When asked: "Why did the man begin to dress?"

 

When asked: "Why did the man begin to dress?" The most obvious answer is to get rid of the cold. This is partly true,

but the talk is far more complex, there is a whole universe of information related to the gown you choose to wear, the

need to communicate your identity and to affirm your individuality.

You dress up depending on how you feel emotionally, you decide on the pattern and color, thus expressing emotions

and moods; Understanding it means knowing ourselves.

When asked: "Why did the man begin to dress?" The most obvious answer is to get rid of the cold. This is partly true,

but the talk is far more complex, there is a whole universe of information related to the gown you choose to wear, the

need to communicate your identity and to affirm your individuality.

You dress up depending on how you feel emotionally, you decide on the pattern and color, thus expressing emotions

and moods; Understanding it means knowing ourselves.

The need to get rid of the cold is innate, but it is not enough just to answer this, because even the ancient civilizations

living in warm-tempered territories used to dress. From studies over the years it has been stated that he was dressed

in modesty, that dresses with ornaments were used as symbols for magical rituals, to emphasize social and economic

states.

All this information serves to understand how fashion has evolved, but is little to understand the complexity it represents,

in fact, fashion is one of the key to studying human social behavior.

The origins of this phenomenon date back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

 

 

                                                                         

                                                                                                 

THE PALEOLITHIC  

The man, however, begin around the Paleolithic to cover it, and more precisely at the time when there were great

glaciations in Europe.

At that time, the man hunted the animals and used the skins to shelter themselves and the animals slaughtered

for food.

But the skins were hard and dry, the man had no tools to make them softer, so he soon discovered that to reach

this intent he had to chew them long and slowly (inuit women did so until the days our).

The other method they used was to moisten the skins and then blow them with a wooden hammer, but the ways

did not yield good results.

Men then discovered that animal fat softened the skin. Then comes the discovery of vegetable tanning; this

technique has been up to nowadays, maintaining the basics of machining unchanged.

The first needles with cruna were invented about forty thousand years ago and were derived from mammoth fangs,

from worms and reindeer bones.

These needles were incredibly small for the time, which meant that the man was already committed to creating

more and more fine clothes to make them adaptable to body shapes by sewing various fur shawls.

It can be said that they were the first custom-made suits.

The passage that brought man from skins to fabrics was very long. The great civilizations that inhabited Western

Asia: Babylonian Sumerians and Assyrians (ancient Mesopotamia, a region called Iraq today) used draped clothes

(this packaging fashion also extended to Egypt), considered a sign of civilization.

These dresses were made up of large rectangles of fabric and were worn several times around the body thus creating

drapery;

The clothes that followed the body line were considered primitive, barbaric and indecent.

 

 

                                                                                             

THE SUMERIANS AND THE BABYLONIANS 

The first Sumerians, supposedly coming from the eastern mountains of the region, used wool of their flocks to weave

their clothes while still living in a warm and dry climate such as that of Lower Mesopotamia (still the Sahara Desert

Bedouins use wool which repairs them both from the heat of the day and from the frost of the night).

In the following centuries Mesopotamia was inhabited by the Babylonian Assyrians, this people was one of the richest

and most advanced of the time.

To humanity they have made an important contribution to the development of progress. Their clothes have kept many

details of the Sumerian ones and are almost the same for both men and women. They consisted of a tunic that came

to the feet, in short-sleeved linen, adorned and decorated.

Above the tunic they wore a stole that wrapped the body; Over time, these dresses are enhanced with colors and

decorations, embroidered using geometric shapes and red or blue.

High social classes were wearing long-sleeved dresses and closed and tall shoes. The kings and priests had high

headdress with the intent of appearing divinities.

The law, which in these regions obliges married women to cover up in public and which has been handed down to

date, belongs to Assyria and dates back to 1200 BC.

In the fourth century a.c. The Persians occupy Mesopotamia. The Persian people were originally from Turkestan, a

cold territory.

This civilization constituted a fusion of customs and customs of Oriental peoples. After the occupation of Mesopotamia

they replace their raw heavy woolen clothes to adopt the costume of the conquered people, adding to the linen,

traditional fabric of the place, silk, precious fabric they possess thanks to the trade they have with China.

Their clothes, over time, become more pompous than the Babylonian ones, while still maintaining the same line.

The dress consisted of a linen shirt and a tight tunic in waist from a waistband and had very large sleeves, they added

to the gown of very large pants, the king carried them in red.

Persian footwear consisted of tanned leather cloaks, wearing a felt cap on the head (a headgear symbol of freedom

used by French revolutionaries two millennia later!).

 

 

 

THE EGYPTIANS

To the ancient Egyptians (3500 BC 1500 BC), a people of great civilization, the costume remains almost the same over

the millennia; the staticity of the Egyptian gown makes for a very rigid social structure. Even in ancient Egyptians, the

dress denotes the social position of individuals.

