Questions tagged [clothing]
What people used to wear for different occasions. This tag is more functional, on the other hand there is the [fashion] tag.
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What era and region’s secular style is the Hasidic form of dress based on? [closed]
Is there some land and time in history in which an entire society’s men and women dressed in what is today the Hasidic style of dress?
If so, then when and where was this? And were there still ...
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Were "spring-heeled boots" a real thing, and if so, what did they look like?
Dylan Thomas's "The Peaches" (from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, 1940):
The passage grew dark too suddenly, the walls crowded in, and the roofs crouched down. To me, staring ...
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Can you identify a location based on the traditional dress in a photo from WW2?
Could anyone assist us in identifying the possible location of this photo, based on the woman's dress? My grandfather is in the photo, which was taken during WW2. We know that he served in both the ...
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What are those Russian/Turkic/Mongolian semi-conical felt caps brimmed with fur called?
What are those Russian/Turkic/Mongolian semi-conical felt caps brimmed with fur called? When and from which culture did it originate from, and when and how did it get adopted by the Slavs? Did the ...
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How did the tomato become the iconic pin cushion design?
When I was growing up, my mother had a pin cushion shaped and colored like a tomato. I recently discovered that my wife's grandmother has one too, which led me to discover that tomato pin cushions are ...
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What kind of clothing was worn in Mahgreb states circa the high medieval period?
I'm interested in medieval clothing (I'd focus on the time period from the 9th century onwards) in north Africa especially in the Maghreb states and the other countries that surround the Sahara such ...
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What did male motorcyclists wear in 1930s England?
What did male motorcyclists wear in 1930s England? I'm assuming the outfits from Watch This Club Ride Vintage 1930s Motorcycles Across France are probably pretty accurate, as well as the top image ...
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When and why did male formal attire in the West become uniform? [closed]
It seems to me (maybe I am wrong?!) that the formal attire for men in the West has been uniform (as in "bland", not "military") for at least 100 years.
While moderately evolving in ...
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How old is the practice of wearing your "Sunday Best" to church?
I was wondering how old the idea of wearing your "Sunday Best" (nicest clothes) to church. It only became common to have different sets of clothes in the last few centuries. And even then ...
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Would Jewish Ukranians historically have worn vyshyvankas and integrated Slavic embroidary into their lives?
I am trying to learn about the culture of Jewish ancestors in eastern Europe and wonder what elements of Slavic culture would have been present or distinct from Jewish culture in the area. ...
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What was wrong with carrying a bag on one's back in a town in the USA in the first decades of the 1900?
A geologist working in the field needs a container for rocks specimens:
The collecting-bag may be in the form of a pouch to carry at the side, a knapsack, or a
rucksack. If one is working afoot the ...
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How would the Israelites have girded their loins?
I stumbled upon the Art of Manliness guide to girding their loins earlier. However, their source is a Historyzine article which doesn't have any references. Also, on Youtube, you can find an ...
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Why would 19th century parents make their infants wear corsets or stiffened bodices?
I found a free source of the German women's magazine "Der Bazar" which often contains patterns for sewing various items of clothing or decorative items.
The issue Der Bazar Nr. 37, 1. ...
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Did medieval people wear collars with a castellated hem?
Many drawings of peasants in the Middle Ages show the men with an oversized collar or short cape with a distinctive castellated margin.
Did this really exist, and if so, was the shape dictated by a ...
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Where can I find a picture of a billboard from Indonesian campaign against toplessness?
Years ago I saw a picture on Wikipedia of an old billboard in Indonesia or a nearby country telling women not to expose their breasts. It was part of a Westernization or religious campaign.
I cannot ...
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What does a black cloth on your upper left arm mean in the context of 1950s USA? [closed]
As I was watching yet another episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" from around 1957, I noticed a scene where this man has a black cloth on his arm:
What does this mean? He doesn't wear it ...
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Did anyone interweave blue and red threads in order to give the illusion of purple cloth before purple dye became cheap?
The wikipedia article on purple contains nothing on this.
Also, why did the ancients not simply mix red and blue dye together to make purple?
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Is this costume plate from Theatrum Orbis Terrarum correctly colored?
I have been spending some time lately going through some old atlases online, and noticed some discrepancies between some images coloration. We have noted on another question that the individual ...
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Why were so many of the earliest banks founded by cloth merchants?
I recently noticed that a lot of early banks, including Metzler and Berenberg, were founded by cloth merchants. Any idea why this particular line of trade was most conducive to setting up investment ...
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What is the origin of the idea to cover genitals with clothes or other materials? [closed]
This question was difficult to word. Please edit if it can be worded better.
I've seen many murals and ancient drawing as far back as 3,000BC (Kemetian, Sumerian) of society wearing atleast some ...
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What are specific parts of this 19th century dress called?
Src: Portrait of Nadezhda Polovtseva
So this a the Portrait of Nadezhda Polovtseva in which she is wearing a white and green gown. I just need a really simple explaination of what the separate ...
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What is the name of this hat and the function of those wearing them (worn by Nansouty's French Guard cavalry)?
Horace Vernet's painting "Battle of Hanau", held at the National Gallery in London. This scene depicts the Austro-Bavarian cavalry charge on the French Grand Battery and the countercharge of Nansouty'...
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Is this a Qing costume and did it have a purpose?
According to this article, clothing during was very codified during the Qing dynasty.
Is it reasonable to think this suit may be of Qing dynasty, and if so, what would have been its wearer status and ...
