The History of Clothing

Created with AI assistance and human review. How we check our sources · Corrections

History of Clothing Timeline

Key dates in the history of clothing and textiles, from the earliest evidence of clothing to synthetic fibers, across six world regions.

The earliest dates rely on indirect evidence, including clothing-lice genetics and tools associated with making garments. Later surviving garments provide a different kind of evidence. Estimated origins, dated finds, and laws should be read as different kinds of milestone.Sources: Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa; Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress; A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco.

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.

Clothing and textile history at a glance

For a quick overview, these dates mark changes in making cloth and garments. Follow the period links for regional milestones and sources.

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.

Sources: Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa; Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress; A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco; Confirmation of the world's oldest woven garment: the Tarkhan Dress.
  1. c. 83,000–170,000 years ago

    A genetic study of clothing lice estimates regular clothing use at least 83,000 and possibly 170,000 years ago. These are model-based estimates with substantial uncertainty. Clothing lice and the evidence for when clothes were invented Worldwide Sources: Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa.

  2. c. 90,000–120,000 years ago

    Bone tools for working leather and fur at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, are some of the earliest evidence of clothing production. Middle East & North Africa Sources: A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco.

  3. c. 75,000 years ago

    Perforated Nassarius shell beads at Blombos Cave, South Africa, provide evidence of early personal ornaments. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Henshilwood et al.: Middle Stone Age shell beads from South Africa (2004).

  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. Eyed needles and the evidence for early clothing Worldwide Sources: Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress.

  5. More than 30,000 years ago

    Twisted and dyed flax fibers from Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia point to early spinning of plant fiber, used for cord and string. Worldwide Sources: 30,000-year-old wild flax fibers.

  6. c. 34,000 years ago

    At Sunghir, east of Moscow, a man and two children are buried with thousands of mammoth-ivory beads that were apparently sewn onto their clothing. Sunghir burials and Ice Age clothing Europe Sources: Diversity and differential disposal of the dead at Sunghir; Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress.

  7. c. 27,500 BCE

    The Venus of Willendorf, about 29,500 years old, is carved with a coiled head that some researchers read as a woven cap, which would make it one of the earliest images of textile dress; the reading is a hypothesis. What Ice Age people wore Europe Sources: Venus of Willendorf; Stone Age statuettes don disputed apparel.

  8. c. 8000 BCE

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

  9. c. 8000 BCE

    Linen yarn and non-loom-made fabrics, including netted and twined material, survive at Nahal Hemar cave. Published calibrated radiocarbon dates place several finds around this time. Middle East & North Africa Sources: Textiles from the Chalcolithic Period, Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Southern Levant; Identification of the earliest collagen- and plant-based coatings from Neolithic artefacts (Nahal Hemar cave, Israel); open manuscript PDF.

  10. c. 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 Sources: News from Çatalhöyük; The use of local fibres for textiles at Neolithic Çatalhöyük.

  11. 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 Sources: Biomolecular Evidence of Silk from 8,500 Years Ago.

  12. 6th millennium BCE

    Mineralized cotton threads preserved inside a copper bead at Mehrgarh, Pakistan, provide evidence of cotton use in the sixth millennium BCE. South Asia Sources: The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East.

  13. c. 3900 BCE

    Pointed headgear made from lime bast, found at Horn-Hornstaad Hörnle, dates to about 3900 BCE. Europe Sources: On the Body.

  14. 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 Sources: Ötzi's clothing; A whole mitochondria analysis of the Tyrolean Iceman's leather provides insights into the animal sources of Copper Age clothing.

  15. c. 3300 BCE

    The Tarkhan Dress, a pleated linen shirt from Egypt, is made — the oldest known surviving woven garment. Middle East & North Africa Sources: Confirmation of the world's oldest woven garment: the Tarkhan Dress.

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 Explore prehistoric East Asian clothing through early silk evidence, plant-fiber textiles, bone needles, and ornaments, with a distinction between surviving objects and archaeological interpretations. 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 From the first cotton at Neolithic Mehrgarh to the Indus Valley cities, South Asia 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 In Sub-Saharan Africa, on the continent where the oldest evidence of clothing has been found, prehistoric communities left bone tools, plant fibers, and some of the earliest known beads, while the antiquity of bark cloth remains uncertain.