These were in light and transparent linen, sometimes with a pleat that was obtained by folding the accordion fabric

that then dampened and let dry under heavy stones.

The ancient Egyptians were wearing sandals that came from the use of palm leaf or leather leaves. These shoes are

still found today with the same form and name for the inhabitants of today's Egypt. The different social classes dressed

in the same way, only changed the symbols and ornaments.

Over time, the use of jewels and colored fabrics increased.

The ancient Egyptians cared much about the hygiene of the body, both women and men; They were masters of cosmetics,

in fact tombs were found combs, mirrors, containers for cosmetics, creams and lipsticks. Even today, in the cosmetics

industry, antimony powder is used.

They painted their nails and perfumed the body with scented oils. With the passing of centuries, following foreign influences,

even ancient Egyptians began to use wool for common clothing, fiber wool that until then was considered unclean because

of animal origin.

However, it remains prohibited for funeral garments and related dressings, which are required in linen.

 

 

 

THE JEWS

Antiquity Jews woven linen, hemp, cotton and wool; These fibers were used separately because of a law prohibiting the use

of multiple fibers for a single fabric.

The traditional Jewish costume is very austere, but the Jews also dressed in a tunic. High-class social people, wore a decorated

and open waist in front of a lifeline with a rope; the high social classes decorated this dress with fur 

(it seems that Jewish women were very brave in this).

During foreign occupation, some details of the clothing of invaders such as the robbers and the fringes of the Babylonians used

by women at the time were used over white tunics with colored dresses.

Jewish women also use ciprians and jewels; Even in the sacred scriptures there are some admonitions to them about the use of

such ornaments.

In ancient Cretan civilization (1750- 1400 BC), feminine clothing was, for the time, very refined; The refinement was noted.

The Aegean women were very graceful, they often carried a hat, the waistline was very tight for both sexes and it is assumed

that this is the result of metal belts that were worn since children, the clothes were cut well and sewn with Copper, bronze or

gold needles.

The women's dresses resembled a great deal in the 700th dresses in Europe, they had a very tight bodice in their waist, and a

skirt and volants.

The male dress was still very primitive; it consisted of a wrap-around thong with a skirt supported by a decorated embossed belt,

and it was also a long waistline; Both men and women seem to use, for special occasions, high-heeled shoes.

The Cretans, unlike Greeks and Romans, did not use to drape their clothes, did them customized, for the Cretan costume is very

avant-garde to civilizations that will develop soon afterwards.

The ancient Greeks were one of the finest civilizations, from the ashes of the Mycenaean and Cretan ones, who were destroyed

by wars for their occupation by populations with primitive customs and customs (1200 BC).  Returns  wearing very simple and

coarse clothes, instead of the pretty crazy skirting skirts.

This kind of austerity and return to a primitive fashion goes back to the time of Alexander the Great. The dress consisted of

rectangles of draped fabric without any cutting and sewing technique; it should be noted that for the Greeks the use of the

clothes was to serve to enhance the naked body not to hide it.

It is worth noting that costume and fashion are in ancient times as in modern ones, it is used to communicate externally about

things about who wears them, this is seen very well in theatrical costumes, where, thanks to them, accentuates the character

and the mood of the various characters.

It seems that later the Greeks were to conceive the dress as an individual manifestation of refinement and elegance, they loved

brilliant colors, in fact, in spite of what has always been believed, it has recently been discovered that it was not true to use only

the white color, the rich, unlike the low social classes that were not allowed, had the choice of colors; The favorite was red, color 

used only by priests, rulers, and only by noble women. They followed purple and green.

In the classical era, Greek dresses are of a very basic line and mainly of white color and almost any kind of ornament used before,

outside of a simple geometric colored pattern has almost disappeared. Brilliant colors return to the Hellenistic period, also due to

the Persian business. 

Silk and cotton also come in, and with them pastel colors and gold tones.

Between 1400 and 900 a.c. Long before Rome became powerful, there were the Etruscans, mysterious civilization coming from

Asia, their costume is a mixture between the eastern, the Greek and the Cretan Mycenaeus, for the Etruscans dressed cut and

sewn clothes that followed the line Of the body, the female dress is long and adherent with sleeves coming to the elbow and has

a cap, in some cases it is clamped on the back, and is carried without belt. 

The suit could also be in two pieces, that is, a long skirt or vaporous skirt, and on a bolero, both of them were very embroidered

and had geometric designs; The fabrics used were wool and cotton, the shoes consisted of tall boots that left their fingers

uncovered, and were closed by laces.

The material was felt, also used for hats. The Etruscan costume declines with the Roman Empire, which imposes its lifestyle.

