The History of Clothing

History of Clothing Timeline

Key dates in the history of clothing and textiles, from the first sewing needles to synthetic fibers, across six world regions.

People were wearing clothes long before they wrote anything down, so the early part of this timeline rests on archaeology: bone tools, needles, a few fibers preserved in dry caves or ice, and images of dress in clay and stone. From the first cities onward the record gets richer, with surviving garments, textiles buried in tombs, paintings, and written laws about dress.

The dates below are milestones, not a complete history. Each era opens with a short overview, followed by key dates and then a link to the full article for every region. Use the filter to follow a single region through time; dates that shaped clothing worldwide always stay visible.

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Prehistoric

Before 3000 BCE

For most of human history, clothing left almost no trace. Hides, furs, and plant fibers rot, so the earliest evidence is indirect: the tools used to work skins, the needles used to sew them, the lice that live in them, and figurines that show what people wore.

  1. c. 83,000–170,000 years ago

    Genetic studies of clothing lice, which live only in garments, suggest humans had begun wearing clothes regularly by this window. Worldwide

  2. c. 90,000–120,000 years ago

    Bone tools for scraping hides and furs at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, are some of the earliest direct evidence of clothing production. Middle East & North Africa

  3. c. 75,000 years ago

    Perforated Nassarius shell beads at Blombos Cave, South Africa, are among the oldest known personal ornaments. Sub-Saharan Africa

  4. c. 40,000 years ago

    Eyed bone needles appear, making fine sewing easier; the oldest known come from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Fitted clothing was probably already being made with awls. Worldwide

  5. c. 30,000 years ago

    Twisted and dyed flax fibers from Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia point to early spinning of plant fiber, probably for cord and cloth. Worldwide

  6. c. 28,000 BCE

    Venus figurines such as the Venus of Willendorf show woven caps and string skirts, among the earliest images of textile dress. Europe

  7. c. 8000 BCE

    Sagebrush-bark sandals left in Fort Rock Cave, Oregon, are among the oldest surviving shoes in the world. The Americas

  8. c. 6700–6500 BCE

    Farming villages such as Çatalhöyük in Anatolia leave some of the oldest surviving woven textiles, made not from flax but from the inner bark (bast) of oak trees. Middle East & North Africa

  9. c. 6500 BCE

    Silk protein residues in burials at Jiahu, Henan, suggest silk was in use in China thousands of years before the earliest surviving fabric. East Asia

  10. c. 6000–5500 BCE

    Mineralized cotton threads preserved in a copper bead at Mehrgarh, Pakistan, are the oldest known evidence of cotton use in the Old World. South Asia

  11. c. 3300 BCE

    Ötzi the Iceman dies in the Alps wearing goatskin leggings, a coat of sheep and goat hide, a bearskin cap, and grass-insulated shoes. Europe

  12. c. 3300 BCE

    The Tarkhan Dress, a pleated linen shirt from Egypt, is made — the oldest known surviving woven garment. Middle East & North Africa

Prehistoric clothing by region

The Americas From Arctic fur parkas to Peruvian cotton textiles, the diverse climates of the Americas spurred remarkably varied clothing traditions across thousands of years of prehistoric innovation. East Asia East Asia's prehistoric textile traditions produced two of humanity's most important fabric innovations — silk and hemp cloth — millennia before written records began. Europe From Ice Age animal hides stitched with bone needles to Ötzi the Iceman's remarkably sophisticated layered outfit, prehistoric Europeans developed ingenious textile solutions across thousands of years of climatic change. Middle East & North Africa The Middle East produced some of the world's earliest known textiles, as Neolithic communities turned flax and other plant fibers into cloth and developed the fundamental technologies of spinning and weaving. South Asia The Indus Valley civilization pioneered cotton cultivation and weaving, giving the world one of its most important textile fibers thousands of years before the Common Era. Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa — where the oldest evidence of clothing in human history has been found — saw prehistoric communities develop sophisticated traditions of hide-working, bark cloth production, and personal adornment.

