Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-09-08
HIGH WAISTLINE
WORN N25OOB.C.
D~resSmakers of Pharaoh's Time
Made Gowns Like Those
of 1916.
BOTH SEXES USED COSMETICS
Expert Of the New York Metropolitan
Museum Of Art Finds That FASH
ions Changed often in Niles
Highest Civilization.

~ 80 @AA. - " ]
women's clothes, the fashion for the
summer of 1916, was fairly popular in
about the year $500 b. c., a time
when slight mustaches were the rage
among the young men, according to re-
searches made by Miss B.. NJ. Car
landt Of the Metropolitan Museum of
Art. She discovered that cosmetics
were much used by the women fnvor-
ties Of the Pharaohs, and also found
that the men were not averse to toning
up their compilations when courts were
held along the Nile of the middle king
doms.
In the monthly Bulletin of the Mu-
scum, Miss Carlandt has described the
clothes of fashionable society of the
Egypt of long ago. Her descriptions
were taken from exhibits in the mu-
scum. Depicting the costumes of the
Old Kingdom, %298O-2475 Il. c., she
says:
sheathlike Garment.
''The conventional sheathlike gar
ment worn by all women was of plain
uuplhlltu SUM- lhul huhB AApm az
breast to the ankles, so scant that 1t
chung to the figure and clearly showed
the form, fastened by straps over one
or both shoulders or merely held up by
a belt. 1t was often pure white, but
sometimes 1t had a narrow selvage
around the top, a fringe OF the bottom,
and braces that were parti-cOlOred. In
the tomb of Ptahhetep at Sakkara
there is n seem Of offering-bearers rep
resenting estates, where the dresses
are alternately red and dark green.
These women, according to custom,
were adorned with necklaces, brace
let's and anklets of blue and green
beads.
aside from white, green seems to
have been the color most worn, al
though we do find in reliefs red and
yellow dresses as well. The fashions
ried than those for men, with slight de-
viatiOns from the conventional attire,
such as a short skirt worn ut times by
servants. The attire of dancing girls
varied from the regular long costume
to a short skirt, or in the later period
to a girdle of brightly colOred beads.
Most wore wigs or dressed
their own hair long. 1t fell to the
shoulders or to the waist in the back
In a large mass, with a slde-lOck hang
ing on either side of the face. Some
times a colored ribbon was tied around
the brow like Il fllet, and often a cir
clet of real flowers was worn.
1--WE know that cosmetics and Olnt-
ments were used by both men and
women, and in this connection 1t is In
teresting to note u statuette in the first
Egyptian room, the eyes of which are
outlined with a green band. Green
malachite was used for this, whether
purely for adOrnment or for medicinal
reasons we do not know, and rouge
and black paint were also employed us
part of the makeup.
Shows Diversity.
"Dress in ancient Egypt, as in ev
cry civilized country, shows diversity
according to the class or occupation OF
the individual and variety dependent
upon the fashion of the day. The king
and his courtlers set the styles, which
were o assumed by subordinate of
icials until they forced their superior.
to adopt new modes. The fluctuations
Of fashion would be difficult to follow
although there was a steady tendency
to elaboration and luxury but let u,
consider the most distinct changes II
the Old Kingdom (29SO-2475 b. ca tn,
Middle Kingdom (216O-17SS b. o., anC
the Empire Q580-945 B. c., as showI
in our Egyptian galleries.
'In the tomb of Perneb we hav,
costumes that are typical of the Ole
Kingdom. Humble people were salts
fed with a belt, tied around the wais
with the ends hanging down In front
a skirt of linen, fastened lOosel!
around the loIns, or rarely they con
trived a rush mating. Even these, a
times were laid aside, and the mel
appeared nude when engaged in siren
uOu exercise. The Offering-bearers fl
the tomb chamber wore the short whit,
skirt, the most common article o
clothing. II was a straight piece of whit
linen cloth wrapped about their hip
like a kilt, the ends being knotted il
front or being passed under a glrdlC
and sticking up above the walstline.
Men In the Old Kingdom almost In
variably clipped their hair close an
shaved their faces. although up to tn
fifth dynasty they sometimes wor
slight ~mustaches, but shepherds occa
siOnally allowed their hair to grow.
custom generally considered unclear
The upper classes wore wigs of tw
kinds-either short and close-ittlni
with tight little curls In horlzontg
row, or long and bushy, parted in tn
middle and falling well over the shou
ders. Such wigs were probably mad
of sleeps wool, and actual specimen
have been found. When a man wishe
to assume his full dignity, he attache
a false beard Of plated hair to NJ
chin by means Of straps. Sandal
unrhNUh uurwwM