The Roman costume maintains throughout history the same style (100 BC at 476 AD Fall of the Empire). The Roman dress was

descended from the Greek and the Etruscan; it was simple and simple; the garment was protected by laws governing it, to

prevent the dress of their fashion from dressing.

Wealthy Romans manufactured their clothing at home, they had everything they needed to weave, and this was practically the

only pastime for women, whether they were slaves or matrons.

At first, goat's or sheep's wool is used, then flax and india come from Egypt, cotton and silk, fabrics considered precious.

The famous was used by the senators, who gave it a very solemn appearance; but in the republican period it was also worn by

the citizens.

Over time, white is replaced by colors, ornaments embellish and refine thanks to fashion imported from the Orient.

From northern Europe, more precisely from barbarians, the braghe arrive; The Romans come to know them during battles and

find out how comfortable they are.

Since the brages were considered vulgar, they made laws prohibiting their use, in any case they spread throughout the empire,

and soon they are also appreciated by the high social classes worn under the tunic; Even the emperor was wearing purple red.

The sleeves come from the east, which at first are considered bad because they are effeminate, in the opinion of the legislators.

Roman women dressed like men's clothing: a linen tunic, or wool that wore, whether virgin, tied to life, if married under the

breast, did not use the belt in the event of pregnancy (hence the term " ").

In 313 d.c. After Emperor Constantine legalizes the Christian faith, Roman clothing becomes even more austere and

disadvantageous; colors and fabulous fabrics are also abolished, leaving the spot in dark colors like gray. Young people are

dressed instead of tunics coming to their knees, long tunics to their feet.

Around 470 in Sicily reign the Normans who in part adopt the Byzantine costume, which consisted of a simple long white tunic

with long and narrow sleeves.

This dress denoted a rigid line, almost the annulment of the body of the person, but had many decorations for high social class

women such as precious stones.

The fabrics of the Byzantine era are precious and varied, many of their shapes are found in the present ecclesiastical dress.

They imported silk from China, the legend says that Empress Teodora was the only one to send two monks to wear silkworms,

the first in Europe.

The Byzantine costume reaches maximum splendor around 530,540 d.c. This civilization uses a lot of clothing as a symbol of

power.

The Arabic costume, at first very simple and rough, in contact with Europe becomes more refined. The dress consists of large

panties curled and ankle-bound, in wide waistcoats waisted by a band, both embroidered over a cafeteria, open front dress with

wide neckless sleeves embroidered in gold and silver.

A similar garment is already seen in the Jews and in the twelfth century even in the Byzantines. The Arabs, by virtue of a law of

the Koran, which is said to cover their heads, were wearing turbans; the women, on the other hand, had the veil covering their

face (Chador), which is still mandatory.

In the tenth century, with the feudal period, it was noted that clothing was used to distinguish the feudal from its vassals and

plebeians.

The dresses were rich in colors and they carried the coat of arms of the family to which the feud belonged. In this era the

clothes of the various social strata differ greatly, and every social class has very strict laws on clothing, so as not to risk being

confused with a lower social class.

Clothing is a sort of identity card, denoting the social layer and the person's economic position.

In 1139 Sicily, Ruggero Second Normans reign, this sovereign leaves citizens freedom to dress up with fabrics and models

of other civilizations, indeed encourages the work of Jewish, Greek, and Arab crafts.

Always in the twelfth century Venice played an important role in the development of European fashion at that time possessed

many manufactures.

Even in other Italian cities, clothing varies greatly and is also richer. Men's pants are very important, for women the dress

becomes more and more adherent to the body, it begins to show off the fur to emphasize the economic and social status.

The tailor's profession becomes very important and diffused.

The peasants and the poor dress very simple clothes, made in linen or wool.

In 1130 the female dress changes the line, the adherent bust appears, but the skirt falls wide and soft on the flanks coming

to the feet.

The women used to wrap their heads and neck with bandages that resembled the features and nobility.

This custom is also spreading in northern Europe, always in high-class women; Great importance was attached to the belts

that were decorated with precious stones and gold.

In 1200 the clothes of the rich were very precious, to the point that they were used to pay the debts and appointed on wills.

During this period there is a strong contradiction, on the one hand it is believed that the body does not deserve attention,

but on the other there is very luxury, jewelry and various ornaments.

In 1300 the costume changes, becomes more loose, the man takes consciousness of the body and tries to push the figure,

even the male dress changes a lot, especially, begins to diversify.

The young men no longer dress like the elders who continue to use the traditional large coat called gabbano and a large

open dress on the front and sides, with long sleeves, under wearing long brages and matching socks.

Young men dress with clothes that highlight the body line and are very colorful; They wear long socks, and a sleeveless skirt.

The dresses were so tight that the tailors had to be perfected enough to hide their physical defects by using padding and hay.

It begins to wear underwear.

