These are parts from a long feature on the historical relations between Egyptian and European fashion...
… To show you how Egyptian & European fashion were related, you must come with me on a trip; a trip that will take us through the realms of not only places, but times as well. A trip with a number of very various destinations, each of which will hold one or more evidences that show how the relationship between Egypt and the west – specifically in terms of fashion – was established ages ago and how the influences they had on each other were truly mutual, not by any means unidirectional from the west to the east.
Your only tickets in this trip are your widely open eyes. Your seat belt is your imagination that will keep you away from the dangers of the shallow current moment, and take you safely to see what’s hidden in the fabrics of past times.
So, please prepare your widely open eyes, fasten your imagination and follow me…
1st destination: on the banks of the River Nile
Our first stop is an ancient Egyptian house, lying on the bank of the great River Nile, surrounded by dense green gardens ornamented with flowers and lotus floating on water springs. Leaving the garden, we enter the house, which belongs to a higher class family in the era of the Eighteenth Royal Family. Passing the main entrance, we find ourselves in a wide hall with its ceiling supported by pillars and furniture pieces scattered around the place in a beautiful order. Its daytime, so men are out working and all we see in the house are the women of the family and there servants.
If we take a look on each of the women, we will find their outfits consisting of skirts, tunics, robes and shawls. Most of these clothes were characterized by their basically white color and their transparent fabrics draped in rich pleated smoothness. To the white color of their clothes, Egyptian women added many colorful accessories varying between collars, necklaces – called pectorals, bracelets and belts worn not only by the well-off ladies, but by women from all classes. The beauty of these accessories can alone prove how elegant and trendy the ancient Egyptian woman was.
Very similar styles of clothes and fabrics prevailed in the Roman and Greek empires for ages; the same white color, transparent fabrics and pleated drapery with minor changes in the shapes of accessories and designs of the outfits. The fact is that Egypt influenced Greek and Roman fashion and was influenced by it through the relationships between the three cultures whether in the times of peace or war.
Women, even at this ancient time, cared a lot about their beauty. Ancient Egyptian women used make up including black and green eye liner, lip stick and blusher as well as nail polish and henna. Almost the same make up types, tools and ways of application are still the prevailing trend in both the west and the east till the current day.
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3rd destination: The Borgowan Market
A strange name for a place, isn’t it? Well, looking through the names of places in this era, we will find most of them – if not all – strange. We are in the Mamluk’s time. Among the different eras that the Islamic age in Egypt was divided to, the Mamluky was one of the most distinctive in terms of arts in general and fashion in particular. That’s why we chose that period in particular as our third destination.
Back to the place, “The Borgowan Market”, or as some people called it “Amir Al Gyoush” – The Prince of Armies – market. Named after the place where it was held, one of the extended branches of the vital Moezz street in the heart of Islamic Cairo, this market was one of the most famous and important markets in the capital, among what exceeds fifty other markets. This market in particular was specialized in fabrics and clothes. Taking a look around, we find ourselves surrounded by a large number of small shops lying side by side and a much larger number of merchants exhibiting their goods in the open air. The goods vary between different types of fabrics – mostly silk - , and awesome, literally overwhelming clothing items and accessories. The fabric industry in this era was greatly developed and many fabric factories were constructed making Muslims the world’s leaders in that field, with Egypt being one of the main industry centers.
Among the shops and goods, customers walk back and forth. Most of them are women, wearing very unique clothes that consisted of layers and layers. Women of this age reached the edge of exaggeration in their outfits, whether in terms of designs or value. Cairo women in particular were famous of designing their own clothes and developing their own trends. Egyptian fashion during these times was influenced by many factors, the most important of which were the trends brought by the foreign Mamluks as well as the religious Islamic rules of women’s clothes. Mixing both factors with the vivid relationships with the west whether through trade or wars, the results are some trends that influenced and was influenced by European fashion, and which spread and prevailed for decades.
Spotting one of these women, who’s looking extra unique and is amazingly dressed, we find her wearing an outfit consisting of many items. A Qamees – somehow similar to a long chemise– with a very long tail and very wide sleeves that appear beneath the layers above it, which involve a long Thoub, similar to a dress nowadays, and an Izar, which is a wide cloak wrapping the whole outfit to cover the woman’s body. The ends and trims of each of those clothing items are apparent under the following layer, giving an intriguing richness to the outfit. Under the Thoub and the Izar, along with the Qamees, there is one of the earliest types of trousers, a long and very loose version of the trousers we wear nowadays.
The dominating textile of those days was colorful silk adorned with amazing prints and embroidery. Silk veils complement the outfit, as a large one is thrown over the woman’s head to flow smoothly covering her hair and a smaller veil is tied around, above her nose, to cover her face.
When it comes to accessories, the pieces of that amazing outfit will be found to be linked together with some intricate, eye catching pieces of jewelry. Along with all that comes a pair of killer boots covered in gold and jewels.
We need hundreds of pages and tens of hours to complete the journey and visit all the spots of history that show the mutual link between Egyptian and European fashion. So, although there are many other destinations worthy of stopping at, for today, our journey ends here at that astonishing scene from old Cairo.
By: Rehab Nour