Ancient

3000 BCE - 500 CE

With cities came specialist weavers, long-distance trade, and laws about who could wear what. Linen dominated Egypt, wool Mesopotamia and Europe, cotton the Indus Valley, and silk China, until the Silk Road began moving cloth between them.

  1. c. 2700 BCE

    Silk fragments at Qianshanyang in Zhejiang are among the oldest surviving silk fabric. East Asia

  2. c. 2500 BCE

    Sumerian statues from Ur and Mari show the kaunakes, a tufted wool skirt or cloak imitating sheep's fleece. Middle East & North Africa

  3. c. 2500–1900 BCE

    Indus Valley cities grow and weave cotton; the Mohenjo-daro "Priest-King" wears a trefoil-patterned robe draped over one shoulder. South Asia

  4. c. 1370 BCE

    The Egtved Girl is buried in Denmark in a wool blouse and a corded string skirt, one of the best-preserved Bronze Age outfits. Europe

  5. c. 1323 BCE

    Tutankhamun is buried with a wardrobe of hundreds of linen tunics, sashes, gloves, and loincloths, much of which still survives. Middle East & North Africa

  6. c. 1200 BCE onward

    Phoenician cities such as Tyre produce purple dye from murex sea snails, a color so costly it becomes a mark of rank across the Mediterranean. Worldwide

  7. c. 900 BCE–1 CE

    Nok terracottas from central Nigeria show elaborate hairstyles and heavy beadwork. Sub-Saharan Africa

  8. c. 530 BCE

    Archaic Greek sculpture records the draped peplos and chiton, garments made from uncut rectangles of wool or linen; scholars now doubt the Peplos Kore actually wears the peplos she is named for. Europe

  9. c. 500 BCE

    Persepolis reliefs show Persians in long pleated robes beside Medes in trousers and sleeved coats, tailored riding clothes that later spread across Eurasia. Middle East & North Africa

  10. c. 300 BCE–200 CE

    Paracas weavers on the south coast of Peru make embroidered wool mantles that are still prized for their color and detail. The Americas

  11. 215 BCE

    Rome's Lex Oppia limits women's gold and colored clothing, one of the earliest recorded sumptuary laws. Europe

  12. c. 168 BCE

    A Han dynasty silk gauze robe buried at Mawangdui weighs about 49 grams, evidence of extraordinary weaving skill. East Asia

  13. c. 130 BCE

    Han envoy Zhang Qian's missions west help open the overland routes later called the Silk Road, carrying silk toward Persia and Rome. Worldwide

  14. c. 2nd century BCE–5th century CE

    The Ajanta cave murals paint a court world of draped lower garments, sheer upper cloths, and lavish jewelry. South Asia

  15. c. 1st–4th centuries CE

    In the kingdom of Kush at Meroë, in present-day Sudan, cotton becomes the main clothing fiber, among the earliest cotton textiles in Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa

  16. c. 100–700 CE

    Moche ceramics from northern Peru depict warriors and rulers in patterned tunics, headdresses, and large ear ornaments. The Americas

Ancient clothing by region

The Americas Ancient American civilizations produced some of the world's most technically sophisticated textiles, from Andean camelid-fiber tapestries to Maya cotton weaving. East Asia What people wore in ancient China, Korea, and Japan — silk, cross-collared robes, Han dynasty dress, Goguryeo tomb murals, and the symbolic dress traditions that shaped East Asian clothing for millennia. Europe From Bronze Age wool and Greek draped garments to Roman togas and Celtic trousers, clothing in ancient Europe was both functional and deeply symbolic — what people wore, what it meant, and how we know. Middle East & North Africa From Mesopotamian wool fleece garments to Egyptian linen mastery and Persian tailored trousers, the ancient Middle East pioneered textile traditions that shaped dress across the world — what Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Persians wore, and how we know. South Asia Home to the world's earliest cotton cultivation, ancient South Asia developed draped garment traditions — from the dhoti to the sari — that have endured for thousands of years. Sub-Saharan Africa From Nok terracotta figures adorned with elaborate jewelry and hairstyles to the development of bark cloth and early cotton weaving, ancient Sub-Saharan Africa produced diverse and sophisticated textile traditions.

