Fashion and Clothing

earring a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort the lobe with plugs several inches in diameter or with heavy stones. Egyptians first wore large gold hoops, which eventually became smaller and supported pendants. In Babylonia and later in Assyria where the earring was worn by men to denote rank, the earring evolved into an exquisite work of the goldsmith's art. In Greece the finely wrought gold earrings often had tinkling pendants. The Romans were first to popularize earrings set with precious stones. Earrings were little used with the headdresses of the Middle Ages, but their use had a vigorous revival during the Renaissance and was also adopted by men; pearls were especially favored. In the 18th cent. the diamond earring became most fashionable; the 19th cent. saw extensive use of the cameo. With the invention (c.1900) of a screw device for attaching the earring, their popularity again increased.

fashion in dress, the prevailing mode affecting modifications in costume. Styles in Asia have been characterized by freedom from change, and ancient Greek and Roman dress preserved the same flowing lines for centuries. Fashion in dress and interior decoration may be said to have originated in Europe about the 14th cent. New styles were set by monarchs and prominent personages and were spread by travelers, by descriptions in letters, and, in costume , by the exchange of the fashion doll . The first fashion magazine is thought to have originated c.1586 in Frankfurt, Germany; it was widely imitated, gradually superseding fashion dolls. Godey's Lady's Book, established in the United States in 1830, remained popular for decades. In interior decoration the influence of designers, such as Chippendale, Sheraton, and Robert and James Adam, was apparent in the 18th cent., but in costume the only influential designer at that period was Rose Bertin, milliner and dressmaker to Marie Antoinette. In Paris—the leading arbiter of fashion since the Renaissance—the fading influence of celebrities was coincident with the rise of designer-dressmakers in the mid-19th cent. Paris haute couture has remained preeminent in setting fashions for women's dress. Designers such as Charles Frederick Worth, Coco Chanel, Lucien Lelong, Elsa Schiaparelli, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent have had fashion houses in Paris. In the latter part of the 20th cent....

hat headdress developed from the simple close-fitting cap and hood of antiquity. The first hat, which was distinguished as such by having a brim, was the felt petasus of the Greeks, which tied under the chin and was worn by travelers. The decorative peaked cap was most popular in the Middle Ages. Later the medieval hood evolved into the 14th cent. turbanlike chaperon with hanging ends, called liripipes; the liripipes originated with the tassels on strings that had been added to the hoods of cloaks. The simple close-fitting coifs, gorgets, wimples, and veils of early medieval women gave way (in the 14th cent.) to netlike headdresses of jeweled gold wire known as cauls and crespins and later to conical hennins and large decorative butterfly and horn-shaped headdresses with starched veils. In the 16th cent. the beret, of colorful velvet or silk and richly jeweled, feathered, and slashed, was made fashionable by Henry VIII. Women's head coverings progressed from the nunlike gable headdress to the French hood set back on the head to the small heart-shaped Mary Stuart cap. The 17th cent. saw the high-crowned beaver of the Puritan and the wide plumed hat of the cavalier; by 1660 the brim had become so wide that the corners were turned up forming the tricorne. Women during that century generally wore hoods, although the high-standing, wired lace fontanges and commodes were popular; after 1700 the lace cap became fashionable. By the 19th cent. straw was used in making the recently...

shoe foot covering, usually of leather, consisting of a sole and a portion above the sole called an upper. In prehistoric times skins or hides may have been tied around the foot for protection and warmth; studies of the foot bones of ancient humans suggest that some form of sturdy footwear was worn by human beings beginning between 40,000 and 26,000 years ago. The shoes found with the 5,300-year-old "Ice Man" in the Tyrolean Alps were made of skins and braided-bark netting and stuffed with straw and moss. The sandal, a very early form of the shoe, was worn in Egypt, Greece, and Rome; a more ancient example (c.8000 BC), woven from plant materials, was found in an Oregon cave. An early form of the boot was also known in Greece and Rome. The characteristic shoe of the Middle Ages was the soft, clinging moccasin, which extended to the ankle. It was highly decorated and was of velvet, cloth of gold, and, increasingly, of leather. By the 13th cent. the toe had become greatly elongated until a century later the point had to be held aloft by a chain attached to the knee. After 1377 wooden clogs, called poulaines or pattens, were introduced. A forerunner of the heeled shoe, they were fastened under the shoe (if not a part of the shoe itself) to protect it from mud or water. The chopine, an ornamental shoe with a very high sole, went to fantastic heights. After 1500, styles reversed themselves, and the width of the toe was exaggerated; two colors and slashing were often employed...

thread a fine twist of fibrous material, distinguished from yarn in general by being smoother, stronger, and more pliable; it is also better suited to sewing, embroidery, and lace making. Sewing or spool cotton is made by twisting several fine strands into three-cord or six-cord thread, the latter being three two-ply strands twisted together. The size is controlled by the twisting process. The fine linen thread used in making expensive laces is spun by hand and is very costly. Synthetic threads, such as nylon, are most often used for heavy-duty sewing in carpets, shoes, and heavy canvases. Many ordinary sewing threads now contain some proportion of synthetic fiber.