Many believe the ancient Egyptians wore plain garments, or clothing. Garments were often used as a backdrop for elaborate jewelry, but they also played a complementary role.
Beads, rosettes, and sequins were used to enhance the appearance of a garment. A rosette is an ornament or badge made of ribbon or silk that is pleated or gathered to resemble a rose. Beads, particularly in the form of jewelry, were used throughout Egyptian culture from prehistoric times onward, but occasionally they have been found either sewn onto cloth or, more rarely, actually woven into the material. In the early medieval period, embroidery became popular although only a few fragments dating to the Dynastic period have been found.
Another technique, which appears in the New Kingdom and is normally associated with royal clothing, is applique. Applique is the method of fastening a decoration to a larger piece of fabric. One forms of applique was the use of different types of braid to decorate objects, usually garments. Sometimes the braid had small fringes along its edges, in which case the braid was placed along the outer edge of a piece of cloth. When there were no fringes, it was usually either sewn across the cloth or down the edges. Garments were also decorated with pleats, and the oldest examples seem to be horizontally pleated dresses dating to the Old Kingdom.
One of the most elaborate examples found in the Egyptian Museum has three different types of pleating. It is decorated with a simple set of pleats a few centimeters apart; a series of pleats that touch each other closely; and a section of herringbone pleating in which vertical lines were pleated and then, at regular intervals, horizontal lines were pleated to create wide bands with a chevron, or inverted V-shaped pattern.
Several surviving linen textiles dating from the New Kingdom onward were also painted with designs of varying degrees of complexity.
Beads, rosettes, and sequins were used to enhance the appearance of a garment. A rosette is an ornament or badge made of ribbon or silk that is pleated or gathered to resemble a rose. Beads, particularly in the form of jewelry, were used throughout Egyptian culture from prehistoric times onward, but occasionally they have been found either sewn onto cloth or, more rarely, actually woven into the material. In the early medieval period, embroidery became popular although only a few fragments dating to the Dynastic period have been found.
Another technique, which appears in the New Kingdom and is normally associated with royal clothing, is applique. Applique is the method of fastening a decoration to a larger piece of fabric. One forms of applique was the use of different types of braid to decorate objects, usually garments. Sometimes the braid had small fringes along its edges, in which case the braid was placed along the outer edge of a piece of cloth. When there were no fringes, it was usually either sewn across the cloth or down the edges. Garments were also decorated with pleats, and the oldest examples seem to be horizontally pleated dresses dating to the Old Kingdom.
One of the most elaborate examples found in the Egyptian Museum has three different types of pleating. It is decorated with a simple set of pleats a few centimeters apart; a series of pleats that touch each other closely; and a section of herringbone pleating in which vertical lines were pleated and then, at regular intervals, horizontal lines were pleated to create wide bands with a chevron, or inverted V-shaped pattern.
Several surviving linen textiles dating from the New Kingdom onward were also painted with designs of varying degrees of complexity.
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