History of Costume
Fashion is truly a never-ending cycle. Colors, style, silhouettes, patterns and the other nuances of costume history are rediscovered, dusted off, and touched up for a whole new generation. Truly, no trend will ever be left and forgotten; only sat on the shelf to be picked back up again.
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The Mesopotamians wore the simplest of clothing; not a single article was sewn, so long rectangles of fabric were wound around the body to cover and protect it from the elements and the eye of others. This fabric, known today as a skirt, was typically wrapped around the waist and secured with a belt of rope or cloth. Sometimes, the skirt was so long that the end was pulled up over one shoulder (Boucher, 1987, pg. 36). A wide belt secured this extra fabric to the body.
However, from 3500 B.C., the use of a shawl, or an extra fabric piece draped from the shoulder, was common, as shown in Figure 1. These two garments were practically the only items for Mesopotamians, both men and women, from 3500 – 2500 B.C. (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 24). In Figure 2, we can see a long shawl worn over a tunic, a garment for men starting around 2500 B.C. (Tortora & Eubank. 2010, p. 26). This style, by at least 1500 B.C., was adapted for women as well (Boucher, 1987, pg. 40).
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A similar style was shown in Tibi’s Spring/Summer 2015 show (Figure 3). Much of the high fashion world has begun to focus on creating garments that are deceivingly simple in their appearance and perfectly tailored to the body. Although the clothing of the Mesopotamians was certainly not close-fitting, Tibi captured the clean, unpretentious air of this ancient world on the runway. This sky-blue dress follows the same style of the skirt of Mesopotamia: a long piece of fabric, held up with a belt. This modern interpretation, however, features material that is draped over the shoulder; a characteristic of the shawl. The Tibi dress is made from a more luxurious fabric than what was available to the Mesopotamians. It also lacks the fringe & other ornamentation of the era it references.
Head coverings have been in existence since the time of the Mesopotamians (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 26). However, the idea of a piece of cloth being draped over the head for coverage did not manifest itself until nearly 3,000 years later, between 650 – 300 B.C., when the women of Greece began to wear veils over their heads (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 65). This style continued to be exclusive to women for hundreds of years. Men’s outerwear evolved to include a hood by the time of Rome. The paenula, “a heavy wool cloak, semicircular in shape, closed at the front, with a hood” and the birrus (or burrus), “resembling a modern, hooded poncho, cut full” were both options of the day (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 87).
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By the Middle Ages, the hood is a singular garment unto itself, worn by peasants and aristocracy alike. In the 10th and 11th centuries, the veil is wrapped around the head to resemble the hood as we know it today (Figure 4). The hood also became one of the preeminent styles of head covering for men during this time (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 128). This hood had a wide cape-like base attached to a fitted neck (Payne, 1965, p. 170). In Figure 5, we see a shepherd donning this style of hood.
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Alberta Ferretti remade this hood in lux materials for her Pre-Fall 2015 collection (Figure 6), though a Medieval hood wouldn’t have been constructed of a fabric this rich. Black and silver metallic stripes breathe a dark mood into the piece and resemble armor. The new style includes a small base, although it still reaches nearly to the shoulders, and a cowl neck, straying away from the fitted neck of the early Middle Ages. However, the idea of the hood being a singular piece of a person’s wardrobe, separate from the shirt, is still present in this interpretation.
The cote of the Middle Ages is vastly different from the coat of today. The tunic of ancient times was slowly adapted into the garb of this century. A cote was a tunic that was worn directly on top of a chemise, a loose linen garment similar in shape to a nightgown (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 134). A sleeved or sleeveless overtunic, called a surcote, could be added over the cote for style or for warmth. This was a style shared by both men and women of the period.
The length of men’s cotes varied, for practical and class reasons; upper-class men wore them long, lower-class men wore them short. Women could choose to leave the bodice loose and free-flowing, like the 15th century woman in Figure 7, or belt the cote at the hips to create a blousing effect (Payne, 1965, p. 173). Sleeves, which reached down to cover the wrist, could either be fitted to the arm or cut full at the upper arm, as both the 14th century women in Figure 8 have chosen to do (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 137). On women, the skirt of the cote would pool on the floor.
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Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen of The Row have taken this versatile, flattering garment and adapted it for the modern woman in their Spring/Summer 2015 show. In Figure 9, we can see that the designers have chosen not to belt the dress, but rather have it cascade to the floor.The sleeves are fitted, although not tightly, to the arm. The hemline as well is shorter than women of the Medieval period would have worn their cotes.
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Black would also not be the typical color for this garment in earlier times, though the rich could have had the garment made in just as lavish of a fabric as The Row’s piece. Other than those changes, the neckline and general fit is exactly the same as it would have been all those years ago.
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As centuries have passed, hemlines have gotten higher and necklines have gotten lower. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the neckline for daywear was the square-cut neckline. For one neckline to last so long, of course women had to have different ways to style it. In the early half of the 16th century, the top of the bodice could be completely straight across the chest or slightly curved up, as seen in Figure 10, which dates to 1540. As the century progresses, a higher neckline was preferred. Women could adapt the square neckline to this style by wearing a high-cut chemise under the bodice (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 216). The bodice of this era completely flattened the chest, further reinforcing the strict shape of this neckline (Payne, 1965, p. 292).
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The square neckline was still prevalent in the 17th century, although women could now sport gowns with V-shaped, square, and horizontal necklines. Large neckerchiefs could be worn to cover the neckline of a gown completely (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 253). The stiff bodice of the last century was gone, replaced with softer costumes (Tortora & Eubank, 2010, p. 251). The voluptuousness of dress in this century can be clearly seen in Figure 11, a portrait from 1630.
The 1700’s is really the last century of the square neckline. The top of the bodice in this era is especially low and revealing (Figure 12), while the costume as a whole still maintains the softness of the 1600’s. Most interesting in Figure 12 is the classlessness of dress. Both the mistress and her servant or slave both wear the same style of clothing, albeit different in fabric and levels of embellishment.
The square neckline is still seen in tops and dresses today. Figure 13, from Alberta Ferretti’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection, displays both the square neckline of these three centuries and a chemise-like blouse similar to that of the 16th century. The straps on this dress, along with the sheerness of the blouse, are Ferretti’s wholly modern spin on the classic style.
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