Welcome back to another part of the series on Fashion Trends, History, and evolution over the centuries! Fashion shows a growth in human skills and development over time. In addition, throughout human civilization and society, clothing has been a symbol of progress, emotion, status, and rank. This article will consist of the fashion of the first century in the Eastern part of the world, the second century in South Asia and Ancient Greece, and more.
1st Century (1 C.E. to 100 C.E.)
China: The Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.), successor to the Qin Dynasty and the 2nd Imperial Dynasty, is known for its distinctive and tremendous fashion trends and styles that still impact today’s fashion , worn with reimagined modern creative takes.
Clothing of this style is called “Hanfu,” translating to Han clothing and/or also called Traditional Chinese clothing.
Both genders wore similar styles of clothing (or the same type of clothing with modifications), differentiated by color, fabric type, and accessories. The fit of the clothing was loose and featured wide sleeves with many layers: an open collar, a lengthy wrap skirt, another collar attached to a robe and finally secured by a belt sash. In terms of color, during this time period, the Han Dynasty was known for its “Dark Style” trend, with the majority of the colors being dark like red and black, worn by nobility.
Meanwhile, common and working-class people wore undyed, light-colored clothing. Colors, patterns, styles, and quality of clothing served as identifiers of a person’s role, rank, and wealth in society, a common pattern throughout fashion history.
In Hanfu, there were two different types of robe hems: straight and curved.
Different Styles and Outfits of Hanfu
Mianfu : a robe worn by women .
Rúqún : a collar wrap skirt paired with a lengthy skirt.
Shenyi: a piece of clothing with a top shirt and skirt sewn together.
Rúqún: daily dress, mainly for women. It is a combination of two articles of clothing, a Rú , the shirt, and the Qun, the floor-length skirt. The skirt is the main star of the show due to its length and in contrast to the short top/shirt.
2nd Century (101 C.E. – 200 C.E.)
Ancient India: Muslin, a woven, lightweight linen or cotton material, was worn by the population and traded with Rome due to its growing popularity.
Ancient (Roman) Greece: The context for this period is that Greece was taken over by the Roman Empire (146 B.C.E. – 330 C.E.), making it known as “The Roman Greece. ” However, even though it was conquered, Greek culture and fashion remained.
Linen or wool fabric was customized to be worn in the preferred style of the wearer, held in place with pins, buttons, or brooches. The same cloth could be made into unique styles due to the ease of customization. Accessories popular at the time included jewelry, brooches, cloaks, arm, and wristbands .
Women’s fashion during this time consisted of belled skirts, bodices, and peplos-a garment worn over a chiton, a tunic.
Fashion evolution reflects the evolution of humanity, society (and its standards), technology, and resources. Moreover, it shows the availability, supply, and demand of materials in the economic and trade patterns of civilizations. Fashion demonstrates how history changes, how weather changes, and how our world evolves from eon to eon, decade to decade, and day to day.