Gloves are used to show authority.

At that time there were very precious buttons made of gold and amber, and they were censored and criticized because

they allowed to undress easily.

The feminine gown raises the waistline, sliding the figure, the sleeves are adherent, and the laces and the slots for the

assembly of the dresses are used very much; this allows women to tighten or widen their gown as needed.

The dress for many was a precious good, and it was often for a lifetime. In the city, women used silk-embroidered shoes

with very long tip and decorated with precious stones and pearls.

These shoes are so precious that the usual sunbathing law decided to ban the most precious and expensive models.

In the 1400s, Renaissance period, man is more conscious of himself and the world around him, he is curious, wants to

observe natural phenomena, study anatomy, and discern the perspective.

Leonardo studies the human body to understand how to give life to his paintings; Study and calculate how to make the

movement as much realistic as possible and the volume of the drapes.

Self-consciousness is also seen in the costume which becomes more spontaneous, softer and more gentle in lines and shapes,

both for the female and male dress, so that older people criticized young people by judging them effeminate.

Young people also took care of the body, often bathing, scenting the face and scrubbing it thoroughly and used a lot of jewels.

Both the female and the male gown used more and more the detachable sleeves, which at this time were very large for which

they needed many meters of fabric.

Again, in this case, a law restricts the amount.

The clothing type remains the same as that of the fourteenth century: so the stockings on a short jacket in waist with sleeves

that are wide and tighten from beneath the elbow to the wrist.

Gloves are used very much, but the belt loses its importance.

In northern Europe, shoes are used very much, especially those with elongated tip; in Italy, instead, they used sole stockings,

other than long stockings with reinforced sole.

Women's clothing, compared to the previous century, reappraised the female body with more and more complex clothing; It

is very common to put sleeves of a different color to the gown, using fine fabrics, these sleeves are embroidered and may

also have furry applications.

The dress is very loose, the necklines and lips are finished with fringes and imaginative edges and they start to see the first

laces, the skirt is completed by a tramp.

The face is no longer pale as before but, it has shiny skin assisted by a simple and very feminine makeup. People have similar

clothes, though black in color and lace-ups or other.

Women in Italy prefer simple but refined hairstyles, jewels are less visible than the previous century.

In 500 the Italian costume is spread throughout Europe for refinement and elegance, as well as bon ton. It is the time when

the renaissance expresses the best.

This is a contradictory century, on the one hand there are important discoveries, geographically and scientifically, there is

dignity for everything that is ground and left behind "mysticism".

The other face of this century are the wars of religion.

In Spain there is the inquisition. Plague and famine were decimating and hungering for European populations.

Italian fashion, first so appreciated throughout Europe, is now falling and losing its originality, in its place come the Spanish

rigid line models; black is the color that prevails.

In the second half of the century the men's costume in Europe remains inspired by the Spanish; The Italian one is inspired

by the extravagant clothes of German and Swiss mercenaries called "lanzichenecchi"; They used looted clothes to the

population, including women and priests, tearing and assembling parts of a dress with parts of another, using different

sleeves and different fabrics.

In this century the shirt takes great importance, packed with very precious, embroidered in gold, thick curls and volants.

The brages are also being renewed by copying the Spanish model called "braghesse" covering the mid-thigh up, with its

very stuffed sides, the pubic area too overstretched; this padding was used by "lanzichenecchi" as protection during

the war.

In times of peace, in spite of the moralists and the religious, they were used by gentlemen, and they were considered a

symbol of manhood and power. 

At the end of the century, the calzabraghe disappear to leave the place of knitted stockings that come over the knee and

are stitched by garter.

The sword had become part of the gown, so much that a way of dancing with it had been studied without being hindered.

The great change in the female costume, in this century, is the separation between the upper part of the dress and the

lower one.

The corset is padded, has slats that can be of ivory, wood or iron, so as to support and make the breasts clear, something

that was never done at this time.

Heavy fabrics are used such as brocades, damask and velvet. The sleeves of the garments widened to a great extent and the

skirts consequently; to support the latter were used as sub-gowns, armor made of bamboo rims, or they were stuffed with

bamboo.

There is no more trawl, the colors that are used are: red blood, green wood, yellow gold and blue.

Caterina De 'Medici has been very important for the spread of Italian fashion in France, but Lucrezia Borgia has put in the arms

of the so-called "galeotta" socks that were worn under the skirt.

The socks become more and more elastic and adherent, they are knitted can be embroidered and colorful, these are also

brought to view.

The shoes are very luxurious and precious, both in the materials and in the ornaments; they are used with wide tip and high

heels (up to sixty centimeters).

The laces that are used to support the socks are also decorated with lace.

Gloves are used very much, belts become works of art, some are made by the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini; other accessories in

vogue were the fans and embroidered handkerchiefs.