Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-05-23
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
DRESS OF EGYPTIANS

-
be the latest explanation for the
| eternal riddle of women's fashions.
Apparel worn by modish Egyptian
ladies was often artistic, frequently
sophisticated, and sometimes rather
ludicrous If judged by modern stan
| dards, it would seem from a bulletin
issued from the Washington, ID. c,
headquarters of the National Geo
graphic Society.
1.-THE long one-piece dress so much
in coGue today is similar to h a
worn by the women of ancient
Egypt" says the bulletin. THE words
OF an account describing the dresses
| worn by Egyptian women more
than three thousand years ago might
! easily be mistaken for lines from q
modern newspaper story of clothes
worn by the women of fashion at
some smart affair: The dresses OF
women consisted of a loose robe
reaching to the ankles, with tight or
full sleeves, fastened at the neck
with a string
"Over these robes they sometimes
| wore a sort of petticoat secured at
! the waist by q girdle. The women
of the higher classes secured the
loose dress at the waist with a color
ed sash.
The COWnS OF queens
"Women had been wearing dresses
of that type to some extent, but with
the advent of Tutankhamen modistes
have been reverting to the patterns
of cloth used by the nm of his
court. Again our old %chronicler says,
The gown was of richly colored
stuff, presenting a great variety of
patterns, not unlike oUr modern
chintzes, the most elegant of which
were selected for the robes of deities
and the dresses of queens And Fifth
Avenue queens are reverting to the
wiles of the women of Egypt among
whom we count the most allurtng
and willy lady in history.
1.-The Egyptian 'flapper' was de-
mure in one particular. She wore
her hair in a number of long plaits,
with perhaps a plat or two hanging
down with soft loose ends in front
of each shoulder. But the modern
girl is a positive amateur with her
bandoline fishhook curls on her
cheeks: her Egyptian prototype took
these short strands and Intervene
them with longer ones into cork
screw curls which hung down in
front of her earrings.
Wore Huge Earrings
Her earrings, too, were particu-
larly large and elaborate. Some
times they were large, round, single
hoops of gold two inches in diameter
and larger. Royal ladies sometimes
wore a coiled golden asp, whose body
was sent in precious stones and the
tip of whose tail passed through the
holes in the ears.
"Gloves were worn by the Egyp-
tan men as early as the 18th dy-
nasty, but there seems to be no evil
dence that wore them at all.
A pair of 16-button length were
found in the tomb of Tutankhamen
for his use in the future world.
Egyptian women, however, wore
a great many rings, crowding any
number of them on the third finger
of the left hand, which even in those
days was considered the ring finger
par excellence, because of the homo
thrust upon it at the wedding cere-
mony. They also wore necklaces Of
gold, or of beads of various kinds,
usually with a drop of some kind in
the center.
"One of our newest fads-that of
wearing red, green, or blue shoes of
the sandal types u latest rever-
sion to Egyptian modes. Egyptian
ladies were particularly fussy about
their sandals. These were often of
palm leaves and papyrus stalks, but
were sometimes cut out Of leather
and lined with cloth. Contempt for
an individual was expressed by
painting his picture on the inside of
the sandals, so that he might be
trodden upon.
One practice in the East today
and among theatrical people in
America traces its origin directly to
the ancient Egyptian custom of
staining the eyelids and brows with
a moistened powder of a dark color,
which was thought to increase the
beauty of the eyes.
Dresses Often Transparent
prototypes of the modern Egyp-
tan ballet at the courts of the Pha-
raohs wore loose flowing robes of
finest texture and transparent quail
lty which were fastened at the waist
by girdles adorned with beads, or
ornaments of various colors. many
of the friezes of the temples the out
line Of the transparent robe has been
sffaced. The Egyptians, like the
Greeks represented the contour of
the figure as if seen through the
dress.
zone of the most peculiar habits
of dress among the early Egyptians
was that of tying a false beard up
on the chin. 1t vas made of plated
hair and it's form denoted the social
status of the wearer, that of private
individuals being quite short, that of
the king very long and square at the
bottom, and that of a god turning
up at the end. After his death a
king was represented with the beard
of a deity. Queen Hatshepsut, who
exerted such a great influence over
the fortunes of the country as the
wife and sister of Thothmes II, wore
the long, square beard, and had her.
salP referred 70 &c His MaiesfN,n