Perfume and jewelry were appreciated and worn by both men and women, as were cosmetics. Egyptians of both sexes used kohl under their eyes to decrease sun glare and kyphi, the most popular Egyptian perfume, was regarded so highly it was burned as incense in the temples. Images of Egyptians with cones on their heads are depicting the use of kyphi in its cone form. It was composed of frankincense, myrrh, pine resin, and other ingredients and could be burned (as with the cones), applied to the skin, or used as toothpaste and mouthwash.
Kyphi was most often used by women and applied in very much the same fashion as perfume is in the modern day. A woman, or her maidservant, would open a container of kyphi, fan the air, and walk through the scent. The same is true of cosmetics, which were kept in pots or jars and applied from these containers with a brush or reed, much like the modern eyeliner.
The most popular form of jewelry among the upper classes was gold-based. The Egyptian word for gold was nub, and once the land to the south had been conquered, it came to be called Nubia for the vast amounts of gold found there. All classes of Egyptians wore some kind of jewelry as Strudwick notes:
Virtually every form of jewelry has been recorded, including finger rings, anklets, armlets, girdles and pectorals, necklasces, torques, chokers, diadems, ear studs, earrings, and hair ornaments. Colored semi-precious stones, such as cornelian, turquoise, feldspar, green and red jasper, amethyst, quarts, agate, and lapis lazuli were the most commonly used stones. Often, however, they were imitated by coloured glass and faience. (386)
Footwear was practically non-existent among the lower classes, but in cold weather or rough terrain, they seem to have wrapped their feet in rags. Among the upper classes sandals and slippers were worn but, like the lower classes, people usually went barefoot. Sandals were made of wood, papyrus, leather, or a combination of these and were fairly expensive. Tutankhamun’s tomb contained 93 pairs of sandals in different styles and one even of gold. Slippers were made of papyrus rushes woven together but could be supplemented with
There is some evidence of shoes being worn by nobility in the New Kingdom and also the use of silk but this is rare. The Hittites had developed the shoe and the boot by this time, so it would not be surprising to see their appearance in Egypt. In 1258 BCE the Hittites and Egyptians signed the world’s first peace treaty, and afterwards cultural diffusion was common between the two. Still, the shoe never became popular footwear in Egypt as it would probably have been considered unnecessary effort; after all, even the gods went barefoot.
Manufacture & Simplicity of Form
The earliest clothing was probably papyrus reeds and animal skins, but this changed with the cultivation of flax which was processed and turned into cloth. Women were the first cultivators of flax and initiated the manufacture of clothing. Evidence for this claim is the oldest depictions of textile production showing women at work, not men, and women continuing in textile production even when the industry was run by males. This is not at all unusual as women were the first brewers in Egypt and, most likely, the first healers who predated the rise of the medical profession.
Making clothing began in the home but soon turned into an industry once linen, and later cotton, became popular. Flax fibers were spun into thread and woven on a horizontal loom to create one long piece of cloth, which then was cut. Even the most elaborate dresses and kilts were simply a bolt from this cloth which was rarely sewn into any shape. The kalasiris was little more than a sheet a woman wrapped around her body; the individual turned that sheet into a dress through personal skill in manipulating the cloth.
Simplicity was the central value of Egyptian fashion even when styles became more elaborate in the New Kingdom. The basic concept of Egyptian fashion also did not change much from the time of the Old Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE) which was the last dynasty to rule Egypt before it was annexed by Rome. The kinds of fashion one sees in this later period are very close to those from the New Kingdom which follow the basic form of Old Kingdom dress. It may safely be said that more radical changes have taken place in fashion in the last 150 years than in the whole span of Egyptian history, but this is only because the ancient Egyptians understood that simplicity of style can often be the most elegant and certainly the most classic.
