clothing and accessories for the human body. The variety of dress is immense. The style that a particular individual selects is often linked to his sex, age, socioeconomic status, culture, geographic area, and historical era.

The technique of using mordants (mordant dye), any of several chemicals used to bind dyes (dye) to cloth, was slow to come to Egypt, so most garments were white. Instead, colour was provided by jewelry, in which semiprecious stones were widely incorporated. Among the most common types, the characteristic deep, decorative collar, worn by both sexes, was introduced early. These brightly hued bands were made of embroidered (embroidery) and beaded (beadwork) materials and set around the neck and shoulders either on bare skin or on top of a white cape or gown. In some depictions the collar is clearly the major, if not the only, item of apparel worn.

Over the years the style of these garments slowly evolved and became more complex; a greater number were worn either in combination with or on top of one another. During the Old Kingdom (Egypt, ancient) (its capital at Memphis), which lasted until about 2130 BCE, dress was simple. Men wore a short skirt tied at the waist or held there by a belt. As time passed, the skirt became pleated or gathered. Important people wore in addition a decorative coloured pendant hanging in front from the waist belt and a shoulder cape or corselet partly covering their bare torso. A sheathlike gown was typical of feminine attire. This encased the body from the ankles to just below the breasts and was held up by decorative shoulder straps. Woolen (wool) cloaks were worn for warmth by men and women.

Under the Middle Kingdom (Egypt, ancient) (its capital at Thebes), which prospered until about 1630 BCE, the masculine skirt could be hip- or ankle-length. More material was now used, making the garment fuller, such fullness being concentrated in the centre front; and the pendants became more elaborate and ornamental. A cape might be draped around the shoulders and knotted on the chest. Late in the period a double skirt was introduced; alternatively, a triangular loincloth might be worn under a skirt.

Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia, history of) was situated in the area of land that is defined by the great Tigris and Euphrates river system (Tigris-Euphrates river system) and that is contained within modern Iraq. Several important cultures arose there, their empires waxing and waning successively as well as overlapping in time. Among the most prominent were the empires of Sumeria (Sumer), Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia.

The Sumerian civilization was established before 4000 BCE and reached a high level of culture between 2700 and 2350 BCE. In early times both sexes wore sheepskin skirts with the skin turned inside and the wool combed into decorative tufts. These wraparound skirts were pinned in place and extended from the waist to the knees or, for more important persons, to the ankles. The upper part of the torso was bare or clothed by another sheepskin cloaking the shoulders. From about 2500 BCE a woven woolen fabric replaced the sheepskin, but the tufted effect was retained, either by sewing tufts onto the garment or by weaving loops into the fabric. Named kaunakes by the Greeks, this tufted fabric is shown in all the sculptures and mosaics of the period, as, for example, in the art from the excavations at Ur exhibited in the British Museum in London. At this time, also, long cloaks were worn, and materials for garments and head coverings included felted wool and leather.

Both sexes seem to have often worn large wigs, as in ancient Egypt. Metalworking was of a high standard, as may be seen in the elaborate golden jewelry, which was encrusted with semiprecious stones and worn by both sexes. Brooches (brooch), earrings (earring), hair ornaments, and neck chains have all been found.

The dress worn in Mesopotamia by the Babylonians (Babylonia) (2105–1240 BCE) and the Assyrians (Assyria) (1200–540 BCE) evolved into a more sophisticated version of Sumerian and Akkadian styles. Ample evidence of this more elaborate draped costume can be seen in the large relief sculptures of the age. There were two basic garments for both sexes: the tunic and the shawl, each cut from one piece of material. The knee- or ankle-length tunic had short sleeves and a round neckline. Over it were draped one or more shawls of differing proportions and sizes but all generally fringed or tasseled. Broad belts held the shawls in position. Wool was the most frequently used material, in bright or strong colours. Decoration was rich, in allover patterns or in borders, carried out in embroidery or by printing. Motifs were chiefly geometric. Women wore a short skirt as underwear, men a loincloth. Footwear for both sexes was made from fabric or soft leather in the form of sandals or boots.

Care of the coiffure was very important for men and women among both the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The hair was grown long and carefully curled and ringleted, with false hair added if needed. Perfumes (perfume), oils, and black dye were used on the hair. Men grew long, carefully tended curled beards. A band of metal or fabric encircled the brow, or a woolen, felt, or leather cap shaped like a fez was worn. The royal headdress resembled a pleated crown or a mitre and had dependent lappets at the rear. Jeweled ornamentation to the costume was rich and heavy and of high quality.

The Aegean region—and in particular the island of Crete, which was inhabited from about 6000 BCE—can be considered the cradle of western European culture. Settlers came to Crete from areas farther east, including Anatolia, North Africa, Syria, and Palestine. By 2500 BCE the Cretan civilization was becoming established. As a maritime people with extensive trade in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, the Cretans were influenced by many sources. They created a society and a dress style of their own, one dissimilar from the earlier styles of Egypt and the later styles of Greece.

ancient Greek civilization is customarily classified into three segments. Up to about 500 BCE is described as the Archaic period. This was the time when the several different civilizations of mainland and island Greece, Anatolia, and North Africa coexisted, the arts and costume of each influencing the others. The Dorians (Dorian) had invaded the Minoan kingdoms in Crete and the Peloponnese from about 1200 BCE. They were a northern race from Illyria and a less technologically developed society than the Minoans. Modern knowledge of their dress is imperfect, but it seems to have been simple. Woolen cloth, made from the flocks of local sheep, was employed. It was cut into squares of fabric and then pinned on the shoulders and bound around the body. The influence from Anatolia, where the inland climate was more severe, introduced hooded cloaks, banded leg coverings, and Phrygian caps (Phrygian cap) with a point on top.

The 5th and 4th centuries BCE were the years of the great Classical period, the time when a very simple but highly sophisticated and superb quality of work was achieved. Greek literature, architecture (Western architecture), and sculpture (Western sculpture) were particularly fine. This was the case with costume as well, the designs of which can be studied in detail from painted vases (Greek pottery) and sculpture. Classical Greek dress was a draped style, one in which there was little sewing. The garments for men and women were similar, consisting of oblong pieces of fabric in different sizes and materials, draped in various ways and held in place by ribbons and decorative pins. The dress was a totally natural one; there was no constriction and no padding. The simplicity of the dress was offset by the myriad ways of wearing it, a sophistication achieved by personal expression of the wearer.

From Classical times the chief garment was the chiton, a type of tunic made from one or two pieces of material hanging back and front, pinned on one or both shoulders, and girded. For men the chiton was usually knee-length and seamed up one or both sides. An ankle-length version was worn by women and for more formal wear by men. The simplest type of chiton was sleeveless, but later a sleeved version was made possible by using a much wider piece of material pinned at intervals at shoulder level, creating an elbow-length wide sleeve. A variation on the chiton style for both sexes was achieved by wearing a double girdle, one at waist level and one around the hips, the material being bloused out in between. The peplos was an additional garment worn by women. Made of one or two pieces of fabric, it hung from the shoulder pins to above or below the waist girdle. Alternatively, women used a longer piece of the chiton material and folded it over in front to hang in a similar manner.

There were two chief forms of cloak or wrap. The smaller one—the chlamys—was of dark wool and was worn pinned on one shoulder, usually leaving the right arm free. The larger wrap was the himation, worn by both sexes. Draped in many different ways, it covered the body and could be drawn up over the head. In sculpture, philosophers and statesmen are commonly depicted wearing the himation.

Men's hair was long in the early years, but later it was cut short and carefully curled. bleach was often used to make the hair fashionably blond; perfumes and pomades were applied. Beards were common until the time of Alexander. Most men were bareheaded, a hat being reserved for bad weather. There was a low-crowned, broad-brimmed style—the petasos—and a brimless cap, the pilos. Women's hair was long; it was usually curled and waved on the forehead and sides and drawn to a chignon at the nape. Many women wore wigs of different shades and decorated their coiffure with flowers, jewels, and fillets. They draped the head with the cloak and, in the Hellenistic period, sometimes perched a straw hat on top.

