Subject: History of Indian and Western Costume
Unit 1: Introduction to history of Indian and western costume
Quadrant 1 – e-Text
Learning Objectives
The learning objectives of this unit are:
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Review the premises of costume development.
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Identify the sources of reference and archaeological finds that help shape our
understanding of costume development.
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Explain the evolution of costume in relation to the evolution of material culture,
technology, socio-cultural beliefs, politics, economics and environment.
1.1 Early humans: Life and its challenges
Around 4 million years ago direct ancestors of modern humans appeared in central Africa. This
species had no natural defences like fangs, protective scales, fur, exceptional strength or speed.
They did have a comparative advantage for survival: they walked on two feet while leaving their
hands free to gather food and they had comparatively larger brains. These characteristics enabled
these early humans to think, plan, create tools and coordinate with each other for efficient
hunting. They also made weapons to defend themselves against predatory beasts and other
groups of people competing for hunting territories.
Early humans migrated out of Africa around 1.8 million years ago. Over many generations they
developed physical variations due to their geographical and climatic environment. These early
people lived in small-scale communities in and around caves. They gradually developed
localized cultures, advanced hunting techniques and better understanding of where to find ripe
fruits and vegetables throughout the year.
A steady supply of food resources resulted in more leisure time, and these early humans used
their tool making skills for artistic expression. Paintings founds in caves dating to 35,000 years
ago, reveal sophisticated conceptual and rendering skills in depicting animals and elements of
their environment. Figurines of humans and animals were carved in a highly realistic style. Tools
and utilitarian objects were also engraved with decorative elements. These artistic expressions
may have been made for aesthetic pleasure or as part of spiritual/ magical beliefs. A prominent
use for ornamental items was for burial of the dead.
Excavations of gravesites dating back to 40,000 years ago, have revealed weapons, tools,
clothing, bodies covered in paint and even food, shed light on the concept of after life for early
human societies. With the retreat of the Ice age around 12,000 years ago, migratory patterns of
food animals also changed, making it difficult for hunting. This led to people maintaining captive
herd animals for a ready food supply. Additionally people began to settle in areas where they
could cultivate food yielding plants. This domestication of animals and development of
agriculture transformed the uncertain lives of early human hunter-gatherer communities and
provided a more stable and controlled way of life.
These early agrarian societies developed along major river banks like the Tigris and Euphrates in
Western Asia, Indus in central Asia, and the Nile in North Africa around 10,000 years ago. The
advances in technology, architecture, and social integration were rapid and dramatic.
1.2 Why did costume develop?
Knowledge about the earliest human costume is limited by the scarcity of archaeological finds.
Stone tools, found at sites, for scraping animal hides, bone needles and antler awls give us hints
that sewing of animal skins was used to construct clothes, blankets, coverings or other utilitarian
items. Yet, very little of these items has survived for us to understand how exactly they looked
like.
Evidence dating back to 30,000 years ago confirms that people have transformed their
appearance of their bodies in a wide variety of ways.
In addition to skins, needles and awls, ornaments like stone beads, pierced shells, drilled animal
teeth and fish vertebrae suggest ring ornaments, like necklaces, bracelets, anklets and girdles or
even beadwork stitched on clothing. Early graves also suggest that pre-historic humans also
painted their bodies in striking hues of yellow or red ochre.
These adornments suggest motivation for clothing other than physical protection from the
climatic elements. There are four fundamental reasons for costume development:
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For protection
For decoration
For denoting status
For modesty
For protection
Clothing worn for protection against the elements like cold, rain, snow, sun was considered the
most important. However, early humans first emerged in warm equatorial climates of Africa
thousands of years before migrating to colder climates.
The second kind of clothing was for protection against injury. The genitals were covered to
protect while running through underbrush, climbing trees or other such perilous activities.
Wearing fringed or dangling items would also, by their sweeping motion, help fend off insects
and flies. Covering the body in mud packs and body paints may have been used to protect against
insect bites and stings.
The third form of protection was for the supernatural. Images and ornaments are still worn today
to ward off evil. It is believed that early costume motivation may have been to give the wearer
special strengths through belief in the supernatural.
For decoration
It is thought to be the primary reason for the development for human costume. Even when we
look at primitive culture in existence today where clothing is not worn, there is no culture in
which some form of body decoration does not exist. This awareness of the self and interest in
body decoration is believed to be a basic human trait. The garnishments worn by Rococo society
lady included towering hair arrangements and fifty-inch-wide cake gowns made with fifty
pounds of fabric, supports, swags, rosettes, bows, and other trimmings. Likewise, the Japanese
counterpart of French noblewoman decorated herself in twelve layers of kimonos with enormous
sleeves and trains that, as a total look with accessories and makeup, symbolized types of flowers
or seasonal foliage.
For denoting status
Dress as a symbol of status, arguable, developed at a later phase. Conveying status through dress
can be so complex and subtle that to recognize its meaning usually requires special training from
the earliest age within a society. Among the single or combination of status that dress may
communicate include gender, age, religion, nationality, ethnic group, profession, trade skills,
military rank, social station, economic status, marital status, marital condition, family
connection, and political or sports affiliation. One of the most ancient forms of status dress is
clothing reserved for those of special rank, hieratic privilege, or economic significance. At
various times in history, certain types of apparel, accessories, fabrics, trimmings, dyes, and
various other luxury goods were reserved for the exclusive use of the elite. These restrictions
were often codified into sumptuary laws, which, by design, were enacted to keep society visibly
stratified. Even within the ranking classes, sumptuary restrictions were established to denote
status, the rare and precious murex purple was lavishly used as dye for the clothing of the Roman
imperial family, but the use of the colour was restricted to only border edging for the togas of
senators.
For modesty
In assessing modesty as a purpose for the development of historic dress, researches must guard
against imposing their own ideas of modesty (shame) into the analysis.
The part of the body that may be freely and openly exposed or enhanced by dress in one society
may be viewed as immodest in another. The notion of modesty and emotion of shame at
exposing a particular part of the body vary from culture to culture and from era to era. Ancient
Athenian women disparaged their Spartan sisters as “hip displayers” for wearing a type of peplos
that was open up the side. Yet, the full nudity of the young Greek male in public was regarded as
a “holy offering to the divine”, according to Herodotus.
1.3 Conclusion
To summarize, the knowledge gained in this unit will help you understand why humans began
using clothes. In the next units, we will discuss in detail about various civilizations and the
impact that they had on the development and use of clothes.