One technological advancement that impacted clothing from the Renaissance was the printing press. The printing press sped up communication and increased the speed of knowledge–whether it be news or clothing. It also circulated new ideas among the people during this time period leading to clothing styles becoming new and improved. People were able to learn new information from the printing press which therefore allowed people to learn new techniques for making clothes or think of new patterns or designs and the spread of luxury goods became a regular thing.

Another technological advancement that impacted clothing from the Renaissance would be all the voyages that were happening. Long sea voyages became safer and many people were going to explore new areas. When they found new exotic elements such as gold and silver, they added them to their clothing and ornament. These voyages helped find new materials and items that could be used for the production of clothing. People also began to want more finer and exotic materials because of these voyages and explorations.

The third technological advancement that has impacted clothing from the Renaissance would be the study of mathematics and geometry. When people began to study these topics, it allowed for clothing to become more sophisticated and intricate. They learned more about patterns and shapes which helped people think of better patterns and ideas for their clothing.

I think for 21st century clothing, just technology and social media in general has impacted clothing today. It is much easier to share new clothing pieces and ideas to other people. With social media, it is so easy to see other people’s outfits and clothing businesses can use social media to their advantage to show off new pieces they have made and are selling. Social media makes it so much easier to find new clothing pieces and styles.

In early Greek history, the people usually wore animal skins. They primarily wore woolens and linens. Woolens were woven into different types of materials. Greeks also wore lots of jewelry like other people from many other areas of the world. They would wear necklaces, earrings, bracelets, pins, pendants, etc. During early Greek history, they rarely wore makeup and usually everyone kept their hair short.

As Greek life continued on, the clothing styles changed too. Makeup was used a lot more than it was in early years. Also, hairstyles began to change. Women and young girls would have longer hair than in earlier years and eventually everyone could dye their hair different colors.

To go a little deeper, the evolution of Greek clothing evolved over four different periods. These periods were the Cretan-Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, and Classical-Hellenistic.

Cretan-Minoan

It is believed that this society wore decorated loincloths or short skirts. They also didn’t have a problem with male nudity. It is believed that both men and women wore girdles that cinched tight around their waist and elaborate headdresses.

Mycenaean

The clothing that Minoans wore carried over to the Mycenaean men. They wore skirts and loincloths and loosely cut tunics. On the other hand, Cretan clothing carried over to the Mycenaean women. They wore dresses with short sleeves that was boarded with gold sequins.

Archaic

Clothing started to change during this period. It was all based around a tunic and a shawl which was meant to shape their body. Men’s clothing remained pretty simple while women’s clothing started to become more complex with different layers and folds.

Classical-Hellenistic

The clothing in this period was much softer than ever before. A little bit of cutting and sewing became popular. Sleeves were also much more popular and they would combine different types of garments. The chiton was a popular garment that was from a woolen cloth.

There are many different ways for clothing to be made nowadays. Some processes are much more time consuming than others, such as weaving or spinning clothing by hand. Even with technologies today, some people may choose to make their own clothing, but why?

I think one reason that people would weave, sew, or spin by hand because they really enjoy doing it. If someone had spent the time to learn how to spin or weave clothes, they probably had learned how to do it for one reason: being able to make their own clothes. Since it can be a very timely process, a person would have to be very dedicated to it and it probably would be a hobby of theirs. If it is their passion, they wouldn’t mind spending hours making their own clothing.

Another reason someone might make their clothes by hand is to be able to customize it to their needs. When making clothes by hand, it guarantees that it will fit their body type and they get to pick the colors and styles they want. The type of clothing they want may not be available in stores, but making their clothes by hand will give them the opportunity to have a design that suits them well.

Some benefits of someone making their own clothes would be it could be more durable/better quality and it will fit their body type since they specifically made it for their self.

I don’t think I would want to make my own clothes. While I think it would be cool to be able to make a piece of clothing by myself, I don’t think I am creative enough to be able to think of something and I think I would get frustrated by the timely process. I am not a person that can sit down for hours; I need to be keeping busy, so I feel like making my own clothes wouldn’t be something that I would enjoy. I also really like to shop so if I made my own clothes I wouldn’t be able to shop as much.

Egyptian Clothing Styles

Women usually just wore a dress while men would wear just a cloth around their waist. Jewelry was very big in Egypt and lots of people would wear it. Both men and women would wear jewelry. Their clothing was made from linen but wealthy people would have better quality linen and would also wear headdresses. Egyptians usually walked around barefoot but would sometimes wear sandals which they made themselves.

I think they used linen to make their clothes because it was lightweight and made from flax which was grown locally along the Nile River. This made it easy for them to gather it when they needed to make clothes. It also would get very hot in Egypt so lightweight clothing is something they would need. Their styles of clothing also allowed for people to see who was higher up in power. If a person was wearing a headdress or gold jewelry, that usually meant that person was rich.

Mesopotamian Clothing Styles

Women usually wore gowns that went down past their knees while men wore skirts that tied around their waist. They wore lots of jewelry, just like the Egyptians, and it was easy to point out who was wealthy because the rich people would have gold jewelry. Wealthy women would also have more vibrant colors of clothing.

Their clothing was made out of wool and flax which were locally grown and easy to find. They probably used these fibers because it would keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

There are many different ways to dress depending on where you are and who you are with. Many places in public have a rule, spoken or unspoken, of what to wear while you are there and it may be considered taboo if you do not follow those rules.

At School

While eating at the cafeteria at school, most people can be seen wearing casual clothes such as jeans or sweatpants along with a t-shirt or sweatshirt. It would be considered taboo if someone were to eat in the school cafeteria in their prom dress of a tuxedo. It would also be unusual if someone showed up to the dining hall in their swimming suit. These types of clothing articles aren’t something that you see people wearing daily to the dining hall because they are considered taboo. If a person does choose to wear these types of clothing to the dining hall, they will most likely get lots of stares.

Another example would be what we wear on graduation day. Unlike in the cafeteria, dressing more professional for graduation day is considered to be normal. We want to present our best selves and look professional for this day. If a person were to show up to graduation in sweatpants, that would be considered taboo since everyone wears nice clothing for this day.

At Home/Around Family

Most people would probably agree that their clothing style around their family is relaxed. While it is relaxed, we probably don’t walk around in more revealing clothing, but we can get away wearing items such as sweatpants and a big comfy sweatshirt. When we are with out grandparents, we try to dress more modest and clean up nicer because we want to respect them. We also would not want to wear revealing clothing around our grandparents. Whenever I go to a family gathering and I wear jeans that have some holes in them, I can always expect to get some sort of comment from my Grandpa about needing new jeans because mine have holes in them.

Church

At church, modesty is key. You can see most people dressing up in dresses or nice pants or simply just jeans. It is important that your clothing covers most areas on your body and you don’t want to wear revealing clothes. You don’t really see people showing up to church in crop tops and jeans with many holes in them. People tend to look presentable while at church, especially for Christmas and Easter when women wear dresses or skirts and men wear nice dress pants and ties.

In conclusion, choosing an outfit really depends on where you are and who you are with. There are certain outfits you wouldn’t wear some places but would be acceptable in other places. It is important to know what is taboo in some places so you aren’t the one that is dress strangely and getting lots of stares from random people.