Cultural development came later to Italy than to the Aegean area. The Greeks colonized southern Italy and Sicily from the later 7th century BCE, but it was the Etruscans (Etruscan) who introduced a high standard of civilization, in the previous century, to the central region of the peninsula. They called themselves the Rasenna, though in Latin they were known as the Etrusci or Tusci. It is believed that they may have emigrated from Anatolia or possibly from farther east. They quickly developed their culture in their new land, and, soon after 700 BCE, they were living in an urban society capable of a high standard of building and visual arts. In dress, as in the other applied arts, they drew their inspiration and knowledge from a mixture of sources, chiefly Greek and Middle Eastern.

The Etruscans also had a close affinity of dress with the Minoans, with sewn and fitted garments, bright colouring, rich decoration, and an abundance of beautiful jewelry, especially in gold. Nevertheless, Etruscan dress, for both sexes, demonstrates a marriage between East and West, blending Eastern features from Egypt, Syria, and Crete with a later Ionian-style draped attire probably derived from the contemporary Greek colonists in southern Italy. Thus, Etruscans can be seen wearing both draped, pinned tunics and fitted, sewn ones, or such Greek styles as the chlamys, himation, or chiton in conjunction with footwear with Middle Eastern-style turned-up toes. Some Etruscan garments presaged later styles; for example, the tebenna, a semicircular mantle, was an early version of the Roman toga, and a decorative collar derived from Egypt anticipated a later Byzantine version.

The garment for which Rome is most famous is the toga. A large piece of material wrapped around the masculine body as a cloak, the toga served a similar function as the Greek himation, although the fabric was of quite a different shape. Under the empire, the toga acquired a special distinction because of its unique and complex method of draping and because, as a note of rank, its wearing was restricted to Roman citizens. The toga was not rectangular in shape like the himation but was a segment of a circle, measuring about 18 feet (5.5 metres) along the chord of the segment and about 5.5 feet (1.7 metres) at its widest point. It was made of wool and so was very heavy. To drape it, about five feet of the straight edge of the fabric was placed against the centre front of the body from ground level upward. The rest of the material was then thrown over the left shoulder and passed around the back, under the right arm, and once again over the left shoulder and arm. The right arm was therefore left free. The material could be pouched in front as well as drawn up over the head. Certain patterns and colours were worn by specific members of society.

Feminine dress was very like the Greek, with the Roman woman's version of the chiton called a stola. As time passed, women took to wearing several garments one on top of the other, while the garments themselves were made of finer fabrics and were more lavishly decorated. The feminine cloak, the palla, resembled the Greek himation.

Animal furs (fur) and hides (hide) made up the chief garments during the European Stone Age. They would be held to the body by a thong belt and by pins at the shoulder. Later such skins were pierced with awls and sewn together with cordage to give a closer fit. Finds from tombs and living sites dating to the Upper Paleolithic Period (c. 38,000–c. 8,000 BCE) indicate that people had a fair knowledge of dressing skins, weaving, and sewing. No garments have survived the oldest part of the Upper Paleolithic, but archaeologists have recovered artifacts such as boxwood and bone combs, delicate bone needles, reindeer horn buttons and plaques, and decorative items such as necklaces and armlets of beads, amber, and ivory. Discoveries from more recent eras, such as that of the Iceman, (Iceman) or Ötzi (c. 3300 BCE), have provided more information.

A different type of dress was worn by the nomadic peoples who lived on the Steppe (Steppe, the), a grassy plain that stretches from Hungary to Manchuria. Such groups, which included the Scythians (Scythian), Cimmerians (Cimmerian), and Sarmatians (Sarmatian), traveled immense distances on horseback. Their attire being suited to their way of life, both sexes wore similar garments consisting of a woolen tunic over a shirt and wide trousers. These garments were worn in layers one on top of another; they were fairly close-fitting but loose enough for comfort and for the practical needs of hours spent on horseback. Short boots were pulled up over the trouser bottoms and tied in place. These peoples also wore leather belts around their waists, and felted woolen caps kept their heads warm. Around 600 BCE the Scythians lived in the region around the Black Sea and then gradually moved westward to Romania, Hungary, and Germany. Excavation of their burial sites in the Dnieper valley and near Simferopol, both in Ukraine, and in the Balkans has yielded both actual garments and a wealth of relief sculpture, vases, and plaques that illustrate Scythian dress.

Roman influence on the dress of the northern and western countries of the empire was strong until the early 5th century CE. This was to a certain extent, however, a two-way influence since, in the colder northern areas, the Romans found the indigenous dress styles of belted tunics (tunic) with trousers or leg-banding more suitable than their own Classical tunica and bare legs. Useful evidence of local attire in Britain, Gaul, and Germany is graphically illustrated on Trajan's Column and that of Marcus Aurelius, both in Rome. This evidence is reinforced by the written accounts of Roman historians such as Cornelius Tacitus (Tacitus) of the 1st century CE and Sidonius Apollinaris of the later years.

Cloth was rarely made in the region north of the Rio Grande, although many cultures there made finely woven baskets. The California Indians (California Indian) and the Northwest Coast Indians (Northwest Coast Indian) also wove capes and hats from plant fibres.

Most people wore clothing made from the tanned (tanning) or chamois skins of local animals, such as deer, elk, buffalo, moose, beaver, otter, wolf, fox, and squirrel. Native Americans (Native American) employed animal oils, particularly those found in the brains of the animal, to produce a softly textured material that they then dyed in brilliant colours. They often made use of the entire skin, adapting the garment to the shape of the animal and wearing it draped and sewn only minimally; the legs, paws, and tail were left attached and hung down as decoration. Two skins were often used for a woman's dress or man's tunic, one back and one front. Like other groups with little to no metalworking, Native Americans pierced the edges of skins with bone or stone awls and then threaded the edges together with animal sinew or fibre cordage. Decoration was by porcupine-quill embroidery (quillwork), the quills being softened by chewing or simmering and then dyed. Garments were also decorated by fringed edging.

Hair was carefully tended by both sexes. For the men there were many, varied styles; in some areas hair was grown long and plaited, in others it was worn loose. Some styles were dramatic, consisting of, for example, a ridge of hair sticking up along the crown of the head, extending from the forehead back, with the remainder of the head shaved. (This style was revived in punk coiffures of more modern times when it was called the Mohawk or Mohican.) Animal hair and feathers (feather) were added to many hairstyles. An important form of regalia was a feathered headdress, which sometimes included buffalo horns, ermine tails, and quillwork. Women's hair was generally worn long, either loose, plaited, or held in place by a headband.

The clothing of the Eskimo (Inuit and Yupik/Yupiit) and Aleut was adapted to the Arctic cold and had much in common with that worn in the Siberian Arctic. This clothing was made from animal skins, but because of the climate it was sewn and tailored to the body to keep out the wind. The fur or pelt of the animal was retained, and garments were often worn fur side in. Thread was of animal sinew, awls for piercing the skin were generally stone, and needles were of bone or ivory. The Eskimo used all available animal skins: polar bear, deer, caribou reindeer, antelope, dog, and fox. They also used birds—the skin for clothing and the feathers as decoration. Sealskin was ideal for boots, which were made with the fur turned inward. Seal gut was used to make waterproof outer garments for those who ventured onto the sea.

In Central (Central America) and South America (South American Indian) lived the Aztec, the Maya, and the Inca. The Aztec settled in Mexico about the 12th century. Their capital city, Tenochtitlán, which they established in the 14th century, was on the present-day site of Mexico City. The men wore loincloths, the women tunics and skirts, all made from woven cotton fabric. Ornamental cloaks were worn as garments of rank. The decoration of Aztec costume was chiefly by exotic plumes, but fur also was used. The Aztec elite wore a great deal of jewelry, mainly of gold.

The Maya came to Guatemala about 800 BCE and spread into the Yucatán Peninsula. Their culture flourished chiefly between 250 and 900 CE. They also wore few garments: a loincloth for men and a cloak when needed; a loose sleeveless dress or blouse and skirt for women. Cotton and sisal were cultivated; women were responsible for spinning and weaving these fibres. The Maya also developed a method of tie-dyeing the yarn and of weaving patterns using bright colours for dyes. Embroidery also was practiced.