Ancient

3000 BCE - 500 CE

Compare Egyptian linen, cotton in South Asia, and the draped court dress and fitted riding outfits of Persia. The milestones link surviving objects and written evidence to their sources.

Sources: Linen: the plant; Items of ancient Egyptian dress; Clothing ii. In the Median and Achaemenid periods; The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East.
  1. c. 2700–2200 BCE

    Silk fragments at Qianshanyang in Zhejiang are among the early surviving silk fabrics; carbonized silk from Henan is older still. East Asia Sources: Textile Exhibition: Introduction; Remains of earliest silk fabric found in Henan.

  2. c. 2600–1900 BCE

    Indus Valley cities grow and weave cotton; the Mohenjo-daro "Priest-King" wears a trefoil-patterned robe draped over one shoulder. South Asia Sources: Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilization, Vol. I; The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East.

  3. c. 2400 BCE

    Early Mesopotamian statues, such as that of Ebih-Il from Mari, show the kaunakes, a skirt with long tufts of wool imitating sheepskin. Middle East & North Africa Sources: Kaunakes.

  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 Sources: Tracing the dynamic life story of a Bronze Age Female.

  5. 14th century BCE

    Tutankhamun’s tomb preserves hundreds of textiles and garments, including linen tunics, loincloths, and gloves. Tutankhamun's wardrobe and ancient Egyptian clothing Middle East & North Africa Sources: Royal Couture; Tutankhamun and Decorative Needlework (Egypt).

  6. Bronze Age 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 Sources: Textiles in Motion: Production, Social Identity, and Dyes.

  7. 1st millennium BCE

    Nok terracotta figures from central Nigeria model elaborate hairstyles and jewelry. Their detailed adornment is evidence for represented appearance, rather than for the fibers of surviving clothing. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Nok Terracottas (500 B.C.–200 A.D.); Professor Peter Breunig – The Significance of Nok Culture Sculptures in Nigerian Prehistory.

  8. c. 530 BCE

    Archaic Greek sculpture records the draped peplos and chiton, garments made from rectangles of wool or linen; scholars debate whether the Peplos Kore wears a true peplos, as her name implies. Europe Sources: Women's Dress in Archaic Greece: The Peplos, Chiton, and Himation; Peplos Kore (cast).

  9. c. 500 BCE

    Persepolis reliefs show the long pleated Persian court robe beside the trousered riding outfit, conventionally called Median dress but worn by Persians too. Middle East & North Africa Sources: Clothing ii. In the Median and Achaemenid periods.

  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 Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Ancient Peruvian Mantles, 300 BCE–200 CE.

  11. 215 BCE

    Rome's Lex Oppia limits how much gold women may own and bans multicolored clothing for them, one of Rome's early sumptuary laws. Europe Sources: Livy, History of Rome, book 34.1 (Canon Roberts translation).

  12. c. 168 BCE

    A Han dynasty silk gauze robe buried at Mawangdui weighs about 49 grams, evidence of extraordinary weaving skill. East Asia Sources: Hunan Provincial Department of Culture: the 49-gram gauze gown.

  13. 2nd century BCE

    Han envoy Zhang Qian’s diplomatic missions west become an important episode in the history of the routes later called the Silk Roads. Worldwide Sources: UNESCO: About the Silk Roads.

  14. 2nd century BCE–6th century CE

    The Ajanta caves preserve Buddhist paintings from several periods, including depictions of richly dressed figures and jewelry. South Asia Sources: UNESCO: Ajanta caves; Foreigners and Non-Buddhists Drink, Dance, and Play Music, from a Buddhist Stupa Site.

  15. 1st century CE

    Cotton, most of it Z-spun cloth from India, makes up 18 to 28 percent of the early Roman textiles found at Berenike, a Red Sea port of Egypt. South Asia Sources: Textile Contrasts at Berenike.

  16. c. 1st–4th centuries CE

    In the kingdom of Kush at Meroë, in present-day Sudan, cotton becomes the main clothing fiber. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Cottoning on to Cotton (Gossypium spp.) in Arabia and Africa during Antiquity.

  17. c. 50–200 CE

    A Moche warrior vessel models small squares on the figure’s tunic, an animal pelt on the back, and an elaborate headdress. The Americas Sources: Cleveland Museum of Art: Moche Warrior Vessel.

