dress: Media
clothing
Videos
What was life like in colonial America?
Historical interpreter Stephen Seals explains what life was like for children, working...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
When did women started wearing pants in the United States?
The American dress reform movement arose in the mid 19th century.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Coco Chanel: From quiet luxury to Nazi affiliation
The woman who would eventually become a fashion icon learned to sew in an orphanage.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How Beauty Looking Back reflects Japanese history
Hishikawa Moronobu's Beauty Looking Back exemplifies the changing lifestyles,...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn how pumpkin carving came to be a Halloween tradition forged by Celtic and Roman Catholic roots
Learn how the pumpkin became a symbol of Halloween.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Images
Hans Holbein the Younger: portrait of Henry VIII
Henry VIII, painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540.
© duncan1890—iStock/Getty Images
Egyptian statuette with angular harp
Egyptian statuette with angular harp, painted wood, Late Period (1085–525 bce);...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum, London; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
ancient Egyptian dress
Woman wearing sheathlike gown held up by shoulder straps, typical of Egyptian dress...
Borromeo/Art Resource, New York
Egyptian dress of the New Kingdom
Egyptian dress of the New Kingdom, 18th dynasty. King Tutankhamen wearing a double...
Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich
alabaster head of a man wearing a turban
Alabaster head of a man wearing a turban, from Adab, Akkadian period, c. 24th century...
Courtesy of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of The University of Chicago
Ur-Nanshe of Lagash
Ur-Nanshe, king of Lagash, detail of a limestone relief, c. 2500 bce;...
© Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Ashurnasirpal II
Ashurnasirpal II, relief from Nimrūd; in the British Museum
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Minoan fresco: priest-king
Priest-king, detail from a Late Minoan fresco, c. 1550 bce,...
Andre Held, Switzerland
youth wearing a Phrygian cap
Youth wearing a Phrygian cap, marble, Roman copy of a Greek original, 4th century...
By permission of the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Eng.
woman wearing the Greek chiton and himation
Woman wearing the Greek chiton and himation. Marble statue from the Nereid Monument,...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
women's dress from the Hellenistic Age
Women's dress from the Hellenistic Age, showing the himation draped over the head...
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
Etruscan musicians wearing styles of the time
Etruscan musicians wearing tunics, cloaks similar to the Greek chlamys, and sandals....
Scala/Art Resource, New York
gold Etruscan fibula
Detail of a gold Etruscan fibula with granulated decoration, 7th century bce;...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Tiberius in an imperial Roman toga
Imperial Roman toga on Tiberius (reigned 14–37 ce);...
© Gianni Dagli Orti/Shutterstock.com
Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the Elder wearing the stola and palla, 2nd century
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
traditional Tlingit regalia
Kiksadi clan members wearing traditional Tlingit regalia.
James Poulson—Daily Sitka Sentinel/AP
Iroquois shoulder bag
Iroquois shoulder bag made of buckskin and decorated with porcupine quills and deer...
Courtesy of the Linden-Museum fur Volkerkunde, Stuttgart, Germany.
Karl Bodmer: Sauk and Fox Indians
Sauk and Fox Indians, painting by Karl Bodmer, c. 1833.
MPI/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Inuit family
Inuit family from Alaska wearing fur parkas, early 19th century.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsc-02276)
Mayan men wearing decorated loincloths and ornamental headdresses
Mayan men of the upper class wearing decorated loincloths and ornamental headdresses....
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe: El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno
Inca men and women working in a cornfield; drawing from El primer nueva corónica...
From a facimile of El primer nueva crónica y buen gobierno by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala
Egyptian fellah (agricultural worker)
An Egyptian agricultural worker (fellah) wearing a traditional djellaba (gallibiyah).
©1992 Bill Lyons
Turkish woman
Turkish woman wearing long anteri (coat) over patterned chalvar...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Muslim woman wearing a yashmak and chador
Muslim woman wearing a yashmak and chador, in “Femme du peuple,” coloured engraving,...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Justinian I
Justinian I, detail of a 6th-century mosaic at the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna,...
© A De Gregorio—DeA Picture Library/age fotostock
Theodora
Empress Theodora, detail of a wall mosaic, 6th century; in the Church of San Vitale,...
© seraficus—iStock/Getty Images
Charles IV
Charles IV receiving his sister Isabella and her son Edward from England, miniature...
Giraudon/Art Resource, New York
fashionable mid-15th-century Italian dress
Fashionable mid-15th-century Italian dress. The men wear pleated, fur-trimmed tunics,...
Scala/Art Resource, New York
woman wearing a wimple
Woman wearing a wimple in “Portrait of a Young Lady,” oil portrait by Rogier van...
Courtesy of the Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell, engraving after a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1537....
The Print Collector—Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth of England
Queen Elizabeth of England, showing the queen adorned in Renaissance fashion...
Carlo Bevilacqua—Scala/Art Resource, New York
woman wearing a ruff
Woman wearing a ruff, detail of “Portrait of a Lady of the Vavasour Family,” oil...
Courtesy of the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Rembrandt: The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild
The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers' Guild, oil on canvas by Rembrandt,...
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; on loan from the city of Amsterdam
Skittle Players in a Garden, ascribed to Pieter de Hooch
Skittle Players in a Garden, oil on canvas, ascribed to Pieter de Hooch,...
The Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, Purchase
Charles Le Brun: Portrait of King Louis XIV
Portrait of King Louis XIV, by Charles Le Brun, c. 1655.