Cotton fabrics were mainly reserved for upper-class wear, as were beautifully decorated leather belts and sandals. For the ordinary people, tapa—a cloth derived from tree bark, as in Polynesia—was made. An important part of Mayan decoration was provided by feathers from birds of brilliant plumage, which were skillfully incorporated into the weaving processes. The feathers were also widely used in the ornamentation of headdresses. The long, iridescent tail feathers of the quetzal, a member of the trogon family of birds, were especially prized, as they were in Aztec dress.

The Inca came from the valley of Cuzco in the high mountains of Peru. During the 15th century they established a powerful empire of several million people in what are now Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and extending into parts of Argentina and Chile. Their attire was brightly coloured and decorated by feathers—indeed some of their fine cloaks were made entirely of feathers woven into a cotton fabric base. They kept herds of llamas (llama) for wool and hunted other animals, such as the chinchilla, for their fur. Nonetheless, Inca garments were simple in construction: a basic loincloth for both sexes and, over this, a short tunic for men and an ankle-length dress for women. The poncho was the most usual cloak. People went barefoot or wore sandals. They also frequently went bareheaded or, in bad weather, adopted a woolen cap or turban.

The style of costume worn throughout the Middle East has been remarkably constant for centuries. This is partly because it has evolved as one suited to the climate, serving as a protection against heat, dust, and blazing sunshine. The wearing of traditional clothing has also been accepted and supported by many Muslim (Islām) countries.

A number of the traditional garments were originally derived from ancient cultures in the region, particularly from Persia (Iran) and farther east in India, Mongolia, and Asian (Asia) Russia. The caftan is one such example. It is an open, coatlike garment, termed in ancient Persia a candys or kandys. Also worn extensively in the cooler climates of Mongolia and China, the style extended westward to become, eventually, the fashionable dolman of the late Ottoman Empire.

The simple basic garment for both sexes was a loose, long shirt, chemise, or tunic, which often had long sleeves. Over this men wore a robe or mantle of various types. The aba (ʿabāʾ or abaya) was of ancient origin and is mentioned in the Bible as the attire of Hebrew prophets. It was traditionally made of heavy cream-coloured wool decorated with brightly coloured stripes or embroidery. A voluminous outer gown still worn throughout the Middle East in the Arab world is the jellaba, known as the jellabah in Tunisia, a jubbeh in Syria, a gallibiya in Egypt, or a dishdasha in Algeria. The garment generally has wide, long sleeves, and the long skirt may be slit up the sides; some styles are open in front like a coat or caftan.

The loose, baggy trousers traditional to the Middle East, as well as to the Balkans and Anatolia, are still widely worn by both sexes. The garment is believed to have originated in Persia, and it is presumed that the Arabs saw it there when they invaded that country in the 7th century. The trousers, called chalvar, chalwar, or ṣalvar according to the country where they were worn, measured about 3 yards (2.75 metres) across at the waist and were drawn tight by cords. The full, leg portion was tied at each ankle. A broad sash then encircled the waist, on top of the chalvar. Worn in this way the garment was ideal for working in the fields because it allowed freedom of movement and protected the lumbar region of the spine, especially while bending, from chills. For centuries the garment has also been adopted by men in the fighting forces. Cotton is the usual material for working attire, but fashionable ladies wear a chalvar made from a brocade or silk fabric over linen drawers.

The tradition for women to cover themselves from head to toe and veil (purdah) their faces when they go out in public is an old one, predating Islam in Persia, Syria, and Anatolia. The Qurʾān provides instructions giving guidance on this matter but not a strict ruling. However, some modern regimes have insisted on the strict veiling of women in public. The enveloping cloaks worn by women for this purpose are similar to one another and often incorporate a mesh panel through which women may peer at the world outside. The most common names for this garment are burka, chador, chādar, chadri, çarşaf, and tcharchaf.

The characteristic masculine Arab headdress has been the kaffiyeh. It is still worn today, although it may now accompany a business suit. Basically, the kaffiyeh is a square of cotton, linen, wool, or silk, either plain or patterned, that is folded into a triangle and placed upon the head so that one point falls on to each shoulder and the third down the back. It is held in place on the head by the agal (igal, egal), a corded band decorated with beads or metallic threads.

Owing to the site of its capital city, the empire was subject to a complex of influences that were nowhere more marked than in the dress of its ruling classes. Over the centuries there were two notable periods of wealth and prosperity that were reflected in costume. The first period was in the time of the emperor Justinian I, who reigned from 527 to 565 CE. Until this time the influence of Rome was still strong, and dress styles tended to be draped in the fashion of the later years of the empire. There were differences, however, derived in part from Persian and Anatolian designs, such as the use of sewn, closer-fitting garments and richer ornamentation and jewelry. In addition, because of its success as a trade centre between East and West, the Byzantine Empire had become extremely wealthy. This wealth led to a costume of magnificent splendour that became the envy of the known world. Luxury fabrics from Asia, Syria, and Egypt became available in quantity and were utilized, despite the high cost, by the leading members of society.

During Justinian's reign, Byzantine textile manufacturers produced beautiful, glamorous fabrics, mainly of silk interwoven with gold and silver metallic threads and interspersed with pearls and jeweled embroideries. The use of these heavy lustrous fabrics gradually altered the style of dress; the stiff, ornate materials lent themselves to a simpler cut with only a few folds to break up the often allover, large-motif designs. For both men and women a more fitted, sewn tunic, cinched at the waist by a richly decorated wide belt and hanging straight to knee or ankle, replaced the Roman draped tunica (tunic). A rich, deep decorative collar, like the preceding Egyptian and Etruscan versions, covered the shoulders. The influence of the Christian church could be seen in the fact that the limbs were generally covered by long, usually fitted sleeves and cloth or silken hose. Cloaks, pinned at the shoulder, were worn outdoors. Imperial dress was characterized by the extensive use of purple and gold. Garments for the wealthy were vividly coloured in reds, yellows, and greens. Such attire is depicted in the 6th-century mosaics and the Ravenna churches of San Vitale and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, which include portraits of Justinian and his wife, Theodora.

The dress of Europeans during the years from the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire in the 5th century CE to about 1340 was slow to change and was largely standardized over a wide area. Clothes for men and women were similar, being sewn albeit crudely and loosely cut. A shirt or chemise and braies—that is, a roughly fitting kind of drawers—constituted underwear. These were of a natural coloured linen. The shirt was hip-length for men, longer for women. It had a round neck, slit in front for ease of donning, and was tied with a drawstring; the braies were similarly fastened at the waist. On top of this was worn one or more tunics—knee- or ankle-length for men and ground-length for women. The tunic had a round neckline and long sleeves cut in one with the garment; it was loose fitting but girded at the waist. Tunics were made from coloured linen or wool and were decorated with embroidered bands at the neck, wrists, and hem. Legs were covered with ill-fitting hose, which were cut from cloth in two vertical sections and sewn together. They were held up by banding or garters.

Toward 1350 a great change occurred in costume. Clothes increasingly were tailored to fit and display the human figure. The ability to tailor garments improved. More and better fabrics were now reaching the West from Italy and farther east. But perhaps the most important reason for sartorial change was the spread of the Renaissance movement from Italy. A movement both spiritual and secular, the Renaissance was dedicated to reviving Classical concepts and to celebrating the dignity and importance of human beings. This was expressed in costume by the beautification and display of the human figure.

By the 15th century, styles, accessories, decoration, and fabrics were beginning to vary from area to area. The fashion-setter in the years 1430–75 was Burgundy, a duchy that controlled Flanders and much of modern France. It was the wealthiest region in Europe, and the fabrics it manufactured—velvets, silks, gold and silver materials, and embroideries—were of the highest quality. After Burgundy's defeat in 1477 at Nancy, Italy became the fashion centre of Europe. Italian fabrics were equally beautiful to those from Burgundy but were less heavy and with less fur. Colours were gay and bright, and the emphasis for both sexes was on an elegant, natural human form with a gracious ease of movement.

Women's headdresses were extremely varied. Hair was still long, plaited, and coiled over the ears. These coils might be enclosed in metal mesh jeweled nets called cauls and were worn with a veil. In the 15th century turbans—a Byzantine style that had been introduced in Italy—were fashionable. Wimples had also gained popularity, as did steeple headdresses resembling dunce caps and shorter fezlike caps. All were made of rich fabrics and accompanied by veils, either in a soft flowing mode or formed into winglike shapes by wire framework underneath.