  18. 382 CE

    A law sent to the prefect of Rome lets senators in the city wear the colobium and paenula, but requires the toga when the senate meets or a case is heard before a judge. The Roman toga from Etruscan roots to late antiquity Europe Sources: Codex Theodosianus, Book 14.

Ancient clothing by region

The Americas Ancient American civilizations produced technically sophisticated textiles, from embroidered Andean mantles of cotton and camelid fiber 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 One of the earliest centers of cotton cultivation, ancient South Asia developed draped garment traditions, such as the dhoti, that have endured for thousands of years. Sub-Saharan Africa Explore evidence for dress and adornment in ancient sub-Saharan Africa: Nok sculpture, Meroitic cotton textiles, and the limits of using later barkcloth and raffia traditions.

Medieval

500 - 1500 CE

Explore Islamic inscribed textiles, East Asian court dress, and close-fitting clothing in fourteenth-century Europe. The regional guides distinguish court garments from evidence for everyday dress.

Sources: Tiraz: Inscribed Textiles from the Early Islamic Period; Middle Gothic, c. 1325–1425; Cloth of Gold: Displayed Falcons; Hanbok: traditional Korean dress.
  1. c. 547

    Mosaics in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, dedicated in 547, show Emperor Justinian in a chlamys with a tablion, a purple panel usually decorated with gold thread, and Empress Theodora in a jeweled crown and chlamys. Byzantine clothing and the Ravenna mosaics Europe Sources: Byzantine.

  2. c. 550

    According to Procopius, monks bring silkworm eggs to Constantinople for Emperor Justinian, giving the Byzantine Empire its own silk industry instead of relying on imports through Persia. Byzantine silk and court dress Europe Sources: Procopius: The Roman Silk Industry, c. 550.

  3. 618–907

    The cosmopolitan Tang dynasty adopts Central Asian fashions; court women sometimes ride in men's clothes and boots. Tang dynasty clothing: ruqun, riding dress, and silk East Asia Sources: Tang Elite Women and Hufu Clothing: Persian Garments and the Artistic Rendering of Power; Dressing as horsemen: the universalisation of steppe dress in the first half of Tang dynasty China (618-755).

  4. c. 724–743

    A plaster 'standing caliph' at the Umayyad palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar, near Jericho, wears a Sasanian-style coat with a jeweled belt, full trousers, and soft boots. Umayyad court dress Middle East & North Africa Sources: Clothing viii. In Persia from the Arab conquest to the Mongol invasion.

  5. 8th–10th centuries

    Caliphal workshops produce tiraz, textiles woven or embroidered with inscribed bands, given as robes of honor. Tiraz and Islamic Golden Age clothing Middle East & North Africa Sources: Tiraz: Inscribed Textiles from the Early Islamic Period.

  6. 794–1185

    Heian Japan's court develops women's layered formal dress, later called the jūnihitoe: colored silk robes worn in carefully chosen combinations. Heian period clothing and the jūnihitoe East Asia Sources: Heian Period (794–1185); Kimono Combinations: The Seasons in Layers of Silk.

  7. 847–861

    The caliph al-Mutawakkil orders Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians to wear yellow head cloths (taylasans) and the zunnar belt to distinguish them from Muslims. Dress rules for non-Muslims in the Abbasid caliphate Middle East & North Africa Sources: Abbasid Clothing and Fashion; Jewish Identification: Jewish Badge.

  8. 9th–13th centuries

    Chola bronzes from southern India record draped dress, pleated lower garments, and elaborate jewelry. Chola dynasty clothing and jewelry Sources: South Indian Bronzes; Shiva and Parvati.

  9. 922

    The Arab diplomat Ibn Fadlan meets Rus' traders on the Volga and describes their jewelry and the clothing of a chieftain's funeral. Viking clothing and what the graves reveal Europe Sources: Ibn Faḍlān and the Rūsiyyah.

  10. c. 1070s

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

  11. 11th century onward

    Woven textiles from the Tellem burial caves of Mali's Bandiagara cliffs, some assembled from woven bands, are among the oldest surviving textiles from West Africa. Mali Empire and medieval West African clothing Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Northwestern University: Tellem woven blanket and cave textiles.

