Discover

(Redirected from History of clothing)

'Textiles' were invented in the Middle East during the late stone age.

Contents

Prehistoric development

Ancient textiles and clothing

Industrial revolution

See also

External links

References

Prehistoric development

★ Body lice, which live on clothes, diverged from head lice around 72,000 years (give or take 42,000 years), evidence that humans began wearing clothing at around this time. ^[1]

★ Possible sewing needles have been dated to around 40,000 years ago. ¹

★ The earliest evidence of weaving comes from impressions of textiles and basketry and nets on little pieces of hard clay, dating from 27,000 years ago and found in the Czech Republic.

★ At a slightly later date (25,000 years) the Venus figurines were depicted with clothing. Those from western Europe were adorned with basket hats or caps, belts worn at the waist, and a strap of cloth that wrapped around the body right above the breast. Eastern European figurines wore belts, hung low on the hips and sometimes string skirts.^[2]
Archaeologists have discovered artifacts from the same period that appear to have been used in the textile arts: net gauges, spindle needles and weaving sticks. ^[3]

Ancient textiles and clothing

Industrial revolution

Main articles: Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

During the industrial revolution, production was mechanised with machines powered by waterwheels and steam-engines.
Synthetic fibers such as nylon were invented during the 20th century.

See also

★ Timeline of clothing and textiles technology

★ History of Western fashion

★ History of fashion design

★ History of silk

External links

★ Textile production in Europe, 1600-1800, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

References

1. The Naked Truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of clothing
2. Barber, Elizabeth Wayland: ''Women's Work:The First 20,000 Years'', W. W. Norton, 1994
3. Stone Age clothing more advanced than thought