The 16th century witnessed further changes occurring in Europe. The limitations bounding medieval society were gradually being breached, and the concepts of the Renaissance were being accepted farther west, in France, Flanders, England, and Spain. People expected a higher standard of living, and there was an expanding middle class. Europe was also looking outward. From Portugal, Spain, and Italy especially, sailors were voyaging to explore both east and west. Their journeys brought the acquisition of riches, new materials, and precious metals. Costume, as always, reflected all this.

Whereas the humanist concept of the Renaissance had led to figure display and elegance, the new modes were influenced by the Reformation of northern Europe, giving rise to darker colours, heavier materials, and bulky garments padded to conceal the figure. The masculine tunic—now called a doublet—had a knee-length, gored skirt that was open in front to display the now padded protruberant codpiece. Over this was worn a rich velvet gown with fur collar and padded sleeves. Shoes and boots had broad toes and, like all other garments, were decoratively slashed. Short hair styles, small beards, and flat velvet caps worn at an angle were fashionable.

The feminine figure was artificially controlled by a tight underbodice with metal or whalebone strips in the seams to give a small waist and slender torso. This was the precursor of the corset. In contrast, the skirt was shaped into a cone or inverted-V silhouette by being draped over a petticoat made from canvas and inset at intervals with circular hoops (hoop skirt) of wicker. This fashion had originated during the previous century in Spain, and by 1500 it had become high fashion there. The Spanish skirt, called a verdugado, was bell-shaped, however. About 1530 the cone-shaped hoop was introduced into France, where it was popularized by the queen and called a vertugade. The style soon appeared in England, where it was known as a farthingale.

A characteristic feature of dress of this time for both sexes was the ruff collar (ruff), introduced from Spain. Called a band (ruffs laundered and ready to wear were kept in band boxes), it was a strip of material tied around the neck. Another, ruched strip was sewn on to it. After 1565, with the introduction of starch, ruffs became larger and were often edged with embroidery and lace. The very large “cartwheel” ruffs were not worn in Spain, nor was the wheel farthingale. It was in the Netherlands (Netherlands, The), Germany, France, and England that the extremes of these fashions, which lasted until about 1620, were seen.

By the 1620s the Netherlands was emerging from Spanish control and extending its trade dramatically to become wealthy and influential. The garments worn by the well-to-do were still made from beautiful fabrics, but these now included fine wools as well as velvets and silks. The material that above all was characteristic of these years was lace, seen especially in the falling bands—large collars covering the shoulders, which had replaced the 16th-century ruffs—and their elegant matching cuffs.

The years between 1630 and perhaps 1680 (depending on location) have been aptly dubbed by some costume historians as the time of “long locks, lace, and leather.” Men grew their hair long and wore it, beautifully cared for, falling naturally onto the shoulders and down the back. Complementary to this coiffure was a large beaver, felt, or velvet hat, dramatically ornamented by coloured ostrich plumes. The leather refers to the fact that the fashionable footwear was a boot rather than a shoe. These boots were made of soft leather; they had heels with platform soles and immense bucket tops, over the edge of which frothed lace-edged boot hose. The doublet had become an elegant hip-length jacket, and the trunk hose were replaced by knee-length breeches tied with a ribbon sash at the knee. Women's dresses had a full skirt that fell naturally from a raised waistline; the shoulders were covered by a band of lace. The hair was dressed high on the crown in a bun decorated with pearl ropes and with ringlets at the sides and brow.

The grand règne of Louis XIV of France lasted from 1643 to 1715. In this time the king established France as a great European power, and from about 1660 France became the unchallenged leader of European fashion, a position it held until 1939 and even later. The mode was set in Paris, and new styles were disseminated by mannequin dolls sent out to European capitals and by costume plates drawn by notable artists from Albrecht Dürer (Dürer, Albrecht) to Wenceslaus Hollar (Hollar, Wenceslaus).

In the last decade of the century both sexes wore a high coiffure. In the case of the men it was a wig. The periwig (peruke) or peruke had been fashionable since about 1670. It was made of naturally coloured hair—human where possible—and consisted of a great curtain of curls and ringlets cascading over shoulders and back, while above the brow the curls rose high on either side of the centre parting. With these full-bottomed wigs the hat, now a three-cornered tricorne, was usually carried under the arm. Ladies wore a tall headdress—the fontange—consisting of tiers of wired lace decorated by ribbons and lappets.

A rigid corset continued to slenderize the waist and a framework petticoat to define the shape of the skirt. In the early decades this was a hoop skirt, circular in section and very full. A popular style of gown worn over this was the sack (sacque), which had been derived from the informal house dress of the early years of the century. In France this style was often called the robe volante. From a low, wide neckline the gown flared out freely over the hoop petticoat. By 1720–25 the fullness was concentrated at the back in two deep box pleats sewn to the neckband, while the gown was waisted at the front. This was the robe à la française.

Toward mid-century the hoop framework gradually changed shape to become oval. Then known as a panier (“basket”), it consisted of a basket form on each hip tied in at the waist by tapes. Soon the frame became so wide that women found it difficult to negotiate a doorway or a sedan chair, so a collapsible folding panier was devised, made only of whalebone hoops connected together by tapes. The years 1750–75 saw the most elaborate and outrageously decorated panier gowns, a riot of ruffles, flounces, and ribbon bows. It was also the time of ridiculously high, overdecorated, and powdered wigs (wig). Cosmetics of all forms, many containing white lead, mercury, and other injurious chemicals, were copiously used, a reintroduction of the 16th-century practice.

By the 1770s a reaction to this excess was beginning in England, where simpler gowns with a framework petticoat were worn, and the fullness of the skirt was drawn to the back. A sash encircled a high waistline, and a soft fichu, or light scarf, was draped around the neck. These gentler yet elegantly feminine styles gradually spread throughout Europe and were finally accepted in France, although a 1783 portrait of Marie-Antoinette in such a gown angered the public, who claimed that her use of muslin—a fabric not produced in France—undermined the French textile industry.

Many colonists thought it important to preserve class distinctions in all areas. Because of this, they passed many sumptuary laws (sumptuary law) that proscribed what members of the different classes could purchase or own; protocol in dress was a visible expression of their determination to maintain their heritage. Similar laws restricting dress were also passed for religious reasons, reflecting some of the areas of conflict that led to the English Civil Wars (1642–51). In America, as in England, plain dress and rich dress became, in effect, the respective symbols of the Puritan (Puritanism) and the Cavalier, respectively. Many Virginia colonists leaned toward the Cavalier; Puritan ideas prevailed in Massachusetts (Massachusetts Bay Colony). The Puritan penchant for simpler dress had begun before their departure for America. Having moved overseas, they continued to omit such extravagances as fine brocades, rich laces, ribbons, and feathers.

From the early 12th century the Byzantine Empire had begun its slow decline in the face of the Turkish advance. In 1324 or 1326 the Ottoman Turks captured Bursa, on the opposite side of the Sea of Marmara from Constantinople (Istanbul), and this city became the first capital of the Ottoman Empire. In 1453, Constantinople itself fell to the Turks. By then the fashions of each culture had been influencing one another for many years. From the Turks had come the wearing of the caftan and trousers; the Byzantines contributed beautiful silks, jeweled embroideries, and cloth of gold. The Turks adopted this richness of attire with such enthusiasm that, by the 16th century, sultans were trying to stem the tide of luxury in dress, as western Europe had long been attempting to do, by the passing of sumptuary laws (sumptuary law) forbidding the wearing of these materials and decoration except by the privileged few.

The influence of national features in dress had been declining since about 1675 and by 1800 had become negligible; from then on fashionable dress design was international. The character of the feminine wardrobe stemmed from Paris, the masculine from London (United Kingdom). The English gentleman was established as the best-dressed in Europe, the lead being set by elegants such as Beau Brummell (Brummell, Beau), whose clothes were copied by the prince regent himself (later King George IV (George IV)). Brummell was so concerned with fit that he had his coat made by one tailor, his waistcoat by another, and his breeches by a third. The neckcloth was so elaborate and voluminous that Brummell's valet sometimes spent a whole morning getting it to sit properly.

