Egypt

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Since the beginning, we were fascinated by the rich treasures of their many kings. Most of our attention has been directed towards their mummies and treasures. But we should divide our attention so we can also appriciate their alloborate and beautiful, intricate clothing.

Materials
Due to the warm weather in Egypt, hot summers and pleasant winters, the clothing worn in Egypt was light and cool. They were made predominantly of linen and during the times where Romans ruled, occasionally cotton. Wool was used in a minor degree and rarely by Egyptians proper.
Animal skins were sometimes worn by priests and pharaohs as they were the first servants of their god. In King Tutankhamen’s tomb, they found these clothing and such clothing depicted on the wall of the tombs.

Clothing
Workers
The workers of Egypt wore simple clothes while working. Men wore “loincloth”, a piece of thin material worn around the waste, made out of animal skin and linen. Others would have worn plain tunic dresses.

Wealthy
Although wealthy, those whom were wealthy did not show off their wealth. They did not wear fancier clothing or large amounts of jewellery; they were modest. They did, though, wear gold jewellery and the most transparent clothing available. Both men and women wore see-through robes that were pleated and lengthy.

Priests
Even though priests, it did not mean serving their god would mean just approaching and proclaiming themselves as priests. They washed themselves several times per day to eliminate off all the body hair to be untainted enough to approach the god. Because of being cleansed to approach the god, they did not wear leather sandals or wool clothing, as it was considered unclean. When serving the god Amun, they would wear leopard skin robes.
In many cults, also known as churches, they did not wear a wig as all men and women wore.

Pharaohs
As transparency was symbolic of Egyptian wealth and importance, the Pharaohs wore the most transparent robes of them all. They were stylized most, covered and adorned with colourful feathers. The pharaohs, along with his queen, wore the most elaborate clothing, representing their power. He wore a large head garment and wore plenty of gold jewellery, due to the fact that he could afford it.