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| "Alypius" by Cliff1033tm; CC, some rights reserved |
Ancient Egyptian Dwarfs Made the Royal Wardrobe During Pharaoh Khufu's Reign
In case you've ever wondered who was responsible for all those figure-hugging royal garments featured on pharaohs, queens and princesses, cemeteries and individual tombs in Egypt have served up some intriguing clues. Evidence shows that dwarfs had powerful roles in making royal clothing. Excavations of worker's villages and graves give insights into how the common people lived, and what their roles were in relation to the ruling royal families. One of the most intriguing discoveries is the Dwarfs Cemetery. It reveals the esteem the ancient Egyptians had for some of the skilled artisans who created the clothing of the pharaohs and queens.
Not all dwarves in ancient Egypt came to a good end. This Ripley's Believe It or Not exhibit depicts Alypius, a 17-inch-tall dwarf of Alexandria imprisoned for treason. Note the wide belt, kilt, decorated cape and cap. The cape looks like it may have been influenced by Roman fashion.
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011: Ancient Egyptian Fashion
The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2011
A guilty pleasure, a spectacle for voyeurs, a fashion fantasia, a model's dream, a designer's showcase... Whatever you think of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, its impact is far-reaching. This year's crop of long-legged models included young women who first walked in the show in 2000, and other models taking that career-making runway walk for the first time.
Pageantry and elaborate costumes were a part of ancient Egypt fashion, and some of the Victoria's Secret costumes, with jeweled collars, large jewels draped from shoulders to navel, sheer fabrics and exposed flesh echoed the aesthetics of Egyptian women's wear. Certain tomb paintings depict dancers and musicians performing bare breasted, and even noblewomen wore dresses that put the breasts on display, either barely covered by see-through linen or entirely bare. Sandals were the preferred footwear and jewelry and dramatic makeup were plentiful.
Models in Fantasy Costumes and Angel's Wings
It's easy to imagine a pageant of the God's wives of Amon. In Egypt's distant history, women's spiritual roles were a source of power. One important position was as a wife of Amon.
Pharaoh's wives, including Cleopatra, at times took on the role of Isis, and wore wings.
The array of fantasy costumes somehow outdid last year's. As one model put it, "It's amazing what they can do with a bra and panties."
As with last year's show, camera angles that would be too crass to use in most other situations -- up-skirt shots that fill the screen were used excessively -- presumably the fact that it's an underwear show is the excuse. The models own the catwalk with grace and composure, despite all the backstage frenzy during the fashion show.
A guilty pleasure, a spectacle for voyeurs, a fashion fantasia, a model's dream, a designer's showcase... Whatever you think of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, its impact is far-reaching. This year's crop of long-legged models included young women who first walked in the show in 2000, and other models taking that career-making runway walk for the first time.
Pageantry and elaborate costumes were a part of ancient Egypt fashion, and some of the Victoria's Secret costumes, with jeweled collars, large jewels draped from shoulders to navel, sheer fabrics and exposed flesh echoed the aesthetics of Egyptian women's wear. Certain tomb paintings depict dancers and musicians performing bare breasted, and even noblewomen wore dresses that put the breasts on display, either barely covered by see-through linen or entirely bare. Sandals were the preferred footwear and jewelry and dramatic makeup were plentiful.
Models in Fantasy Costumes and Angel's Wings
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TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images via Laurent Jean Philippe, Flickr |
It's easy to imagine a pageant of the God's wives of Amon. In Egypt's distant history, women's spiritual roles were a source of power. One important position was as a wife of Amon.
Pharaoh's wives, including Cleopatra, at times took on the role of Isis, and wore wings.
The array of fantasy costumes somehow outdid last year's. As one model put it, "It's amazing what they can do with a bra and panties."
As with last year's show, camera angles that would be too crass to use in most other situations -- up-skirt shots that fill the screen were used excessively -- presumably the fact that it's an underwear show is the excuse. The models own the catwalk with grace and composure, despite all the backstage frenzy during the fashion show.
Ancient Egypt: Queen Cleopatra -- Facts, Pictures and Dress
Queen Cleopatra made a lasting impact on Egypt —and continues to influence fashion. She's one of the most famous women who ever ruled, and was the last pharaoh to reign in ancient Egypt. She was educated, a skilled strategist, a writer, capable of charm and diplomacy in multiple languages— and has had a reputation for centuries for her power over men.
Her sense of style embraced both the figure-hugging, bare-breasted fashions of Egypt and the more modest, draped Roman-style gowns, based on depictions of the Queen during her lifetime. Her headdresses and jewelry show both influences, including coins showing her with a Roman circlet on her hair and a number of carvings and paintings featuring Egyptian crowns and headdresses.
