Category Archives: clothing

Men and Jewelry

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Except for a wedding band or signet ring, in our culture men wearing chains or earrings was thought to be effeminate. That certainly has not been the case in the past. In fact, men have worn jewelry since the Neolithic. Then, they wore necklaces of teeth or claws, usually from an animal they themselves had hunted and killed. They were a sign of fierceness and hunting prowess.

In the Minoan times, men wore the fancy belts around their waists, just like the women. The frescoes show them wearing necklaces, armbands and earrings of precious metals and gems.

Ancient Egyptians not only wore earrings but armbands and large, heavy pectorals of gold and jewels. This fashion is clearly illustrated in the frescoes. Mummies were buried with their jewelry, not just the elite but common folk as well although the earrings might be made of bone instead of gold. Wearing silver and gold and precious gems was a sign of wealth and status. King Tutankhamun was buried with many pairs of earrings as well as other jewelry. Here’s an odd tidbit; statues of cats display earrings and jewelry has been found in the burials of sacred animals such as the Apis bulls. I find it hard to imagine the cats and dogs I’ve known putting up with earrings for a minute.

In the Renaissance, men wore heavy chains and massive rings, again as a symbol of wealth and status. (I suggest that the same is true of men today.Just look at the rappers and the hiphop stars.)

But what about earrings? A man wearing earrings has taken longer to become acceptable. I know I was startled when I saw a young man wearing diamond earrings that any woman would desire. But earrings have always been just as much a man’s adornment as a woman’s.

Pirates frequently wore earrings. Besides adorning themselves, the earrings could pay for a funeral if he died while on land. No one could accuse a pirate of effeminacy.

Jewelry has also been used as an award or prize. A new sailor had the privilege to put on a ring when he crossed the equator. European kings regularly rewarded a favorite with a piece of jewelry.

ashiI don’t wear too much jewelry – too lazy I guess – but I enjoy seeing it on other people.

Weavers and weaving

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In prehistoric sites, remnants of string skirts have been found. Plant fibers, twisted into cords, and knotted together. Think macrame. From this simple beginning arose weaving. Every culture has some form of weaving from the simplest form of loom to the more complicated ones used by hand weavers today.

The Egyptians used a ground loom that, to my modern body, looks uncomfortable to use.

How do we know the Egyptians were weaving so long ago? Well, there are pictures inscribed next to the hieroglyphics.. And also, remnants of clothing has been found in excavations. In 1913, Sir Flinders Petrie found a pile of linen cloth about thirty miles outside of Cairo. Years later, researchers from the Victoria and Albert Museum were sorting though the pile when they came upon a remarkably well preserved dress. It was nicknamed the Tarkhan dress and the age was estimated at 5000 years. Almost fifty years later, the dress was carbon dated and discovered to be from about 3000 B.C.E. Easily from Egypt’s first dynasty, maybe even before.

In Peru, the women employed a back strap loom.

The early Scandanavians used a loom with weights tied to the bottom threads.

The Navaho, who still weave blankets and so for sale, use a simple four piece frame.

In every culture, weavers enjoyed fairly high status. Although not aristocrats, they were among the skilled craftsmen – what passed for the middle class of that time. Without weavers, there would have been no cloth.

Textiles were time-consuming to make, and thus expensive, and learning to weave takes time. In the Middle Ages, an apprenticeship took between seven to nine years. Weave

I wanted to pay homage to this valuable craft. In my Bronze Age Crete mysteries, Martis comes from a family of weavers. (Yes, even in Bronze Age Crete, the women were weavers. Loom weights were found in Akrotiri. And the Minoans, who were the sailors of this age, traded the textiles all over the Aegean.) She does not want to be a weaver, hoping for something more exciting and adventurous – like jumping over a charging bull.

In the Will Rees mysteries, he is a weaver, a traveling weaver. Since women were not supposed to work or leave home, men like Will Rees traversed the early USA with a loom in their wagon bed, weaving for the farmwives.

What saw the end of several millennia of weaving as a profession?

Well, Rees is already seeing the end of his career with the importing of calicoes and other fabrics from India. But the real end to this profession came with the Industrial Revolution and the mechanization of weaving.

Men’s clothing in Ancient Crete

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I’ve written quite a bit about women’s clothing, which was both colorful and elaborate. Male clothing was much simpler.

The above is a fresco at the Knossos palace site. The man pictured is wearing a loincloth decorated with colored bands.

One of the sources I read claimed that the important men wore one robes, similar to the robes worn by Egyptian men. I haven’t seen pictures of such clothing so I am not sure about the accuracy of this statement.

The robes were described as decorated with colored bands, similar to those on the loincloths.

Loincloths and kilts were common wear then. Trousers would not be invented for many centuries.

The hairstyle, with the three locks over the shoulders and the hair decorations were popular for both men and women.

Why was women’s clothing so elaborate and men’s clothing so comparatively simple? I’m speculating here but I wonder if that wasn’t because the women were the spinners, weavers, and dyers. They did the work so they spent more effort on their own attire.