Photos.com/Jupiterimages
Nicolas de Largillière: Louis XIV and His Family
Louis XIV and His Family, oil painting by Nicolas de Largillière, 1711;...
Reproduced by permission of the trustees of the Wallace Collection, London; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
18th-century apparel
Woman wearing corset and hoop skirt, Meissen porcelain figurine, German, 1741; in...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Marie-Antoinette
Marie-Antoinette, mixed-method colour print on two sheets of paper by Jean-François...
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (Austin and Irene Young Trust by exchange AC1996.127.1), www.lacma.org
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun: Queen Marie Antoinette
Queen Marie Antoinette, also known as The Muslin Portrait, oil...
Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Timken Collection (1960.6.41)
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, portrait by Peter Pelham; in the collection of the American Antiquarian...
Courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
Mehmed I
Mehmed I, miniature from a 16th-century manuscript illustrating the dynasty; in the...
Courtesy of Istanbul University Library
Beau Brummell
Beau Brummell, engraving by John Cooke after a portrait miniature, 1844.
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
David, Jacques-Louis: detail from The Coronation of Napoleon
Detail from The Coronation of Napoleon, oil painting by Jacques-Louis David,...
J.E. Bulloz
Robert Wilson: Chartist demonstration
Chartist demonstration, Kennington Common, 1848; illustration from The Life and...
From The Life and Times of Queen Victoria, volume II, by Robert Wilson (Cassell and Company, Limited, 1900)
Napoleon III
Napoleon III, detail of a portrait by Hippolyte Flandrin; in the Versailles Museum.
H. Roger-Viollet
women holding a cage crinoline of metal hoops
Women holding a cage crinoline of metal hoops, detail from a cartoon in Punch,...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Crown copyright
bustle under a ruffled dress
A bustle under a ruffled dress, French, 1885; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York City.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (M.2007.211.773a-d), www.lacma.org
bloomers
A Currier & Ives rendition of the bloomer costume influenced by Amelia Jenks Bloomer.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital. id. cph 3b49861)
Little Lord Fauntleroy style
Boy dressed in the Little Lord Fauntleroy style, 1908.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Daniels, Bebe
Bebe Daniels wearing an elegant ensemble during the filming of Silver Dollar,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Roman Holiday
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday (1953).
© 1953 Paramount Pictures Corporation; photograph from a private collection
Ma Lin: The Legendary Emperor Yao
The Legendary Emperor Yao, hanging silk scroll depicting the emperor in...
Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Qing dynasty: silk dragon robe
Panel from an imperial Chinese silk dragon robe embroidered in silk and gold thread,...
Lee Boltin
Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong
Jiang Qing and Mao Zedong, 1945.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-126856)
sokutai
Hirohito wearing a sokutai at his enthronement ceremony, 1926.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (reproduction no. LC-USZC2-724)
Japanese imperial crest
The 16-petaled chrysanthemum mon, or crest, of the Japanese imperial family.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Chobunsai Yeishi: The Courtesan Itsutomi Holding a Plectrum
The Courtesan Itsutomi Holding a Plectrum, Japanese woman wearing an uchikake,...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photograph, A.C. Cooper Ltd.
North Korea: Arirang Festival
Performers at the Arirang Festival in P'yŏngyang, North Korea.
© nndrln/Shutterstock.com
Buddhist sculpture
Couple wearing long strips of cloth, the precursors of the sari and dhoti, c....
P. Chandra
Rajasthani miniature
Woman wearing a ghaghra and coli, Rajasthani miniature, late 18th...
P. Chandra
woman wearing a sari
Woman wearing a sari, detail of a gouache painting on mica from Tiruchchirāppalli,...
Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
gentleman in ruffled shirt with neckcloth
Gentleman in ruffled shirt with neckcloth, oil portrait by an unknown French artist,...
Philadelphia Museum of Art, the John G. Johnson Collection
sons of Edward III wearing heraldic gipons
Sons of Edward III wearing heraldic gipons, detail of a copy of a wall painting from...
Courtesy of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Edward V, Edward IV, and Elizabeth Woodville
Edward V (lower right) with his father, Edward IV, and mother, Elizabeth Woodville,...
Courtesy of the Lambeth Palace Library; photograph, Royal Academy of Arts
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres: painting of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII in Reims Cathedral, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique...
© G. Dagli Orti—DeAgostini/Getty Images
Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–19; in the Louvre,...
© Everett-Art/Shutterstock.com
Elizabeth II: family
Royal family portrait, August 22, 1951. (From left) Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth,...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Madonna performing in 1987
The American singer, songwriter, and dancer pushed the boundaries for women in pop...
Frank Rumpenhorst—AP/REX/Shutterstock.com
Hausa robe
Hausa man's embroidered robe, Nigeria; in the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam.
Courtesy of the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam
Hawaiian royal cloak made of netting into which feathers are knotted.
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Hidatsa buffalo robe
Hidatsa buffalo robe characteristic of those exchanged during the fur trade, c. 1850.
Buffalo Bill Center Of The West/Shutterstock.com
Mourner's dress, pearl shell, turtle shell, coconut shell, feathers, bark cloth,...
Courtesy of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum
medieval sculpture
Sculpture depicting a man (left) wearing a surcoat with hanging sleeves and a slit...
Archives Photographiques, Paris
Erté: dress
Afternoon dress of black and white satin designed by Erté for Harper's Bazaar,...
© Sevenarts Limited
dress: English woman's simple dress, 17th century
English woman's simple dress of the first part of the 17th century, engraving by...
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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