter, while women’s wigs could get quite large. These women are attending a party. They have put on their best dresses and jewelry. They have also put on their very best party wigs! Those wigs are huge, aren’t they? Their earrings are pretty impressive as well! Some people think that the large pieces on top of their head that look like upside down ice cream cones are really cones made out of beeswax that were mixed with perfume. When the cones became warm, they would melt into the wig to make the person smell good!
The British Museum.
Everyone wore eye makeup! Eye makeup helped prevent infections. It also helped decrease the glare from the sun.
Everyone wanted to look beautiful! They used beauty tools that look a lot like the tools we use today! Here you can see a mirror that would have been shiny. You can also see a razor for shaving hair, tweezers, and a tube that held eye makeup.
Egyptian makeup tools. From left to right: Tube containing black eye makeup, razor, tweezers, sharpening stone for razor, mirror. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The ancient Egyptians made many unusual and beautiful containers to store makeup and perfume. This unusual makeup container is in the shape of a woman who is swimming. She is holding a spoon with a top shaped like a deer. The top can be taken off. Inside, black eye makeup would have been stored. Isn't her hair beautiful?
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Here is a perfume container shaped like a fish! Its mouth is the opening. A cork would have been stuck in its mouth to keep the perfume inside.
British Museum
The ancient Egyptians loved jewelry. Everyone wore it. The bigger, the better! They wore huge necklaces, bracelets, pendants, and anklets. The ordinary person would wear jewelry made with clay beads. Wealthier people wore gold and gems. This is a large pendant, called a pectoral, that would have been worn on a long string of beads so that it hung in the middle of the chest. It was certainly amazing, as you can see below!
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
One thing to remember is that craftsmen were needed to make clothing, jewelry, and wigs. Egypt had workshops with amazing technology. A lot of training and skill was required to make these beautiful things. The craftsmen below are working in a shop where they are beads and jewelry using beads.
Jewelry workshop. The British Museum.
The fashions of the ancient Egyptians were quite beautiful and wonderful. We’re glad we could journey through time with you to an ancient land, although we don’t think we could convince your parents to let you run around without clothes!
We have included a sheet with instructions for you to make jewelry like those worn by the ancient Egyptians. You can color it, cut it out, and put a strong through the holes in the wings. Then tie it around your neck so that you have your very own piece of ancient Egyptian jewelry. You can download it here.
