ANCIENT PERSIAN COSTUME GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ANCIENT PERSIAN COSTUME ALSO INCLUDING TWO EXAMPLES FROM CAPTIVE NATIONS CUTTING OUT The garments illustrated in this style are of four types; of these, three have already appeared in the two previous styles--namely, the type of the _tunic_, the type of the _robe_, and the type of the _shawl_ or drapery. In ancient Persian costume we come for the first time to type five: the _coat_. We may refer here also for the first time to the wearing of trousers, for these are usually shown worn with the coats in ancient Persian costume, and a diagram is given on p. 86 showing one of the earliest known methods of cutting these garments. DECORATION Ancient Persian decoration was so exceedingly similar to ancient Assyrian that it does not seem necessary to illustrate it. We do not find, however, that ancient Persian garments were ornamented to anything like the same extent as ancient Assyrian; the frequent fringes of the ancient Assyrian costumes were not nearly so lavishly employed in the ancient Persian style. MATERIAL Linen and wool were most probably the chief materials used in ancient Persian costume, but there are indications that leather may have been rather extensively employed in the more tight-fitting garments. It must not be taken that either in Assyrian or ancient Persian dress the garments fitted as smoothly and tightly as might be imagined from the sculptured and painted representations; it is true folds are sometimes indicated, but the chief concern of the artists of both styles was to show the human figure and richly decorative ornament. DATES The illustrations here given of ancient Persian costumes date about the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. with two of neighbouring nations dating eighth century B.C. and sixth and fifth centuries B.C. respectively. MEN AND WOMEN: THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR DRESS There is not sufficient information to form a definite picture of the women’s dress of this period and style; most probably it was a simple tunic and shawl like that worn in Assyria, but an interesting fact is that we have a representation of the Queen of a Persian King who reigned in the fifth century A.D. who is wearing trousers, which, it will be remembered, are worn by Persian women of the present day. In this connection it may be noted that the history of costume, as developed through the use of woven materials, presents a much more simple aspect than the history of those styles bearing evidences of having been first cut from leather. A moment’s reflection will make it clear that in the case of woven stuffs the most economical system of cutting, and indeed the most obvious, for the primitive dress fashioner, was based on the rectangle. On the other hand, the fashioner of leather garments would naturally try to fit the human body with, as it were, a second skin, hence trousers and tight-fitting jackets may appear in very early civilizations.