Thursday, April 26, 2012

Have A Look At Renaissance Clothing

Renaissance Clothing
The Renaissance period had some delicately designed clothing for all and fashion in that time was organized towards the superb designs and the simplistic forms as well. Clothing during the Renaissance period was more about displaying people's social status. The kings, queen and other rich people used to wear clothes in expensive fabrics such as fur and silk; while the peasants and other general people used to wear simple clothes made of wool and cotton. Women used to wear around five layers of clothing that include skirt, vest, bodice, underskirt and collar. One of the interesting facts about the Renaissance clothing is that wedding dresses were beautiful in their appearance and were made of brocades; while, beautiful jewels were stitched onto them. These layers of clothing created an important factor in Renaissance clothing because they helped keeping the body warm during the cold weather.

Renaissance clothing gives the same ancient touch as o medieval age. For women, there are long and classic gowns available which are designed carefully especially to give antique look. These gowns come with long sleeves and clinched waists. The clothes manufactured for renaissance festival are made of soft materials such as velvet so that one can stay comfortable while wearing the dress. For men, there is a wide array of clothes and accessories to acquire an ancient look. The belts made for the matching of clothes come in thick and vivid colors to give an appealing look. You can also get medieval helmet which was used by the warriors of medieval age. Men wearing these helmets really give the same ancient look in the festival.

Renaissance, meaning new birth according to French language, is a name of a periodduring which European men were inspired to adopt major changes in life. This era brought great revolution and witness the massive cultural upheaval. Men were very passionate about learning and have great thirst for knowledge that lead them to carry out investigations of natural events that also broadened their outlook and perspective to a great level. During this era a weekend gathering called as renaissance festival was organized that restore the renaissance past to entertain the visitors.

In addition to women's clothing, men's clothing began with the rich and magnificent look. In the Renaissance period, men's clothing was designed to emphasize the body shape to provide them with a more rounded looks. If talking about the fabrics like silk, brocade, fur and high quality wool used in that time, then they were expensive and exclusive and people used clothing according to their standards. Numerous fashionaccessories like headgears and hoods also added spice to wearers personality. Without these accessories, Renaissance clothing was considered incomplete. At that time, women used to adorn pointed hats over their hair. Small hats also came in to fashion in renaissance period. Small hats were decorated with jewels and often had a string attached to the back. These hats were widely used by people of all ages.

Now in at the present time, authentically designed Renaissance clothing has influenced many eras and has been still in fashion. Today, in any Ren Fair or Medieval party, you can see numerous people in Renaissance clothing. People who use clothing of that time are appreciated by other with a number of names like, elegant, beautiful and amazing. Nowadays, Renaissance accessories, like helmets, swords, hats shirts and a variety of other items are used very much in Hollywood movies, exhibitions and above all in the celebration of Halloween. It is celebrated on the evening of October 31 in United States of America, British Isles, Canada, by children. Children go door to door by wearing wonderful and attractive dresses and begging treats and playing planks.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Ancient Roman Costumes Would Brief You About The Kind Of Garments

Ancient Roman costumes worn by everyday folks in the Roman Empire were mainly loose articles of clothing that draped around the body and were secured by fasteners. For both men and women, undergarments were called tunics. Women wore clothing called the stola over their tunic, a long garment reaching to the ankles consisting of two pieces of fabric, one on the front and the other in the back, held together by pins at the shoulder, which were called fibulae. The Statue of Liberty is actually "wearing" a stola.

It also had two belts, one fitting just below the breasts, the other around the waist. This created a great many luxurious folds, a fashionable trick at that time - the more folds, the richer and more upper class she looked. If a woman went outside, she usually wore an overcoat called a palla, which was basically a long shawl. It usually draped over one shoulder and across the entire body. Extra folds could be used to pull over the head.

The ancient Roman civilization and architecture is one of the most popular in the world. The world has learnt a lot of things from the Romans. There are several interesting facts about the Romans. Right from their lifestyle to food and clothing, everything was advanced and remains a wonder for the rest of the world. Also, some historians believe that ancient Roman clothing was very different and unique from the clothing found during that period.

Romans were known to use different varieties of fibers to create their clothing. Their fabric made to stitch their tunic was made out of wool, hemp and linen. The ancient Romans wore well stitched clothes and they had different types for men and women.

The toga was a popular kind of dress and was standard for Romans. The Romans also wore clothes according to their status in the society. The toga was a long garment which was like a sash and was made out of wool. It was like a tunic for the Romans. The toga was also worn by magistrates and was mostly plain white in color. Even scholars and teachers wore them. Some togas had a purple stripe on them.

The stola was very similar to the toga and was like a blanket that needed to be wrapped around the body. This was usually wrapped around another piece of clothing called tunica. Usually girls and women wore tunic with a stola wrapped around it.

Cloaks were another form of popular clothing and generally were very colorful. They were made out of wool and linen, and were worn when going out.Though the tunic was considered an undergarment, it was often the only thing worn, or two tunics - an inner one and a shorter outer one. Most common Romans and slaves simply slipped on their tunic and went about their days business.

