Fashion Era Series: Assyria (#4)

Here we are yet again following along with history. This week we will look at the Ancient World: Assyrian costume/fashion. I personally like to look back and see how far we have come or have not come, not just with clothing, but also art and culture. Art alone can tell a good bit of history about a period in time or culture. ^[1]

First, where exactly is Assyria and what else is going on in history? Assyria is the oldest civilization in the world. Located in the Middle/Near East and dates to 2500 BC. It was an ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom and Empire. This Empire spanned the early and middle bronze and the Iron age.

Like many other societies, their clothing would differentiate the societal hierarchy through modification. This modification could be the length of a tunic, the layers one wore, the fringe, embroidery, and other “decoration”. However, the overall “style” remained the same: tunics and shawls. These items could be dyed, using natural dyes, for colors such as blue, red, yellow, green, and purple.

Middle class: tunics reached their feet, sometimes shorter to the knee.
Higher Class: long tunics descending to their feet, edges had fringe and braids, may even be embroidered and of wool fabric
Dignitaries of the court – they added girdles around their chest and their garments were dyed purple to indicate power
Royal garments: they wore a long robe that was on top of their first garments, these spiraled along the body and included fine embroidery with detailed geometric figures or flowers (most often repeated over and over).

Working women wore long tunics with long fringed shawls.
All women wore some type of hair decoration.

https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=assyrian%20archaeology – this shows many tablets that have been uncovered that clearly depict the garments/costumes of this time and this culture.