Until about 1820 women's dress continued to reflect the Neoclassical styles initiated in the era of the French Revolution. These fashions were supposedly based upon the Classical dress of ancient Greece. Ladies wore loose, draped, high-waisted gowns in white or pale colours in imitation of those depicted by white marble statuary. Corsets became less restrictive or were abandoned. Hair was dressed in Classical fashion, usually in a chignon bound with ribbons. The Romantic (Romanticism) age of the 1830s brought back more colour, a tighter waistline at a more natural level, fuller skirts, leg-of-mutton sleeves, and complex high coiffures surmounted by large-brimmed hats or bonnets.

From the 1840s men's dress lost most of its colour: black, shades of gray, blue, and white were the norm. The formal black tailcoat was now reserved for evening attire. For daywear, tailcoats of various types were worn with a waistcoat and the new looser style of trousers over boots. Neckwear was plainer, consisting of a collar with neck scarf. The three-piece lounge suit, with a jacket instead of a tailcoat, was introduced in the 1850s for informal occasions. In the last two decades of the century a more countrified attire consisting of Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers became popular. The name was taken from the nom de plume Diedrich Knickerbocker, which was adopted by Washington Irving (Irving, Washington) for the comic history of New York that he wrote in 1809. In Irving's history, the Knickerbockers were a family of Dutch settlers in 17th-century New Amsterdam who were depicted in George Cruikshank (Cruikshank, George)'s illustrations for the book wearing the fuller style of breeches.

Between about 1840 and 1870, long, bushy side-whiskers were fashionable. These whiskers, which left the chin clean-shaven, were called burnsides or sideburns, after the U.S. Civil War general Ambrose Burnside (Burnside, Ambrose Everett). Other popular beard styles included the imperial, a small goatee named for Napoleon III, and the side-whiskers and drooping mustache known as the Franz Joseph in honour of the head of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After 1880 men tended to be clean-shaven or to wear a mustache only.

In France, haute couture had taken over control of the fashion-design world. The Englishman Charles Frederick Worth (Worth, Charles Frederick), who had emigrated to Paris in 1845, was the first of the great couturiers and one of the most influential. He introduced the practice of preparing a collection of designs, and he was the first to use live models rather than mannequins to display designs to buyers. Although only the rich could afford designer fashions, the styles gradually reached the ready-to-wear market (in a modified form that nonetheless prompted the introduction of new fashions for the upper classes), and haute couture came to lead women's fashions.

Women's dress from 1840 onward was dominated by a boned corset and framework underskirt. The fullness of the skirt was at first achieved by adding more layers of petticoats (petticoat), leading to the crinoline petticoat of 1850. Named after the materials from which it was originally made (Latin: crinis, “【horse】 hair”; linum, “thread”), this petticoat was, like its predecessors the farthingale and the hoop, a heavy underskirt reinforced by circular hoops (hoop skirt), in this case of whalebone. By 1856 the weight of the petticoats became intolerable, and the cage crinoline was invented. This was a flexible steel framework joined by tapes and having no covering fabric. Sold at two shillings and sixpence, it was immensely popular and worn by most classes of society, at least for Sunday dress. It became the target for cartoonists, who took full advantage of all possible ludicrous situations, but this in no way lessened its popularity.

Gradually, in the 1860s, the shape of the crinoline changed, metamorphosing into that of the rear bustle, which was fashionable in the 1870s and '80s. Only in the 1890s did the skirt return to a relatively slender silhouette, but there was no letup in the constrictive corset, which was then at its most painful and harmful stage. In general, the styles of the late 19th century were feminine and elegant but not easy to wear. They restricted natural movement with their multiple layers, extensive decoration, and sheer quantity of material.

An earlier attempt to introduce a more comfortable, practical attire for women had been made by the American Elizabeth Smith Miller. The costume she designed was enthusiastically advocated by her friend Amelia Jenks Bloomer (Bloomer, Amelia Jenks), a journalist and writer. In 1851 Bloomer traveled to London and Dublin to publicize this dress reform. The outfit, consisting of a jacket and knee-length skirt worn over Turkish-style trousers, was regarded as immodest and unfeminine. It was greeted with horror and disdain, and the idea quickly died. What has survived is the name bloomers, which originally referred to Miller's full trousers but was later applied to long knickers worn as underwear in the early 20th century. Miller's garment was also the inspiration for “rationals” (sometimes also known as bloomers), the knickerbockers worn by women for cycling and sport in the 1890s.

Children's (childhood) clothes varied according to their age. Older boys wore clothes similar to those of young men, but some young boys wore so-called “Little Lord Fauntleroy” velvet suits with lace collars and cuffs and with their hair dressed long in curls. Little girls wore dresses that were shorter than those of adult women but otherwise similar.

Women's fashions changed considerably between 1900 and 1910. The fashion of 1900 was characterized by an S-shaped silhouette that was achieved mainly by a boned corset that was long and rigid in front and shorter at the rear. The costume was extremely feminine, overdecorated with flounces and lace, frills and embroidery. Picture hats were set upon pompadour coiffures, affixed with hat pins. The neckline was high, and the skirt reached the ground.

After the war ended in 1918, styles began to change. Men's dress changed more slowly than women's, but the trend toward informality was accelerated. The tailcoat was reserved for weddings and dances, the lounge suit became the accepted city wear, and sports jackets and gray flannel pants were popular for casual attire. After 1925 trousers commonly featured turnups (cuffs in America), and the legs became increasingly wider; the popular “Oxford bags” measured 20 inches at the hem. Knickerbockers had become fuller and longer, overhanging the kneeband by four inches, and were thus known as plus fours, which remained fashionable until at least 1939. Knitted pullovers (often homemade) in coloured (fair isle) patterns replaced the waistcoat for informal occasions. Technical advances had improved water-repellent fabrics, and most men had a raincoat. A favourite style was the trench coat, a classic design based upon the coats worn by World War I officers in the trenches. Men were mostly clean-shaven, and their hair was short. A peaked cap accompanied leisure wear, and a trilby felt hat the lounge suit. (The latter was named after George du Maurier (du Maurier, George)'s novel; the American term was fedora, named for the heroine of a play.)

For women in the 1920s, freedom in dress reflected the new freedoms opening up for them to take up careers, to study at college, and to enter professions. The skirt hemline rose steadily to become, at its shortest in the years 1925–27, knee-length. With the short skirts, flesh-coloured stockings were introduced, made from expensive silk or more practical lisle or wool (other colours were also worn). Corsets disappeared to be replaced by brassieres and elasticized girdles. Probably the most revolutionary change was in the coiffure. Hair was first cut shorter by trendsetters even before the war, and by the 1920s the shingle and the more severe Eton crop were being adopted by many women. Marcel waving, introduced in the late 19th century, and the later “perm,” or permanent wave, also became popular at this time. The new hairstyles were accompanied by the cloche hat, which closely covered the head.

Femininity returned to fashion in the 1930s. The ideal figure was still slim, but the waistline returned to its natural level. The skirt lengthened again until it reached about eight inches above the ground for the daytime and ground length for the evening. For evening styles, the backless dress and halter neckline became fashionable. The bias cut of material, a mode introduced in the 1920s by the French couturiere Madeleine Vionnet, was widely adopted in the 1930s and was very effective with the longer skirts, creating a figure-hugging style which then flared out at the hemline. Brassieres were redesigned to emphasize the breasts.

The high proportion of men and women in uniform in the years 1939–45 strongly influenced the civilian dress style. For women, garments had square padded shoulder lines, and skirts were a practical knee length. Trousers were widely worn by both civilian and military women. After World War II, trousers and trouser suits remained popular, especially between 1945 and 1970. In Europe, the war years meant austerity and clothing coupons; fashion did not have a high priority. Shortages of materials both during and immediately after the war led to the introduction of “utility” styles, especially in Britain, where government rulings insisted on the removal of all superfluous trimmings, including pockets and pleats, and restricted the fullness of garments in order to economize on the amount of fabric used.