While women wore a stola over their tunics, men wore the toga. Actually, only male Roman citizens could wear a toga in public - it was the stately, official and cumbersome dress, representative of the Roman Republic and into the Empire (it was actually originally used by the Etruscans, the civilization that flourished before Rome - the town of Rome overthrew the Etruscan royalty and began their own conquest of Italy.)

The toga was a large (around 20 feet) length of cloth that was wrapped around the body. Because it was difficult to wear, it was usually only worn on official occasions, much like tuxedos and evening gowns are worn today. In fact, slaves and servants from rich families specialized in toga dressing, making it as fashionable and comfortable for their master as possible!

The way Romans wore their clothing indicated their status symbol. Higher class women would wear more layers of clothing, indicating their wealth. The more folds and layers, the better. The colors of Roman costumes also mattered. Magistrates wore clothing that had a purple border. Generals wore togas with golden hems to signify success in battle. Emperors wore purple robes, as this color was rare and expensive.

Finally, basic sandals that lace up the leg were the standard type of footwear. Both men and women wore these type of sandals, without socks, which were only invented when the Romans conquered more northern territories like Germany and Britain. Unlike the warm Mediterranean climate, sandals by themselves would quickly freeze the skin!

To dress as a Roman for your Halloween costume, a white or red toga is your best choice, as it is the most distinctive. A stola isn't very well known, and few would know the difference anyway! If you wish to look like a high class Roman man, wear a luxurious toga lined with gold trim. As an aristocratic woman or an empress, wear a red costume with a shawl.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Dragon Robe Is A Prime Of Chinese Ancient And Rich Cultural Costume

The robe embroidered with dragon patterns was made for the exclusive use of an emperor during the Qing dynasty. The ritual of embroidering dragon patterns on the emperor's robe, however, dates back to as early as the Zhou Dynasty (11th century-256 B.C.).

During the Yuan and Ming, the emperors were already wearing robes graced with dragon patterns, but it was not until the Qing that they were named “dragon robes” and became part of the official attire system. A dragon robe is either yellow or apricot-yellow dragons in color, and embroidered with nine yellow dragons and five-hued auspicious cloud patterns.

The clouds are interlaced with twelve other patterns—the sun, the moon and stars (representing the light of the throne), mountains (synonymous to stability to changes) auspicious bird (denoting elegance and beauty) water reeds (which represent purity and cleanness), and fire (meaning light). According to imperial Qing rituals, the emperor's dragon robe was a kind of auspicious attire for lower-grade celebrations and ceremonies—it as by no means the highest grade of imperial attire.

The dragon robe that was passed down from one emperor to another is embroidered with a dragon on the front and the back, before or behind the knees, on the shoulders, and on the lining of the chest. Thus a total of nine dragons are embroidered on a dragon robe. Observed from the front or behind it, five dragons could be seen at a glance, because in Chinese tradition the figures nine and five tallied with the dignity of the throne.

In the Qing Dynasty only Emperors had the privilege of wearing the dragon robes decorative of the dragons with 12 insignia badges, whose designing include circular collar,big front,right border(opening),narrow and comprehensive sleeves with sleeve end of horse shoes shape.The demy front and back of the robe was sumptuously embroidered 9 dragons and embellished with gold, pearls and precious stones. In the front of the robe collar was embroidered with one front dragon each and at the joining of the left and right borders have decorative dragons each, while there is a front dragon at the end of horseheel-shaped sleeves. The collar and sleeves were brimmed with azurite gold satins. The clothing materials could be changed according to seasons, for instance, cotton, gauge, sandwich blend, or fur, etc.

Dragon robe and crown is a sort of costume worn by emperors on the most important occasions in ancient China. Dragon robe refers to the noble dress decorated with rolling dragons while dragon crown is the noble hat.

As a world-famous country of amenity, China has been attaching importance to various amenity-related activities since ancient times. Accordingly, costumes prepared for different amenity-related activities have developed into a clothing system exclusively possessed by China. According to archeological discoveries, crown-costume came into existence early in the Shang Dynasty. It was a kind of grande toilette worn by the emperor and supreme officials of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty on ceremonious sacrificial occasions. Due to the enhancement of emperor's rights in later dynasties, dragon robe and crown became the costume exclusively prepared for the emperor, and even, served as a token of the emperor. In the feudal society with rigid hierarchy, costume was an important symbol for distinguishing the noble and humble as well as class differences. For this reason, dragon robe and crown acted as a symbol of imperial power other than a top-grade dress. Making dragon robe and crown privately at that time was perceived to be a crime as serious as rebellion.

Exquisite dragon robe and crown is a prime of Chinese ancient costume with rich cultural context. The dragon embroidered on the robe demonstrates the worship of dragon totem in ancient China, while the shape of the crown (slightly round front and square rear) contains the cultural content of "Round heaven and square earth". The exquisite and graceful dragon robes and crowns preserved in the Palace Museum are an embodiment of supreme dressmaking technique in ancient China. Moreover, they can reflect the aesthetic consciousness in traditional Chinese culture.