Though we find Egyptian costume in many instances decorated all over with woven or printed patterns, decoration in the main was confined to accessories such as the head-dress, collar, and girdle, these being often painted, embroidered, beaded, or jewelled. See various examples given. The colouring which was usually, though not invariably, confined to the decorations consisted of simple schemes, variations of the hues of red, blue, green, yellow, and deep purple described on p. 66. MATERIAL The material used in the costumes was chiefly linen. In the most ancient types it was of a fairly thick, coarse weave; but in the later examples a fine thin linen, loosely woven so as to appear almost transparent, was used. The linen has often a stiffened appearance, and also gives the idea of having been goffered or pleated. DATES The earliest types of costume were the tunics; midway come the robes and skirts, and the draped or shawl type of costume appears the latest. However, the older types of costume did not disappear as the new ones were introduced, but all continued to be worn contemporaneously. The dates of most of the costumes in this volume are given with their description, and have been verified at the British Museum. MEN AND WOMEN: THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR DRESS It can easily be gathered from the illustrations that the types of costume worn by both sexes were very similar. The high waist-line prevails in feminine dress, while the male costume, if girded, was generally confined about the hips. _Egyptian Works of Reference._ Prisse d’Avennes, “L’Art Egyptiens”; Leeman, “Aegyptiche Monumente”; Rossellini, “Monumenti Egitto”; Hottenroth, “Le Costume”; Racinet, “Le Costume Historique”; Sir J. G. Wilkinson, “Ancient Egyptians”; British Museum Handbooks and Reproductions. These reproductions have lately been augmented and for those who cannot visit the Museum will be found most useful. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN COSTUME PLATE I. Plate I., which dates 700 B.C., is an exact copy of an Egyptian drawing. It will be noticed that the Egyptian method of representing the figure is a peculiar one. A modern representation of the same type of dress is shown in Fig. 2, and the plan of cutting in Fig. 2A It should be noted that this plan--namely, a tunic with braces--is in some instances shown with the braces buttoned on each shoulder at the narrowest part. This illustration is given as a type of Egyptian dress decoration, which would be either printed, painted, or embroidered on the garment. It might be considered that this type of dress more nearly approaches the skirt than the tunic; but reaching, as it does, to the breast-line, and comparing various examples which, as it were, gradually merge into the sleeveless tunic which again merges into the tunic with short sleeves, the present classification will be found to be the most convenient. [Illustration: PLATE I _M.G.H. del._ _F.S.H. pinx._ A GODDESS] PLATE II.