Medieval

500 - 1500 CE

Silk escaped China, Islamic workshops set the standard for luxury textiles, and in the 14th century Western Europe began cutting cloth to fit the body, the change many historians treat as the birth of fashion.

  1. c. 552

    Monks smuggle silkworm eggs to Constantinople for Emperor Justinian, giving the Byzantine Empire its own silk industry instead of relying on imports through Persia. Europe

  2. 618–907

    The cosmopolitan Tang dynasty adopts Central Asian fashions; court women sometimes ride in men's tunics and boots. East Asia

  3. 8th–10th centuries

    Caliphal workshops produce tiraz, textiles woven or embroidered with inscribed bands, given as robes of honor. Middle East & North Africa

  4. 794–1185

    Heian Japan's court develops the jūnihitoe, layers of colored silk robes worn in carefully chosen combinations. East Asia

  5. 9th–13th centuries

    Chola bronzes from southern India record draped dress, tightly pleated lower garments, and elaborate jewelry. South Asia

  6. c. 1070s

    The Bayeux Tapestry, actually an embroidery, depicts the tunics, cloaks, and mail of the Norman Conquest. Europe

  7. 11th–12th centuries

    Cotton tunics and caps in the Tellem burial caves of Mali's Bandiagara cliffs are among the oldest surviving West African strip-woven cloth. Sub-Saharan Africa

  8. 13th century

    The Mongol empire spreads nasij, silk woven with gold thread, across Eurasia from Central Asian and Persian workshops. Middle East & North Africa

  9. c. 1340s

    Tailored, close-fitting garments such as the doublet and cotehardie appear, often seen as the start of fashion in Western Europe. Europe

  10. 1363

    England's Statute concerning Diet and Apparel ties the fabrics and furs each social rank may wear. Europe

  11. c. 1400–1532

    Inca state weavers make qompi, a fine tapestry cloth valued above gold; tunics with tocapu squares mark rank and identity. The Americas

Medieval clothing by region

The Americas The civilizations of the medieval Americas — from Aztec featherworkers to Inca master weavers — created textile traditions of astonishing complexity that rivaled anything produced in the Old World. East Asia What people wore in medieval China, Japan, and Korea — from the cosmopolitan silk robes of the Tang and Song dynasties to the origins of the Japanese kimono and the development of the Korean hanbok. Europe From early medieval tunics to the elaborate fitted garments of the Gothic period, European dress transformed dramatically over a millennium — what peasants, nobles, men, and women wore, and how we know. Middle East & North Africa How people dressed across the medieval Islamic world — luxurious tiraz textiles, sophisticated silk weaving, and a cosmopolitan Arab and Islamic fashion culture that spanned from Córdoba to Central Asia. South Asia Medieval South Asia's unbroken tradition of draped garments, masterful cotton and silk weaving, and richly dyed textiles made the subcontinent the medieval world's most celebrated source of fine cloth. Sub-Saharan Africa From the early strip-woven cotton of the West African savanna to the textile trade of the Swahili coast and the Zimbabwe plateau, medieval Sub-Saharan Africa developed rich textile traditions shaped by local innovation and far-reaching trade networks.

Early Modern

1500 - 1800

Global trade put Indian cottons, Chinese silks, and American dyes in the same markets, while empires used dress to mark rank and loyalty. By the end of the period, machines had begun to spin and weave.