More than any other non-Egyptian ruler, Queen Cleopatra took care to master the Egyptian language. Reports from her time suggest she was a popular ruler, loved by many people. She participated in the religion, clothed herself in the local styles and presented herself in the iconography that spoke to the people. Beginning in childhood she represented an Egyptian goddess, part of the belief system that supported royalty in Egypt, and as an adult she sometimes appeared as Isis.
Her family life bears the cut-throat markers of many royal families. She was married in succession to two of her brothers, a common practice in ancient Egyptian royal families. As a girl and young woman, she would have been surrounded by people seeking to manipulate her for their own gain, and by family members and traitors looking for opportunities to assassinate her. She held her own, ruling Egypt in her own right, and managed to be as ruthless as her life required. As a young woman she had her sister Arsinoe killed to remove her as a threat.
She was a teenager when she took Egypt's throne after her father. Four years later, at 21, she met Caesar. Despite the legends and movies that focus on her sexuality and her ploy of arriving in Caesar's bedroom unrolled from a carpet, she emerges from biased distortions as a savvy ruler with a strong intellect and indomitable will. Artists have immortalized her death -- legends have it she committed suicide by snake bite to prevent being taken captive.
This dress features the wide shoulder straps that were an element of many ancient Egyptian gowns for women. The wig features gold ornaments attached to the ends of the hair in a style that's timeless and sexy. The strong brows and thick eyeliner extending beyond the corners of the eye are characteristic of makeup for women -- and for men. The Egyptian-style jewelry that completed the costume include a gold armband that embraces the queen's upper arm and gold earrings.
She seems to have worn Roman and Egyptian fashions, based on surviving pictures and coins, and she probably had curly hair. Cleopatra may have had her father's prominent nose. Portraits show her with full lips and a soft face. She seems to have worn Roman hairstyles with her hair pulled back and wigs. Headdresses or circlets completed her royal look.
Note what was probably a long, finely-braided wig on the carving pictured below. Her headdress features the horns of the goddess Hathor, the sun disk and two plumes -- the upright feathers above the crown. The dress in this picture appears to be the close-fitting transparent linen popular for women's fashions in ancient Egypt for centuries. The Egyptians made linen from flax that grew along the Nile river.
Partial transcription of the scrapbook page above from the William Vaughn Tupper Scrapbook Collection, courtesy of the Boston Public Library, telling the story of Cleopatra, Caesar, their son Caesarion and the death of Cleopatra by an asp, a type of poisonous snake:
"B.C. 48. Cæsar conquers Egypt. And was afterwards himself conquered by the spells of the Egyptian Queen. And Caerarion is born. Ptolemy XIV is drowned in the Nile and Ptolemy XV becomes co-regent with Cleopatra and is assassinatd by her instigation.
44B.C. Cæsar is murdered at Rome and Anthony comes on the scene- In B.C. 42 he summons Cleopatra to Tarsus to answer for the aid she has rendered to Brutus and Cassius at Philippi and is captivated by her beauty and talent. After spending years of debauchery with the Egyptian Queen, he is by Roman senate declared an enemy of his country and Octavinus marches against him and defeats him at Actium. Anthony commits suicide.
BC 30 and Cleopatra after this scory of stormy years dies by the bite of an asp (cerastes). It is surmised that some sort of water communication must have existed in the time of the Ptolemies connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean because after the defeat at the Actium Cleopatra tried to convey her ships across the Isthmus of Suez to escape with her treasures from Octavian."
This 17th century painting presents the last Egyptian queen reaching for an asp to end her life.
Explore ideas for costumes and clothing based on this famous Queen of the Nile. Her dress and fashion sense—both the historical and Hollywood versions—offer inspiration for contemporary fashion and ancient Egyptian costumes.
Updated December 2013. Copyright Bat Hughes, all rights reserved.
Ancient Egypt: Queen Cleopatra -- Facts, Pictures and Dress
Canadian Museum of Civilization: Mysteries of Egypt: Clothing and Adornment
From Warrior Women to Female Pharaohs: Careers for Women in Ancient Egypt
Protected by Copyscape. Do not Copy.
Her sense of style embraced both the figure-hugging, bare-breasted fashions of Egypt and the more modest, draped Roman-style gowns, based on depictions of the Queen during her lifetime. Her headdresses and jewelry show both influences, including coins showing her with a Roman circlet on her hair and a number of carvings and paintings featuring Egyptian crowns and headdresses.
More than any other non-Egyptian ruler, Queen Cleopatra took care to master the Egyptian language. Reports from her time suggest she was a popular ruler, loved by many people. She participated in the religion, clothed herself in the local styles and presented herself in the iconography that spoke to the people. Beginning in childhood she represented an Egyptian goddess, part of the belief system that supported royalty in Egypt, and as an adult she sometimes appeared as Isis.
