A Timeline of Clothes

A TIMELINE OF CLOTHES

20,000 BC In Europe people make warm clothes such as trousers, coats and boots from animal skins using bone needles

1200 BC Men in Egypt wear loincloths and a kind of kilt. Women wear dresses with shoulder straps. Both sexes wear jewellery.

400 BC Women in Greece wear long dresses that cover most of their bodies. Men wear tunics and cloaks.

100 AD Roman men wear tunics. Roman citizens wear togas. Women wear long dresses. Roman men and women wear shorts called subligaculum. Women wear a band around their chest called a strophium or a mamilare.

1000 AD Saxon men wear shirts and tunics. They also wear breeches. Women wear a long linen garment with a long tunic over it.

1300 Men wear tunics. Some men wear linen shorts called braies. They also wear hose (tights or stockings). Women wear a nightie like garment called a shift underneath. Over it they wear a long tunic and over that a gown.

1590 Men wear breeches and a jacket called a doublet. Women wear a linen garment called a shift under a long dress. Women wear a frame called a farthingale under their dress. Both sexes wear hats.

1680 Men wear breeches, stockings and boots. They wear a waistcoat and a frock coat on top of it. Women still wear shifts and long dresses

1800 Women start wearing knickers

1849 The safety pin is invented

1855 Dry cleaning is invented

1870 Men now wear trousers, waistcoats and coats. Women wear bustles to cause their dresses to bulge at the back.

1893 The zip fastener is invented

1010 Women wear hobble skirts, so narrow women can only 'hobble' along while wearing them

1903 Coat hangers are invented

1910 Stockings and knickers are made from rayon for the first time

1913 The bra is invented

1920s Knickers become much shorter. Mens clothes become less formal. Men wear pullovers instead of waistcoats.

1925 Women wear knee length skirts