  1. 1526 onward

    The Mughal court popularizes the jama, a fitted robe tied at the side, and fine muslins from Bengal. South Asia

  2. c. 1560s–1620s

    Starched lace ruffs reach their most extravagant size, symbols of wealth that took hours to maintain. Europe

  3. 16th century

    Ottoman sultans wear sumptuous silk kaftans; many survive in the Topkapı Palace collection in Istanbul. Middle East & North Africa

  4. 16th–17th centuries

    Benin bronze plaques record court regalia, including coral-bead garments whose use the oba strictly controlled. Sub-Saharan Africa

  5. 1645

    The new Qing dynasty orders Han Chinese men to adopt the Manchu queue hairstyle and Manchu-style dress. East Asia

  6. late 17th century

    Yūzen dyeing, a paste-resist technique for painterly patterns, emerges in Kyoto and transforms the kosode. East Asia

  7. 17th–18th centuries

    Asante and Ewe weavers in present-day Ghana and Togo develop kente, strip-woven silk and cotton cloth; certain Asante designs are reserved for the king. Sub-Saharan Africa

  8. 1700 and 1721

    Britain's Calico Acts restrict imported Indian printed cottons, a sign of how popular they had become. Europe

  9. 1733–1769

    The flying shuttle, spinning jenny, and water frame mechanize weaving and spinning, starting the Industrial Revolution in textiles. Worldwide

  10. 18th century

    Casta paintings in New Spain record dress alongside racial categories, from imported silks to local textiles. The Americas

  11. 1793

    Eli Whitney's cotton gin makes short-staple cotton profitable, expanding plantation slavery in the American South. The Americas

Early Modern clothing by region

The Americas Colonial conquest, Indigenous resilience, and the blending of European, African, and Native traditions created a complex and layered clothing landscape across the Americas. East Asia The Ming and Qing dynasties, Edo-period Japan, and Joseon Korea each codified distinctive national dress traditions that endure as cultural symbols today. Europe From the starched ruffs of the Renaissance to the towering wigs of Versailles, early modern European fashion became an extravagant theater of power, status, and national identity. Middle East & North Africa The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires created a shared visual language of luxury dress built on silk kaftans, elaborate turbans, and some of the most sophisticated textile arts the world has ever known. South Asia Under Mughal rule, South Asia became the world's greatest textile powerhouse, producing muslins so fine they were called 'woven air' and embroideries that dazzled courts from Delhi to London. Sub-Saharan Africa From the gold-threaded kente of the Asante court to the coral-beaded regalia of Benin, early modern African textile traditions reflected sophisticated statecraft, thriving trade networks, and extraordinary artistic ingenuity.

19th Century

1800 - 1900

Industrialization made cloth cheap, the sewing machine changed how garments were made, and synthetic dyes changed their colors. Many states, from the Ottoman Empire to Meiji Japan, adopted Western dress as a sign of modernization.

  1. 1804

    Joseph-Marie Jacquard's punched-card loom automates complex woven patterns. Europe

  2. 1829

    Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II replaces the turban with the fez for officials, alongside the stambouline frock coat. Middle East & North Africa

  3. 1846–1851

    Elias Howe patents a lockstitch sewing machine and Isaac Singer markets a practical one, transforming garment production. Worldwide

  4. 1856

    William Perkin discovers mauveine, the first commercially successful synthetic dye, launching a craze for vivid colors. Europe

  5. 1856–1860s

    The steel cage crinoline lets skirts reach enormous widths without layers of petticoats. Europe

  6. 1858

    Charles Frederick Worth opens his Paris house, the start of haute couture and the designer as celebrity. Europe

  7. 1872

    Meiji Japan orders Western-style dress for court and government officials as part of its modernization. East Asia

  8. 1873

    Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent copper-riveted work pants, the ancestor of blue jeans. The Americas

  9. 19th century

    Cheap British machine-made cloth floods India, devastating handloom weavers while Banarasi silks remain luxury goods. South Asia

  10. 19th century

    Imported glass beads fuel Zulu beadwork, whose colors and patterns can mark age, status, and relationships, with meanings that vary by region. Sub-Saharan Africa