Soon after the war the French designer Christian Dior (Dior, Christian) introduced his 1947 “Corolle” collection, quickly dubbed the “New Look” by the American press. Here was a return to femininity: a long, full skirt with a bouffant ruffled petticoat beneath, a slender waist, and sloping shoulders. This set the style for the next decade or so of feminine fashions and was supplanted only by the rise of the miniskirt in the 1960s. These very short skirts were introduced first in London by Mary Quant (Quant, Mary) and several years later by André Courrèges (Courrèges, André) in Paris. Starting at the knee, the hemline over time crept upward to the upper thigh, a style that had only been made feasible by the introduction of nylon tights (panty hose in the United States). In 1970 other lengths appeared—the midi and the maxi—but neither was as popular as the mini.

By the late 20th and early 21st century, youth-oriented fashions also included looks inspired by musical styles such as punk rock (punk), glam rock, hip-hop, grunge, heavy metal, and country (country music) (or “roper,” in contrast to the “doper” styles preferred by fans of rock music). Additional influences included Gothic novels (Gothic novel) (“goth”) and science fiction and computers (“geek”). There were also styles typified by wealthy, conservative young adults—“Sloanie” or “Sloane ranger” attire in England (named for the fashionable Sloane Square district of London and initially epitomized by Lady Diana Spencer, the future Diana, princess of Wales); and the “preppie” look in the United States, named for the apparel preferred by students at private college-preparatory schools.

Western-style clothes, which many people find convenient to wear during business hours, are now a common sight in many large cities of eastern and southern Asia. This is particularly so in Japan, which since 1945 has built a reputation as an international fashion centre. However, in Japan, China, and India, traditional dress is often preferred for occasions such as weddings.

By the end of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) virtually every technique of weaving now known had already been invented in China. Han bas-reliefs (bas-relief) and scenes painted on tiles show men and women dressed in wide-sleeved kimono-like garments which, girdled at the waist, fall in voluminous folds around their feet. This pao robe changed form but continued to be worn in China until the end of the Ming dynasty in 1644. Other traditional garments include the tunic or jacket, worn by both sexes over loosely cut trousers. For colder weather, clothing was padded with cotton or silk or lined with fur.

When the Manchus (Manchu) overthrew the Ming and established the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), it was decreed that new styles of dress should replace the pao costume. The most formal of the robes introduced by the Manchus was the chaofu, designed to be worn only at great state sacrifices and at the most important court functions. Men's chaofu had a kimono-style upper body, with long, close-fitting sleeves that terminated in the “horsehoof” cuff introduced by the Manchus, and a closely fitted neckband over which was worn a detached collar distinguished by winglike tips that extended over the shoulders. Below, attached to a set-in waistband, was a full, pleated or gathered skirt. Precisely stipulated colours and pattern arrangements of five-clawed dragons and clouds, waves, and mountains were specified for the chaofu of emperors, princes, nobles, and officials; the emperor's lofty rank was clearly identified by the bright yellow of his robe and the 12 imperial symbols emblazoned on it. All other ranks wore “stone blue” chaofu decorated in accordance with prescribed rules about the number, type, and arrangement of dragon motifs.

In mainland China the communist revolution of 1949 brought strict directives on dress. Styles were to be the same for everyone, whether man or woman, intellectual or manual labourer. The drab uniform that resulted, often known as a “Mao suit” because it was favoured by Mao Zedong, was a blend of peasant and military design. It consisted of a military-style high-collared jacket and long trousers. Men's hair was short and usually covered by a peaked cap. Women's hair was longer and uncurled. Shoes had flat heels. No cosmetics or jewelry were permitted. Traditional Chinese cotton was used to make the garments; colour designated worker, soldier, or cadre. After about 1960 a small degree of Westernization set in, permitting a variation in colour and fabric. Dresses were introduced for women.

The earliest representations of dress styles in Japan are to be found in 3rd- to 5th-century CE clay grave figures ( haniwa), a few of which show men and women wearing meticulously detailed two-piece costumes consisting of crossed-front jackets that flare out over the hips, the men's worn over full trousers, which, banded above the knees, hang straight and loose beneath; women's jackets were worn over pleated skirts.

The sokutai ensemble begins with a cap-shaped headdress of black lacquered silk (the kammuri), which includes an upright pennon decorated with the imperial chrysanthemum crest. The voluminous outer robe (ho) is cut in the style of the Chinese pao but is given a distinctively Japanese look by being tucked up at the waist so that the skirt ends midway between the knees and the floor. This ho robe is yellow (the colour worn only by emperors and their families in China), and it is patterned with hō-ō birds and kilin (Japanized versions of the mythical Chinese fenghuang and qilin). The outer and most important of three kimonos (kimono) worn under the ho is the shitagasane, which has an elongated back panel that forms a train some 12 feet (4 metres) long. The shitagasane is made of white damask, as are the baggy white trousers (ue-no-hakama) that are a characteristic feature of the sokutai costume. All these garments are purely Japanese in style. However, the ivory tablet (shaku) carried by the emperor when wearing the sokutai was undoubtedly inspired by tablets of jade that Chinese emperors carried as symbols of their imperial power.

Other types of dress formalized in the 12th century were the noshi (courtiers' everyday costumes) and the kariginu, worn for hunting. Both of these garments were voluminous hip-length jackets worn with baggy trousers tied at the ankles. As political control shifted from the emperor to the newly formed shogunate, it became necessary to devise special costumes for the samurai, the caste from which the shogun drew his power. The hitatare, the formal court robe of samurai, and the suo, a crested linen robe designed for everyday wear, were characterized by V-shaped necklines accentuated by inner-robe neckbands of white.

The basic kimono style adopted by Japanese women during the Nara period has remained amazingly close to that of the pao robes worn by the women of Tang China. The practice of wearing a short-sleeved kimono (kosode) as an outer garment and belting it in with a narrow sash ( obi) originated during the Muromachi period (Ashikaga shogunate; 1338–1573), when samurai women began to wear a voluminous outer kimono (uchikake) as a kind of mantle. Eventually, the kosode came to be worn only by married women, the long-sleeved furisode being reserved for young unmarried girls. The wide obi, tied in a variety of ways and fastened with an often intricately carved toggle ( netsuke), was adopted in the early 18th century, and it was at this time also that women first began to wear the short haori coat, which has come to be an important feature of Japanese women's dress.

Women's costumes feature a bolero-style white chŏgori, finished off at the neck by a figured band or ribbon that ties from left to right, and overlaid by high-waisted chima, which, in formal costumes, is a full, billowing garment made of beautifully patterned silk.

The ancient origin of two of the most characteristic garments of modern India, the dhoti worn by men and the sari worn by women, is verifiable in sculptured reliefs as far back as the 2nd century BCE. Both men and women are pictured wearing a long piece of cloth wrapped around the hips and drawn between the legs in such a fashion that it forms a series of folds down the front. The upper bodies of both men and women were unclothed, though women sometimes wore a narrow cloth girdle around the waist. Men are pictured wearing large turbans, women with head scarves that fall to the hips. Women also wore a great amount of jewelry—bracelets, anklets, and girdles—but men's ornaments consisted solely of bracelets.

Women's garments (purdah) consisted of wide-topped trousers snugly fitted around the calves of the legs, a long shirtlike garment, and a short, fitted outer jacket. Silk was not forbidden to women; and highborn women, forced to spend their lives in seclusion, devoted much time and money to their costumes. During the Mughal Dynasty (c. 1526–1748), emperor Akbar's Rajput (Rājput) wives became inspired by the profusion of luxurious fabrics available in India and designed a graceful new style of dress that Muslim women adopted forthwith. This costume consisted of an open-front pleated skirt, or ghaghra, worn with a long apronlike panel over the front opening, and a short-sleeved, breast-length blouse called a coli. The ghaghra and coli continue to be basic elements of Muslim women's dress, the loose front panel replaced by the traditional sari, which is worn as an overgarment, one end draped around the hips, the other carried up over the shoulder or head.

Dress in southern India was little affected by Muslim rule in the north. The dhoti continued to be worn by most Hindu men (it was traditionally forbidden to some castes) and the sari by women. Some additions to these traditional costumes have been adopted. On formal and semiformal occasions many Hindu men wear a long, full-skirted, white cotton coat, which reaches to the knees and buttons down the front from top to bottom, over jodhpur-style white trousers; most Hindu women wear a short coli-style blouse under a sari or with a long skirt under a loose waist-length bodice.