  12. 13th century

    Surviving Central Asian cloth of gold combines silk and gold thread; Mongol emperors gave gold-woven ceremonial robes to members of their courts. Middle East & North Africa Sources: Cloth of Gold: Displayed Falcons.

  13. early 13th century

    An Ancestral Puebloan blanket from southeastern Utah was made with more than 11,000 turkey feathers woven into almost 200 yards of yucca cord. The Americas Sources: Washington State University: analysis of the feather blanket.

  14. c. 1340s

    Close-fitting garments such as the cotehardie become prominent in Western European fashion. Historians describe a change in silhouette, rather than a single moment when clothing became fashionable. Europe Sources: Middle Gothic, c. 1325–1425; doublet.

  15. 1352–1353

    Ibn Battuta visits the court of Mali and describes the sultan's red tunic of imported cloth and golden skullcap, and townspeople's clean white clothes for Friday prayer. Mali Empire and medieval West African clothing Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354.

  16. 1363

    England's Statute concerning Diet and Apparel sets out the fabrics and furs each social rank may wear. Europe Sources: The 1363 English Sumptuary Law: A Comparison with Fabric Prices of the Late Fourteenth Century.

  17. c. 1400–1532

    Inca workshops make fine tapestry cloth called qompi (also spelled cumbi). Elite tunics bear geometric designs, including tocapu squares. Inca clothing and royal tocapu tunics The Americas Sources: All-T'oqapu Tunic; Tunic (1957.136); Inca Textiles.

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. East Asia What people wore in medieval China, Japan, and Korea — Tang and Song silks, Mongol cloth of gold, Heian court robes and samurai dress, Goryeo hanbok, and the color-by-rank rules that governed them. 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 — from Abbasid Baghdad and Fatimid Cairo to Seljuq and Mongol Persia — with luxurious tiraz textiles, robes of honor, silk and cotton, and the dress laws that marked rank and religion. South Asia Medieval South Asia's unbroken tradition of draped garments, masterful cotton and silk weaving, and richly dyed textiles made the subcontinent one of the medieval world's most celebrated sources 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

Explore traded textiles and court dress in the Ottoman and Mughal worlds. The entries also cover eighteenth-century innovations in spinning and weaving.

Sources: V&A: Indian textiles and international trade; Fashion and Empire in Early Modern South Asia, c. 1500–1800; Garments of the Ottoman Sultans.
  1. 1526 onward

    The Mughal court popularizes the jama, a long robe tied at the side, and fine muslins from Bengal. Mughal clothing and court dress South Asia Sources: Fashion and Empire in Early Modern South Asia, c. 1500–1800; The Emperor's New Clothes: Fashion, Politics, and Identity in Mughal South Asia.

  2. c. 1541

    The Codex Mendoza records Aztec tribute, including 1,600 richly decorated capes every six months from the single province of Tochtepec. Aztec clothing and tribute cloth The Americas Sources: MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1 (Codex Mendoza); Codex Mendoza, Folio 46 recto.

  3. c. 1560s–1620s

    Starched linen and lace ruffs reach their most extravagant size, costly symbols of wealth that could use eighteen to nineteen yards of fine linen. Europe Sources: 1580–1589.

  4. 16th century

    Ottoman sultans wear sumptuous silk kaftans; many survive in the Topkapı Palace collection in Istanbul. Ottoman court kaftans Middle East & North Africa Sources: Garments of the Ottoman Sultans; Kaftan, 2003.416a–e.

  5. 16th–17th centuries

    Benin bronze plaques record court regalia, including coral-bead garments whose use the oba strictly controlled. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: The Oba: Leopard of the House (Ekpen N'Owa).

  6. 1645

    The new Qing dynasty orders Han Chinese men to adopt the Manchu queue hairstyle and Manchu-style dress. East Asia Sources: A Question of Hairdos and Fashion.

  7. late 17th century

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

  8. 17th–18th centuries

    Asante and Ewe weavers in present-day Ghana and Togo develop kente, strip-woven silk and cotton cloth; some designs are reserved for royalty and the elite. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Kente textile; Kenten (kente cloth), HC.1999.280.