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What was this slender hooked rod thing that John Wilkes Booth posed with?
In this photo (¿daguerreotype?):
John Wilkes Booth is posing with some kind of hooked rod. It does not seem to be a pipe, cane, umbrella, or writing instrument.
What is it?
Here ...
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When and where did people first start wearing underpants?
Specifically, when did people start wearing short underpants in addition to trousers? Loincloths and breechcloths have been worn since at least the neolithic, and various types of skirts since ancient ...
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What kind of apparel did Carthaginians wear?
Did Carthaginians wear togas like the Romans did? Did they wear laurels? What kind of other clothing might they have worn? (If you're looking for a specific time period - around the beginning of the ...
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Where can I find pictures of clothing of poor or common male European musicians between 1500 and 1700
Can anyone provide pictures or credible descriptions of clothing as a modest musician anywhere in Europe might have worn between 1500 and 1700? I realise that my question spans 200 years and many ...
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Was there a rule against non-Muslims wearing the colour green in the Ottoman empire?
On the wikipedia page titled Green in Islam, it is stated that:
In the Ottoman Empire, the wearing of a green turban was a privilege afforded to the descendants of Muhammad
Also, in the book ...
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What is this ancient Egyptian material called "maklalu"?
I read this passage in a book,
"A coloured linen maklalu-material, for one royal dress for the king. A total of 12 linen garments...”
It was a gift from Queen Nefertari of Egypt to the Queen of ...
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What is this flag?
The following flag is worn by Princess Isabella when she meets William Wallace.
Actress Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabella in Braveheart
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Did Chinese emperors wear a rectangular hat with suspended gems?
The mythical Jade Emperor is sometimes depicted as wearing a mortarboard hat with strings of jewels suspended from its edges:
According to Shen Yun's post:
Hanging from the front and back of the ...
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What's the difference between Potur and Şalvar?
I'm researching the clothing of 16th-century Ottoman clothing, and I keep getting Potur and Şalvar as "trousers." Was there a difference between them or were the words synonymous?
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What was the earliest knitted sweater?
So, I've been doing some research on knitting, and I became curious as to what was the earliest recorded knitted jumper/sweater?
As far as I can tell there's no particular technological barrier to ...
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What was clothing in ancient Palmyra like?
What is known about what people used to wear in the city of Palmyra during the third century AD? Was it more similar to Roman or Persian fashion of the period?
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Did Ancient Romans use metal thimbles? What were they like?
The Romans didn't have forks, so they picked the food with their hands. It is known about the rich that after every course they wiped them and received from their slaves pots with perfumed water to ...
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What did ancient Romans wear when sleeping?
What type of clothes did ancient Roman citizens wear at bedtime? Did they wear anything at all?
I would like to focus on the late republican period, around 50-27BC.
As a bonus, I would love to make ...
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Did classical Romans wear any sort of swimwear?
Say that a classical Roman decided they wanted to go for a swim in a lake or at a beach, and they expected other people to be able to see them. Would they have worn some sort of swimwear or gone nude? ...
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Did ninjas ever use a costume like the one we usually see in films?
I know that ninjas wearing that type of all black clothes with hood and the like is an absolutely ridiculous idea; they usually dressed as it were common in the area to go unnoticed.
Anyway, I think ...
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What was life like for Victorian linen weavers in Scotland?
I'm doing my family history and have found people who worked as linen weavers in Angus, Scotland.
I'd like to know more about what life was like for them. Were linen weavers well-off? How much money ...
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Is a "buckle plate" the same thing as a "buckle chape"?
Many archaeological items are labeled as "buckle plate" - is that the same thing as a "buckle chape" (the last photo in this article)?
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Why are women's buttons on the opposite side from men's? [closed]
I was told many years ago that women's shirts had the buttons on the opposite side from men's so that mothers had an easier time buttoning their (male) children's shirts. However, I recently saw a ...
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What kinds of clothes were made at home by average medieval women and what kinds were bought?
I am aware that the medieval period is long and there may have been differences amongst countries. I don't know how much I must specify my question. So, if necessary to choose a time and place, please ...
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What was the first "fashion trend"? [closed]
What was the first time clothing moved beyond necessity and a widespread trend of clothing emerged?
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Is the Afghan hat related to the Macedonian hat?
This is a Greek king of Bactria (Afghanistan):
The fashion was followed after Alexander the Great. It is based on Macedonian berets ("kausia"):
This is an Afghan hat ("Pakol"):
Worn here by a ...
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Did Belgian detectives wear special shoes in 1939?
In the comic book Land of Black Gold originally drawn in 1939 but finished or redrawn some time in 1948 by the Belgian author Hergé (Georges Remi), one of the bad guys can apparently detect from the ...
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"Hat Hair" in History
My understanding is that wearing hats of various kinds was much more widespread historically (e.g. in the late 1800's and early 1900's) than it is today, with sometimes complicated etiquette with ...
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For how long were freed slaves in Ancient Rome supposed to wear a Pileus hat?
The Pileus hat article on Wikipedia says that in Ancient Rome, when a slave was freed, there was a ceremony in which his head was shaved and a pileus "was placed upon it".
In the SE question: How did ...
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Is Malenkov wearing some sort of uniform in this picture?
Or just a mildly ridiculous sailor suit?
He is the third from the right.
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Did Roman women wear underwear? How did it look?
I must admit I have no expertise in history. My question is inspired by "Rome" TV series (the authors claim that everyday life was shown with relative historical accuracy) and it's about Roman panties....
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