Furthermore, the idea that fashion is a reflection of wealth and prestige can be used to explain the popularity of many styles throughout costume history. For example, royal courts have been a major source of fashion in the West, where clothes that are difficult to obtain and expensive to maintain have frequently been at the forefront of fashion. Ruffs (ruff), for example, required servants to reset them with hot irons and starch every day and so were not generally worn by ordinary folk. As such garments become easier to buy and care for, they lose their exclusivity and hence much of their appeal. For the same reason, when fabrics or materials are rare or costly, styles that require them in excessive, extravagant amounts become particularly fashionable—as can be seen in the 16th-century vogue for slashing outer garments to reveal a second layer of luxurious fabric underneath.

Similarly, it has been thought that impractical fashions demonstrate that the wearer does not need to work, and indeed would find it difficult to do so. Examples include the Chinese practice of binding women's feet, making it difficult for the women to walk far. Yet this did not prevent working-class Chinese families from binding their daughters' feet. In Europe, corsets (corset) were worn not only by aristocratic women but also by middle-class and working-class women. Contrary to popular belief, 19th-century women's clothing does not prove that a woman's husband or father could afford to hire servants to work for her. Men have also worn their share of impractical apparel; notable examples include the necktie and the high, powdered wig.

Male sexual display at its most blatant can be seen in parts of Papua New Guinea, where the men wear penis sheaths (usually made from a dried gourd) that may be 15 inches long or in some cases even longer. The purpose is to impress both women and enemies, by showing that the warriors are more virile than their opponents. The competition between warriors has led to a great variety of additional adornments such as boars' tusks, animal skins, animal teeth, claws, feathers, shells, metal pieces, bamboo, and the use of paint. In general, the more naked a society is, the more body paint, tattoos (tattoo), or scarification is employed to denote the warriors and the chiefs, with each rank having its individual pattern. In addition, in many societies, only after an individual has reached a certain age or satisfied some other requirements is he allowed to wear certain colours or decorations. Sometimes each item of adornment represents a specific achievement, so that the more decorations a man wears, the better, braver, or more powerful he is shown to be.

Martial display in Europe reached its apex with the tournaments (tournament) of the Middle Ages. The participants spent fortunes on enameled armour, ostrich plumes, pearl-embroidered tabards, ornate saddles and horsecloths, fine mounts, a retinue of grooms and squires, weapons, tents, and other materials. It was a formalized kind of warfare, and foreign ambassadors were invited to be impressed by the martial display of the king or prince. An audience of women was also essential, as they had to confer favours on the knights (knight), and the lady of the tournament had to present the bejeweled prize to the overall victor.

A covered-up look dominated male attire from the 17th until the late 18th century, when the Neoclassical movement led to tighter, more revealing clothes. Skin-coloured knee breeches in buckskin became the rage, and waistcoats shrank, so that from the waist downward the male form was again on show. A naked style affected the army too; uniforms became skintight, and the male form was displayed most obviously in the Napoleonic period. Under Queen Victoria the frock coat concealed all such shocking elements as legs, waist, and genitals, which remained concealed until after World War II, when skintight jeans became the means for a renewal of male sexual display. By the 1990s, Lycra had entered at least some men's wardrobes in the form of leisure wear, its clinging characteristics providing even more extreme “naked” outlines. Thus, since the 14th century in the West, the degree of exposure of the male body has alternated between total concealment and complete display.

Meanwhile, western Rome suffered barbarian invasions and centuries of disorder until it broke up into separate kingdoms. Once these new courts had established themselves, they, too, started trying to outdress and outshine one another. The Anglo-Saxons (Anglo-Saxon), for example, wore loose clothes, but after the Norman Conquest (1066) members of the court started wearing tighter-fitting clothes. This was achieved by cutting the garments on the bias and lacing them under the arm, with the result that the female figure in particular was outlined very obviously. Although abbots (abbot) and bishops objected vehemently, the new fashion for displaying the physique continued unabashed. This style, which also featured exaggerated cuffs reaching the ground, dominated the 1100s. By the 1340s necklines had become so wide that they were almost off the shoulder. Moreover, the adoption of buttonholes from the Moors (Moor) around 1250 had introduced the art of tailoring. Clothes could now be cut very tight and still be easily removed. Shaped seams evolved, and the possession of a shapely figure was essential for both men and women. By 1400 women's waistlines were higher, emphasizing the bosom and making the differences between the sexes obvious. The exposure of the female neck became almost permanent in court circles thenceforth.

It was not until the end of the 18th century, when Neoclassical taste came to the fore, that the exposure of the female form was again a major issue. When the English novelist Fanny Burney (Burney, Fanny) visited Paris in April 1802, her modest wardrobe was found too full: “Three petticoats! no one wears more than one! Stays? everybody has left off even corsets! Shift-sleeves? not a soul now wears even a chemise.” In an homage to the styles of Classical Greece and Rome, women adopted high-waisted, diaphanous gowns.

The acceptance of less cumbersome costumes for sports affected swimwear (swimsuit), and, once the designer Coco Chanel (Chanel, Coco) made suntans the rage, exposure of the female form became almost total. Sunbathing suits revealed more of the female anatomy than any costume since antiquity: whereas in the past ladies had gone to great lengths to avoid being browned by the sun (for a sunburned complexion was the mark of a peasant), there was an almost universal vogue for sun worship in the West from the 1920s until the 1980s, when heavy sun exposure began to be warned against, with doctors stressing the dangers of skin cancer. The backless evening dresses of the 1920s and '30s required a suntan to display and in cut were practically bathing costumes with skirts. The 1950s launched the Bikini, which provided minimal coverage for women and was followed by the acceptance of even total nudity on some designated beaches.

Whereas Roman sumptuary law had applied equally to all women and all men, in western Europe the laws were more discriminatory, restricting the richest fabrics, furs, and jewels to the aristocracy. Thus, in England in 1337 Edward III ruled that no one below the rank of knight could wear fur. The same law also decreed that only English-made cloth could be worn in England. This dual role of ensuring class distinctions and banning imported goods was common in sumptuary law. In 1362 Edward III issued another edict aimed at preventing people from dressing above their station. Merchants could wear the same clothes as an esquire or knight, but only if they were five times wealthier. Yeomen and below could not wear silk, cloth of silver, chains, jewels (jewelry), or buttons (which were then made of expensive materials or gems). They were not to wear the short coats or tunics worn by noblemen. Carters, plowmen, shepherds, oxherds, cowherds, swineherds, dairymen, and farm labourers were to wear only russet cloth at a shilling a yard and undyed blanket cloth. Thus, farming folk were restricted to natural wool tone and russet, and they continued wearing such colours into the 20th century. Only lords might wear cloth of gold and sable furs. Esquires and gentlemen were not allowed velvet, satin, ermines (ermine), or satin damask unless they were sergeants of the royal household. Women could not wear gold or silver girdles, nor foreign silk head covers.

Similar laws explicitly stipulating the fabrics, styles, and colours (colour) to be worn by men and women of particular social or economic standing were issued in Spain and France as well. Furthermore, in France and England it was often claimed that such laws were issued for moral or religious reasons. For example, in 1583 Henry III of France decreed that in order to regularize and reform clothing, which was dissolute and superfluous, the wearing of precious stones and pearls on garments was restricted to princes. The richest fabrics allowed were velvet, satin, damask, and taffeta, all without any enrichment beyond silk linings. Bands of embroidery in gold and silver were banned. Henry III stressed that God was angry because he could not recognize a person's quality from his clothes. A similar excuse had been given in England in 1463 when Edward IV issued a sumptuary law on the grounds that God was displeased by excessive and inordinate apparel.

In Russia, laws regarding apparel were used to modernize the country. As soon as Tsar Peter I the Great returned from working in the dockyards of Amsterdam and London in 1697–98, he began requiring his princes to shave their beards. Then in 1701 he ruled that his subjects must adopt Western dress. Peter's command applied to both men and women but at first affected only members of the court and government officials. Merchants and peasants continued to wear traditional garments into the 19th and sometimes even the 20th century.