  9. 1721

    A British Act restricts the wearing of various cotton cloths in an effort to protect woollen manufacturing. Europe Sources: UK Parliament: protecting wool and the 1721 cotton restrictions.

  10. 1733–1769

    John Kay’s flying shuttle patent (1733) and Arkwright’s prototype spinning machine (1769) mark innovations in weaving and spinning. Worldwide Sources: Science Museum Group: flying shuttle patent, 1733; Science Museum Group: Arkwright’s prototype, 1769.

  11. 18th century

    Casta paintings in New Spain depict clothing alongside colonial racial classifications, showing differences in garments and textiles. The Americas Sources: LACMA: clothing in eighteenth-century Mexican paintings.

  12. 1793–1794

    Eli Whitney develops his short-staple cotton gin and receives a patent in 1794. Its spread increases demand for plantation land and enslaved labor. The Americas Sources: National Archives: Whitney’s cotton gin and slavery.

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 elaborate wigs of Versailles, early modern European fashion became an extravagant theater of power, status, and national identity. Middle East & North Africa The rival Ottoman and Safavid empires dressed their courts in silk kaftans and robes, elaborate turbans, and richly patterned silks woven in royal workshops. South Asia Under Mughal rule, South Asia became one of the world's great textile centers, producing muslins so fine they were called 'woven air' and embroideries that dazzled the Mughal court. Sub-Saharan Africa From the silk 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

Follow innovations in weaving and dyes alongside dress reforms, including Western-style court clothing in Japan. Individual entries identify dates and the evidence behind them.

Sources: Mauve mania; Joseph Marie Jacquard; Section 2: Fashion.
  1. 1804

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

  2. 1829

    Mahmud II’s clothing reform requires civil officials of every rank to wear the plain fez, replacing earlier distinctions in turban styles. Ottoman clothing from kaftans to the stambouline Middle East & North Africa Sources: The Fez and the Ottoman Path to Modernity.

  3. 1846–1851

    Elias Howe patents a lockstitch sewing machine and Isaac Singer markets a practical one, transforming garment production. Worldwide Sources: Sept. 10, 1846: The Sewing Machine Patent War; Isaac M. Singer.

  4. 1856

    William Perkin discovers mauveine, the first commercially successful synthetic dye, launching a craze for vivid colors. Europe Sources: Science History Institute: William Henry Perkin.

  5. 1856–1860s

    The steel cage crinoline lets skirts reach enormous widths without layers of petticoats. Europe Sources: 15 August 1862: The Rise and Fall of the Cage Crinoline.

  6. 1858

    Charles Frederick Worth opens his firm with a partner in Paris. His later success helps establish the couture system; he was not its only pioneer. Europe Sources: Metropolitan Museum of Art: Charles Frederick Worth.

  7. 1860s

    In Bengal, Jnanadanandini Devi, who is credited with the nivi drape, lengthens the sari; she also adopts the blouse and petticoat under Parsi influence. The blouse, petticoat, and nivi drape in the history of the sari South Asia Sources: How Jnanadanandini Devi taught Bengali working women to wear the Sari; No. 83 Nivi Drape - West Bengal, India.

  8. 1872

    Meiji Japan orders Western-style dress for court and government officials as part of its modernization. East Asia Sources: Section 2: Fashion.

  9. 1873

    Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent copper-riveted work pants, the ancestor of blue jeans. American frontier clothing The Americas Sources: Jacob Davis: His Life and Contributions.

  10. 19th century

    Cheap British machine-made cloth floods the Indian market, putting heavy pressure on handloom weavers, while Banarasi silks remain prized luxury goods. South Asia Sources: Made in India: Indian Textiles, Global Markets; Banarasi Sarees and Textiles.

  11. 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 Sources: Beadwork from Southern Africa; Zulu Love Letter.

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 Explore nineteenth-century European clothing through Regency gowns, crinolines, bustles, tailored menswear, working dress, and the changes in textile production and retailing. Middle East & North Africa Ottoman dress reforms, from Mahmud II's fez to the Tanzimat era, and growing European influence reshaped official and elite dress in the Middle East, while everyday clothing kept much of its traditional character. 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

Explore synthetic fibers, denim, and clothing associated with national identity. Regional guides connect these developments with the garments and people involved.

