Sense of fashion of the Indus valley civilization.
This is a article about the people who stone walked/ramp walked at the bronze age!
Today we all love to be updated when it comes to fashion. This is a persuasive factor that keeps one well aware of what’s going on around and about them or much more of a fashion dogma. But from where does all these come from? Who proposed the procedure of doing fabrics in the known default way? why do only women wear sari? and why do we feel odd when the order of the gender dedicated clothing is crossed? what makes us feel that way? This takes us back to the age which I like to call as the “Experimenting age”. Where people had no idea of trending fashion whatsoever. The age where clothing was a tool to cover your body, the age of the first civilization in India.
At the bronze age in the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BC with the early Indus Valley Civilization. Also known as the Harappan civilization, It was centered on the Indus River and its tributaries which extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,Gujarat, and south-eastern Afghanistan. The Indus civilization is one of three in the ‘Ancient East’ that, along with Mesopotamia and Pharonic Egypt, was a cradle of civilization in the Old World. It is also the most expansive in area and population.
Was suits this expensive even at that time?
No, the people of Indus valley civilization didn't wear suits to work. In fact fabric was least of their concerns considering the poor amount of data we have on fabrics used by people in the Indus valley civilization.
Anyway the point is PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE SUITS AT THAT TIME!!! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR A**!!!
What were the types of fabric they used?
Based on the official data from the haparra.com, People of the Indus valley civilization had access to minimum kind of fabric known to them and the the majority of them are
- Cotton
- Jute
- Silk
- Types of wool
What did poeple wear at the Indus valley civilization?
As I said textiles are rarely preserved and back at those days the Harappan figurines are usually unclothed, so there is not much evidence of Harappan clothing. Small fragments of cloth preserved in the corrosion products of metal objects show that the Harappans wove a range of grades of cotton cloth. Flax was grown and may have been used for fibers (alternatively it was grown for its oil seed). Native Indian species of silkworm may have been utilized for silk (inferior to Chinese silk), as they were a little later in South Asia. It is not known whether the Harappans raised woolly sheep, but their trade with Mesopotamia probably brought them abundant supplies of Mesopotamian woolen textiles.
The Harappans also probably continued the earlier tradition of making clothing from leather. Dyeing facilities indicate that cotton cloth was probably dyed a range of colors, although there is only one surviving fragment of coloured cloth, dyed red with madder; it is likely that indigo and turmeric were also used as dyes.
The limited depictions of clothing show that men wore a cloth around the waist, resembling a modern dhoti and like it, often passed between the legs and tucked up behind. The so-called “Priest-king” and other stone figures also wore a long robe over the left shoulder, leaving bare the right shoulder and chest. Some male figurines are shown wearing a turban. Woman’s clothing seems to have been a knee-length skirt. Figurines and finds in graves show that Harappans of both sexes wore jewellery: hair fillets, bead necklaces and bangles for men; bangles, earrings, rings, anklets, belts made of strings of beads, pendants, chokers and numerous necklaces for women, as well as elaborate hairstyles and headdresses.
The only evidence we have is from iconography and figurines as far as dress styles are concerned, and it is not sure that these even represent what was worn by everyday people. Quite possibly dress may have been based on lengths of cloth that were folded and draped in different ways. Such cloth could have been made of linen, cotton, or wool/animal hair.
Skins also may have been used for cold weather and to make items like belts, quivers, etc. Reeds/straw may have been woven for foot wear, although how often foot wear may have been used is not known. Evidence comes not so much from preserved textiles but from pseudo morphs preserved because of proximity to copper and from impressions made into clay. An early form of silk was used to string tiny beads and wound copper necklaces.
(P.S a huge shout-out to Senjuti Kundu, Fashion Forecaster in Quora and the inventor of copy and paste.)
What are the cosmetics and ornaments used by the people of the Indus valley civilization?
Ornaments
Both men and women wore ornaments made of gold, silver, copper and other metals. Men wore necklaces, finger rings and armlets of various designs and shapes. The women wore a head dress, ear rings, bangles, girdles, bracelets and anklets. Rich people wore expensive ornaments made of gold while the poor had ornaments made of shell, bone or copper.
Cosmetics
The ladies of Mohen-jo-daro were not lagging behind in styles as used by the ladies of the present day, when it came to the use of cosmetics and the attainment of beauty. Materials made of ivory and metal for holding and applying cosmetics prove that they knew the use of face paint and collyrium. Bronze oval mirrors, ivory combs of various shapes, even small dressing tables, have been found at Mohen-jo-daro and other sites. Women tied the hair into a bun and used hair pins made of ivory. Toilet jars, found at Mohen-jo-daro, show that women took interest in cosmetics.