The Roman empress Messalina Valeria led a revolt against Roman dress by wearing Greek clothes herself (coloured Ionic chitons (chiton) fastened down the arms with bejeweled brooches) and by wearing her hair in Greek hairnets and tiaras (tiara). Her male friends similarly wore coloured Greek cloaks instead of the chalky white Roman toga. More recently, in the 1960s and '70s, many young men and women in the United States adopted the “granny” look. By wearing garments that had been popular 100 years before, such as collarless shirts, long, high-waisted cotton dresses, and small, metal-rimmed “granny” glasses, the wearers expressed their disdain for the contemporary adult establishment and their dress.

Artists have similarly often preferred older fashions, but this is usually because they wish to achieve an effect of timelessness. Leonardo da Vinci wrote in his Treatise on Painting, published long after his death, that art should avoid the fashion:As far as possible avoid the costumes of your own day. . . . Costumes of our period should not be depicted unless it be on tombstones, so that we may be spared being laughed at by our successors for the mad fashions of men and leave behind only things that may be admired for their dignity and beauty.

Artistic reform of dress in the 19th century was initiated by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherh (Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood)ood in 1848, and by the 1860s the “Aesthetic” dress they promoted began to be adopted in sophisticated societies. The invention and widespread use of photography (photography, history of) has effectively abolished any further need for the establishment of a specific clothing policy for art in opposition to that of high fashion. It has become acceptable for painters and sculptors—like photographers—to render contemporary fashions accurately. Extreme trends are still usually avoided, however, and portraitists of royalty often use uniforms and robes of orders of knighthood to confer a historical character.

In 1783 Queen Marie-Antoinette was painted wearing a white muslin chemise (smock) dress—to the horror of the French silk industry (which considered the use of muslin an affront) and to the elderly and conservative, who considered the chemise an undergarment. Such use of underwear as outerwear has been recurrent in fashion history and has continued into modern times, as can be seen by the popularity of the bustier among young women in the 1980s and the slip dress among young women of the early 21st century.

The Japanese kimono entered the Western wardrobe in the 17th century. The English called the garments “Indian gowns,” probably because the East India Company imported them, but the Dutch more accurately called them “Japanese coats.” The garment was also termed a nightgown and a banyan and became fashionable for undress. The diarist Samuel Pepys (Pepys, Samuel) bought himself an Indian gown on July 1, 1661, for 34 shillings. He further recorded that on Nov. 21, 1666, “I to wait on Sir Ph. Howard, whom I find dressing himself in his night-gown and Turban like a Turke.” Strictly speaking, the Indian gown was meant to be worn for informal, private occasions, but a superior like Sir Philip Howard could wear such clothing to receive underlings, though they had to be fully dressed to attend him. The first nightgowns were cut loose like the Japanese originals, but in the late 18th century they became more fitted and tailored like coats. Such dressing gowns have remained fashionable and are now known as housecoats, bathrobes, wraps, and negligees depending on the material used. Indian pajamas, a soft cotton suit consisting of trousers and a loose, fitted jacket fastened down the front, were also introduced into Europe in the early 17th century. They, too, have remained popular for undress, although the style has sometimes also been adopted for more formal wear.

Broad histories of Western dress and clothing accessories, spanning many centuries of development, include François Boucher and Yvonne Deslandres, 20,000 Years of Fashion: The History of Costume and Personal Adornment, new ed. (1987; also published as A History of Costume in the West; originally published in French, 1983); Millia Davenport, The Book of Costume, 2 vol. (1948, reissued in 1 vol., 1976); Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eubank, Survey of Historic Costume, 4th ed. (2004); James Laver and Christina Probert, Costume and Fashion: A Concise History, new ed. (1982); Richard Corson, Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times (1972), and Fashions in Hair: The First Five Thousand Years (1969, reissued 1984); Alfred Rubens, A History of Jewish Costume, new and enlarged ed. (1973, reissued 1981); and Christopher Breward, The Culture of Fashion: A New History of Fashionable Dress (1995). More thematically oriented studies include Margot Hamilton Hill and Peter A. Bucknell, The Evolution of Fashion: Pattern and Cut from 1066 to 1930 (1967, reprinted 1987); C. Willett Cunnington and Phillis Cunnington, The History of Underclothes, new rev. ed., by A.D. Mansfield and Valerie Mansfield (1981); Diana De Marly, Working Dress: A History of Occupational Clothing (1986); and Penelope Byrde, The Male Image: Men's Fashion in Britain, 1300–1970 (1979).

Clothes of the early period of civilization are studied in Mary G. Houston, Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian & Persian Costume and Decoration, 2nd ed. (1954, reprinted 1972), and Ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Costume & Decoration, 2nd ed. (1947, reprinted 1966); Lillian M. Wilson, The Clothing of the Ancient Romans (1938), and The Roman Toga (1924); Hans C. Broholm and Margrethe Hald, Costumes of the Bronze Age in Denmark, trans. from Danish (1940); and Erhard Klepper, Costume in Antiquity (1964; originally published in German, 1963).

Readable and well-illustrated accounts of the developments in Western fashion include Stella Mary Newton, Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince: A Study of the Years 1340–1365 (1980); Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England & France: The 13th, and 14th, and 15th Centuries (1939, reprinted 1965); and Joan Evans, Dress in Mediaeval France (1952).

Histories of the fashion of various countries and stylistic trends include Valerie Steele, Paris Fashion: A Cultural History, 2nd ed., rev. and updated (1998); Ailene Ribeiro and Valerie Cummings, The Visual History of Costume (1989); Anne Buck, Dress in Eighteenth-Century England (1979), and Victorian Costume: And Costume Accessories, rev. 2nd ed. (1984); Norah Waugh, Corsets and Crinolines (1954, reissued 1987); Madge Garland, Fashion (1962); Diana De Marly, The History of Haute Couture, 1850–1950 (1980); Elizabeth Ewing, History of Twentieth Century Fashion, rev. ed. (1986); and Farid Chenoune, A History of Men's Fashion (1993).For insights into the work of fashion designers, see Caroline Rennolds Milbank, Couture (1985); Irving Penn and Diana Vreeland, Inventive Paris Clothes, 1909–1939: A Photographic Essay (1977). See also such biographies and autobiographies as Diana De Marly, Worth: Father of Haute Couture, 2nd ed. (1990); Palmer White, Poiret (1973); Christian Dior, Christian Dior and I (1957; originally published in French, 1956; also published as Dior: The Autobiography of Christian Dior); Mary Quant, Quant by Quant (1966, reissued 1974); Elsa Schiaparelli, Shocking Life (1954); and Jane Mulvagh, Vivienne Westwood (1998).

Histories of American costume include Diana De Marly, Dress in North America: The New World, 1492–1800 (1990); Elisabeth Mcclellan, Historic Dress in America, 1607–1800 (1904), and Historic Dress in America, 1800–1870 (1910), reprinted together as Historic Dress in America, 1607–1870, 2 vol. (1990); Alice Earle, Two Centuries of Costume in America, 1620–1820, 2 vol. (1903, reprinted 1974); Estelle Ansley Worrell, Children's Costume in America, 1607–1910 (1980); R. Turner Wilcox, Five Centuries of American Costume (1963, reissued 1988); and Caroline Rennolds Milbank, New York Fashion (1989, reissued 1996).

Asian clothing is explored and illustrated in Valerie Steele and John S. Major, China Chic: East Meets West (1999); Alan Priest, Costumes from the Forbidden City (1945, reissued 1974); Schuyler V.R. Cammann, China's Dragon Robes (1952); A.C. Scott, Chinese Costume in Transition (1958); Seiroku Noma, Japanese Costume and Textile Arts (1974; originally published in Japanese, 1965); Helen Benton Minnich, Japanese Costume and the Makers of Its Elegant Tradition (1963); G.S. Ghurye, Indian Costume, 2nd ed. (1966); and S.N. Dar, Costumes of India and Pakistan: A Historical and Cultural Study (1969).

Social and psychological aspects of dress and the place of fashion in human culture are the subject of many works representing various disciplines. See John C. Flügel, The Psychology of Clothes (1930, reissued 1976); Quentin Bell, On Human Finery, 2nd ed., rev. and enlarged (1976); Anne Hollander, Seeing Through Clothes (1978, reissued 1988); Elizabeth Wilson, Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity (1985); and Mary Ellen Roach-Higgins, Joanne B. Eicher, and Kim K.P. Johnson, Dress and Identity (1995).Diana Julia Alexandra de Marly Doreen Yarwood