Sources: Denim: Fashion's Frontier; Factory-printed cloth (Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah); Dashiki; American Chemical Society: nylon.
  1. 1905–1921

    The Swadeshi movement boycotts British cloth, and Gandhi adopts hand-spun khadi as a symbol of Indian independence. South Asia Sources: The Spinning Wheel of Democracy; Appeal to the Women of India, August 11, 1921.

  2. 1920s

    Chanel’s use of jersey and menswear-inspired tweed offers women practical, streamlined alternatives to more elaborate dress. Europe Sources: Victoria and Albert Museum: Chanel’s practical designs.

  3. 1920s–1930s

    The qipao (cheongsam) takes shape in Shanghai as a modern, fitted dress for urban Chinese women. Qipao history from Manchu robe to modern cheongsam East Asia Sources: "Qipao" of different eras on display at Museum of History; NG qipao banner gown with Bill Hammond print, 2004.

  4. 1925

    The Turkish Republic's Hat Law bans the fez in favor of Western brimmed hats. Middle East & North Africa Sources: The Fez and the Ottoman Path to Modernity.

  5. 1940

    Japan's National Uniform Ordinance creates the kokuminfuku, a khaki national uniform for men meant to bring civilian and military dress closer together. East Asia Sources: Topics: A Window into the Early Showa Period; 国民服 (Kokuminfuku).

  6. 1935–1940

    DuPont develops nylon, the first fully synthetic textile fiber; nylon stockings go on nationwide sale in the United States in 1940. Worldwide Sources: American Chemical Society: Carothers and nylon.

  7. 1947

    Dior introduces the New Look, featuring full skirts and cinched waists. Europe Sources: Victoria and Albert Museum: Dior’s New Look in 1947.

  8. 1950s–1960s

    Blue jeans become associated with youthful rebellion and later enter designer fashion. The Americas Sources: Denim: Fashion's Frontier.

  9. 1950s–1960s

    Printed cloth commemorates African political leaders, while dashiki shirts become associated with Black pride in the United States. Sub-Saharan Africa Sources: Factory-printed cloth (Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah); Dashiki.

  10. 2013

    The Rana Plaza building collapses in Bangladesh on 24 April, killing more than 1,100 people, many of them garment workers. South Asia Sources: International Labour Organization: Rana Plaza.

Modern clothing by region

The Americas Explore clothing in the Americas since 1900 through blue jeans, American sportswear, hip-hop style, and examples of contemporary dress in Latin America. East Asia East Asian fashion in the modern era evolved from revolutionary uniforms and the modern qipao to become a global force in streetwear and avant-garde design. Europe From the ateliers of Paris to the fast fashion chains of Spain and Sweden, 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?

The date is estimated from indirect evidence. A clothing-lice study reported regular clothing use at least 83,000 and possibly 170,000 years ago; those figures are model estimates with substantial uncertainty, rather than the boundaries of a firmly dated interval. Bone tools associated with working hides and fur in Morocco date to roughly 90,000–120,000 years ago. Eyed needles appear by about 40,000 years ago, while fitted clothing may have been made earlier with awls. See When were clothes invented? for the distinctions between these kinds of evidence.Sources: Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa; Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress; A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco.

What is the oldest surviving piece of clothing?

The Tarkhan Dress, a linen garment from Egypt dated to about 3300 BCE, is described by its researchers as the oldest surviving woven garment. Older footwear also survives, including Fort Rock-style plant-fiber sandals from Oregon. Ötzi's hide and fur clothing provides another early surviving outfit.Sources: Confirmation of the world's oldest woven garment: the Tarkhan Dress; Fort Rock Sandals; Ötzi's clothing.

When was fabric first woven?

Twisted and colored flax fibers from Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia date to more than 30,000 years ago. These finds are fibers, rather than a surviving woven garment. Woven textiles from Çatalhöyük in Anatolia date to the middle of the seventh millennium BCE; later analysis identifies oak bast among the fibers. Such finds establish that weaving existed by those dates, rather than identifying its invention.Sources: 30,000-year-old wild flax fibers; News from Çatalhöyük; The use of local fibres for textiles at Neolithic Çatalhöyük.

Milestone sources

Source links appear beside each milestone. This list collects those references; the common questions above have their own source links.