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Rock like the Egyptians
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Ancient Egyptian fashion is perfect for India as we share a similar climate
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FAR-OUT PHARAOHS Check out the style here
OKAY PEOPLE, summer is here. Sivaratri and Holi, the official harbingers of sizzling hot days, have happened and now there is no escaping the jolly great ball of fire. There are two things one can do through this season of searing heat — either you can droop like a wilting wallflower and let the weather get the better of you or you could strike back with haute options to stay ice cool.
If you decide on option A, you need no help, but for plan B, instead of scrabbling for fashion options, why not go back in time — 3,000 years to be precise and check out what our Egyptian forebears did to beat the heat?
Wendell Rodricks — he of the flowing drapes and pristine whites — comments: "Ancient Egyptian fashion is perfect for India as we share similar weather. Egyptian heat is dryer and they mainly used linen, as it traps moisture. Cotton is a modern addition and went to Egypt from India."
A lot to learn
Wendell should know all about ancient designs as he lectures on World Costume History at the SNDT University at Mumbai and has successfully translated tribal symbols into high fashion. "There is a lot we can use from ancient Egypt fashion wise. For instance the colour white; the processing of dyeing material came slowly to Egypt. White is visually and physically appealing. It is soothing visually while there are no pigments to attract heat so it is the right colour to wear in the summer."
Egyptian garments were of simple construction with the drapes giving the form and silhouette. Made of linen, (Egyptians believed even the gods wore linen) which was spun from flax, women mainly wore a sheath like dress that reached their ankles. Men wore shorter tunics. A cousin of the sari (it was 13 to 14 feet long) was popular with upper class women of the New Kingdom.
Wendell feels we cannot use the material as "the fine pleated linen is not made anywhere in the world today and the linen was so fine, it was transparent. Recreating the drapery look would be impractical but you could use many transparent layers for a cool effect." Talking of fine fabrics, Wendell comments that the "Dhakai mul was so popular with the Greeks, that they called it nebula meaning cloud."
While Wendell would not like to use hieroglyphics as prints, "I would rather use something Indian," he feels one can use "Egyptian symbols to design jewellery. For instance scarabs, the Sun God Ra, Birds in flight and Osiris, can be creatively used for stunning accessories."
For footwear, don't look beyond the Egyptians. Dazzle all and sundry with nifty strappy numbers and best of all, sandals in Egypt were "made of papyrus which was cooling. And royalty wore gold. Romans and Greeks used leather." So those who object to wearing slaughtered animals on their feet can chill out in papyrus!
Now with the right footwear and clothes, the time has come to turn to makeup. Even there our Egyptian friends are way ahead. "They used antimony or kohl for their eyes, which is cooling, protects from the glare of the sun and keeps away insects."
And for some ancient Egyptian deo secrets, you could check out the "perfumed cone, which they wore on their heads. As the evening progressed, the cone melted and released the fragrance." As far as hair care goes, one cannot go Egyptian as "men and women shaved their heads because of the heat. They wore elaborate wigs threaded with gold for ceremonial occasions."
Through history there have periodic revivals of ancient Egyptian fashion starting from the first neo Egyptian revival in 1798 coinciding with Napoleon's Egyptian campaign to the fever brought on by the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922. The time is surely ripe for another revival and one cannot go wrong with a style statement that has endured for three millennia!
M.A.C.
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