Facts, Pictures and Dress
The images that survive make it difficult to assess whether she was as beautiful as legends say. Her intelligence, strategic abilities and power to capture the imaginations and hearts of people continue to influence contemporary culture. Examples include Hollywood movies such as Elizabeth Taylor's role in 1963, contemporary runway fashion, and a 2012 Superbowl appearance by Madonna in what may have been a Cleopatra-inspired costume with a dramatic winged headress.
The facts of the queen's life portray her as a powerful woman was an engaging conversationalist and engaged in diplomatic correspondence in many languages. She captured the hearts of such powerful men as Caesar and Mark Antony, and left a lasting impression of greatness and style.Cleopatra's Life
Her family life bears the cut-throat markers of many royal families. She was married in succession to two of her brothers, a common practice in ancient Egyptian royal families. As a girl and young woman, she would have been surrounded by people seeking to manipulate her for their own gain, and by family members and traitors looking for opportunities to assassinate her. She held her own, ruling Egypt in her own right, and managed to be as ruthless as her life required. As a young woman she had her sister Arsinoe killed to remove her as a threat.
She was a teenager when she took Egypt's throne after her father. Four years later, at 21, she met Caesar. Despite the legends and movies that focus on her sexuality and her ploy of arriving in Caesar's bedroom unrolled from a carpet, she emerges from biased distortions as a savvy ruler with a strong intellect and indomitable will. Artists have immortalized her death -- legends have it she committed suicide by snake bite to prevent being taken captive.
Appearance & Style
Damaged busts, worn coins, stylized portraits and contemporary accounts raise questions about her appearance. She captivated powerful men and led Egypt as the last of the Ptolemies to rule as pharaoh.
She seems to have worn Roman and Egyptian fashions, based on surviving pictures and coins, and she probably had curly hair. Cleopatra may have had her father's prominent nose. Portraits show her with full lips and a soft face. She seems to have worn Roman hairstyles with her hair pulled back and wigs. Headdresses or circlets completed her royal look.
Note what was probably a long, finely-braided wig on the carving pictured below. Her headdress features the horns of the goddess Hathor, the sun disk and two plumes -- the upright feathers above the crown. The dress in this picture appears to be the close-fitting transparent linen popular for women's fashions in ancient Egypt for centuries. The Egyptians made linen from flax that grew along the Nile river.
Cleopatra Facts
"B.C. 48. Cæsar conquers Egypt. And was afterwards himself conquered by the spells of the Egyptian Queen. And Caerarion is born. Ptolemy XIV is drowned in the Nile and Ptolemy XV becomes co-regent with Cleopatra and is assassinatd by her instigation.
44B.C. Cæsar is murdered at Rome and Anthony comes on the scene- In B.C. 42 he summons Cleopatra to Tarsus to answer for the aid she has rendered to Brutus and Cassius at Philippi and is captivated by her beauty and talent. After spending years of debauchery with the Egyptian Queen, he is by Roman senate declared an enemy of his country and Octavinus marches against him and defeats him at Actium. Anthony commits suicide.
BC 30 and Cleopatra after this scory of stormy years dies by the bite of an asp (cerastes). It is surmised that some sort of water communication must have existed in the time of the Ptolemies connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean because after the defeat at the Actium Cleopatra tried to convey her ships across the Isthmus of Suez to escape with her treasures from Octavian."
Explore ideas for costumes and clothing based on this famous Queen of the Nile. Her dress and fashion sense—both the historical and Hollywood versions—offer inspiration for contemporary fashion and ancient Egyptian costumes.
Updated December 2013. Copyright Bat Hughes, all rights reserved.
Ancient Egypt: Queen Cleopatra -- Facts, Pictures and Dress
Canadian Museum of Civilization: Mysteries of Egypt: Clothing and Adornment
From Warrior Women to Female Pharaohs: Careers for Women in Ancient Egypt
Protected by Copyscape. Do not Copy.
Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Clothing
Ancient Egyptian clothing consisted of the same basic elements for hundreds of years. Most garments were based on rectangles of flax. The Egyptians had an appealing fashion sense, with an awareness of line and style to enhance female and male beauty. In a land of sometimes scorching heat, where all work was performed manually and with simple tools, the Egyptians made use of their resources and limited technology to create beauty and sophisticated designs that survived them by more that three thousand years.
The people of ancient Egypt celebrated the beauty of people, textiles, jewelry, artistically applied makeup, elaborately dressed hair -- and skilled artists left images of Egyptians of all occupations and social classes in timeless ancient Egyptian garments. Whether you want to develop your own fashion sense, explore how fashion has evolved from antiquity to contemporary runway fashion, research the daily lives of ancient Egyptians or make an ancient Egyptian costume, learning about ancient Egyptian clothing will give you a sense of sensual, lasting style.
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| Walk Like an Egyptian, by chatirygirl, CC, Some rights reserved, via Flickr A diorama of ancient Egyptians in the Royal Museum of Scotland |
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