The Girls' Book of Famous QueensFarmer, Lydia Hoyt
History
The Girls' Book of Famous Queens
Farmer, Lydia Hoyt
Queens -- Biography -- Juvenile literature
Great attention was paid by ladies and men of rank to the beauty of
their sandals, which were sometimes richly ornamented. Shoes were also
common in Egypt, many of them having been found at Thebes. But they
are supposed to have been of late date, and belonged to the Greeks.
The dresses of the women consisted of a loose robe or shirt, reaching
to the ankles, fastened round the neck with a string, over which they
wore a petticoat, secured at the waist by a girdle. This petticoat or
gown, among ladies of rank, was made of richly colored stuff in a great
variety of patterns. The most elegant of these figured materials were
reserved for the robes of the deities and queens. Slaves and servants
were not allowed to wear the same costumes as ladies, and their mode of
dressing the hair was also different.
Egyptian ladies seem to have been given to the little tricks and
arts of the toilet as well as more modern beauties. Of the various
articles of the toilet found among the ancient remains, the principal
are bottles, or vases, for holding ointment, and the _kohl_, or paint
for the eyes; also mirrors, combs, and small boxes, spoons, and
saucers. The custom of anointing the body is usual in hot climates, and
contributes greatly to comfort. Their chief care was bestowed upon the
anointing of the hair. The Egyptian combs were usually of wood, and
double, and frequently carved and ornamented. The custom of staining
the eyelids and brows with a moistened powder of a black color was of
the most ancient date. It was thought to increase the beauty of the
appearance of the eye, by making it seem larger by this external black
ring around it. Many of these _kohl_-bottles have been found in the
tombs, together with the bodkin employed in applying the black cosmetic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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