19th Century clothing by region

The Americas From frontier buckskin to department store ready-to-wear, the 19th-century Americas saw clothing evolve alongside westward expansion, industrialization, and the forging of new national identities. East Asia Confronted by Western imperial pressure, East Asian nations navigated a turbulent century in which traditional dress became entangled with questions of modernization and national identity — from Meiji Japan's Western uniforms to Qing dragon robes and the Korean hanbok. Europe The Industrial Revolution transformed European dress from handcrafted aristocratic fashion into mass-produced clothing shaped by rapidly changing silhouettes and social upheaval — from Regency gowns and crinolines to the birth of the modern suit. Middle East & North Africa Ottoman Tanzimat reforms and growing European influence reshaped dress across the Middle East, turning clothing into a battleground between modernization and tradition. South Asia British colonialism disrupted centuries-old textile traditions while South Asian garments endured as powerful symbols of cultural resilience and emerging nationalism. Sub-Saharan Africa Colonial expansion and global trade introduced new textiles to Africa while indigenous dress traditions persisted, adapted, and sometimes fused with imported materials in creative ways.

Modern

1900 - Present

Synthetic fibers, ready-to-wear, and global supply chains made clothing more abundant than ever, while dress became a tool of national identity, protest, and self-expression, and fast fashion raised new questions about its cost.

  1. 1905–1921

    The Swadeshi movement boycotts British cloth, and Gandhi adopts hand-spun khadi as a symbol of Indian independence. South Asia

  2. 1920s

    Coco Chanel's jersey suits and the little black dress define a looser, more practical silhouette for women. Europe

  3. 1920s–1930s

    The qipao (cheongsam) takes shape in Shanghai as a modern, fitted dress for urban Chinese women. East Asia

  4. 1925

    The Turkish Republic's Hat Law bans the fez in favor of Western brimmed hats. Middle East & North Africa

  5. 1935–1940

    DuPont invents nylon; nylon stockings sell out on release in 1940, opening the era of synthetic fibers. Worldwide

  6. 1947

    Christian Dior's "New Look" revives full skirts and nipped waists after wartime rationing. Europe

  7. 1950s–1960s

    Blue jeans move from workwear to the uniform of youth culture. The Americas

  8. 1960s

    As African nations win independence, kente, wax prints, and the dashiki become symbols of pride across Africa and the diaspora. Sub-Saharan Africa

  9. 2013

    The Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh kills more than 1,100 workers, forcing a reckoning with fast fashion. South Asia

Modern clothing by region

The Americas The Americas gave the world blue jeans, sportswear, and streetwear — transforming casual dress from working-class necessity into a global cultural language. East Asia East Asian fashion in the modern era evolved from revolutionary uniforms and colonial-era adaptations to become a global force in streetwear and avant-garde design. Europe From the ateliers of Paris to the fast fashion chains of Stockholm, modern European clothing reshaped how the entire world dresses. Middle East & North Africa Modern Middle Eastern fashion navigates a dynamic tension between deep-rooted sartorial traditions and an increasingly globalized fashion industry, giving rise to the influential modest fashion movement. South Asia From Gandhi's deliberate embrace of homespun cloth to the global runway success of South Asian designers, modern clothing in the subcontinent weaves together politics, tradition, and reinvention. Sub-Saharan Africa From vibrant ankara prints to the global rise of African Fashion Weeks, modern Sub-Saharan African clothing has become one of the most dynamic and influential forces in contemporary fashion.

Common questions

When did humans start wearing clothes?

No garment survives from the beginning, so the date is estimated. Genetic studies of clothing lice put regular clothing use somewhere between about 83,000 and 170,000 years ago, and hide-working tools from Morocco are roughly 90,000 to 120,000 years old. Eyed needles, which made fine sewing easier, appear by about 40,000 years ago, though fitted clothing was probably already being made with awls.

What is the oldest surviving piece of clothing?

The Tarkhan Dress, a linen shirt from Egypt dated to about 3300 BCE, is the oldest known woven garment. Other early clothing survives too, including much older sandals from Fort Rock Cave in Oregon (about 8000 BCE) and the leather and fur outfit of Ötzi the Iceman, from about the same time as the dress.

When was fabric first woven?

Twisted plant fibers from Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia suggest people were making cord and probably cloth by about 30,000 years ago. Woven textiles survive from farming villages in Anatolia, such as Çatalhöyük, by about 6500 BCE. Cotton was in use in South Asia by the 6th millennium BCE, and silk in China possibly earlier.

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