How to Dress Like an Ancient Egyptian

Co-authored by Bia Rehman

Last Updated: March 16, 2023 References

Ancient Egyptians are remembered not only for their rich history, but for their beautiful and ornate fashion. Egyptian style represents both practicality and indulgence, so to properly dress as an ancient Egyptian, one needs to combine a bit simplicity, symbolism, history and amazing jewelry to make it work.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Wearing Egyptian-Style Clothing and Headpieces

1
Wear a tunic. Solid white linen tunics were a very common garment worn by both Egyptian men and Egyptian women for everyday wear. You can find the tunics at costume shops, medieval collectible shops, Amazon, and eBay.
- Men: your tunic should fall right below the knee. The sleeves should be ¼ to ¾ length and somewhat loose.^{[1]
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- Women: your tunic should be fitted and extend down to your ankles; the sleeves are optional.
- Keep it simple. Many of today’s tunic’s come in a variety of colors and styles. However, in ancient Egypt, tunics were almost exclusively white.^{[2]
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2
Wear a loincloth if you are male. Male Egyptian laborers mainly wore linen loincloths or skirts that were tied at the waist while the rest of the material was drawn between the legs to cover the groin area and buttocks.^{[3]
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- Men who wear loincloths should ideally be shirtless. The only other items typically worn with loincloths are jewelry, adorned collars, headpieces and sandals.
- This is an alternative to the tunic. Don't combine it with the tunic.
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3
Buy a headdress based on your gender and historical representation. Egyptians wore headpieces made of fabrics, gems, jewelry and gold for both class status and practical reasons. They are often the most extravagant and recognizable part of the ensemble. Without them, it can be difficult to distinguish Egyptian clothing from that of Rome or Greece. You can buy them at costume shops and online retailers.
- Research your headdress and character before making any purchases. Each style represented a different status, divinity, and era.^{[4]
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Wear strappy brown or tan sandals. Ancient Egyptian footwear was created using leather hide and papyrus as straps to secure the hide to the soles of the feet. To replicate the look, sandals should be made from leather with flat soles and the majority of the foot should be exposed.^{[5]
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- Gladiator-style, t-strap or goddess sandals will complement the look well.
5
Go barefoot as an alternative. Many ancient Egyptians who were of the lower classes went barefoot throughout their entire lives. Depending on the environment, you can pull off an even more authentic look by not wearing shoes at all.^{[6]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Adorning the Body with Jewelry

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Wear an abundance of jewelry. This should include, earrings, wrist cuffs, bracelets, armbands, anklets and rings. Gold pieces will work the best, because there was an abundance of it in ancient Egypt. Copper may work as well.^{[7]
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- Don’t forget to add gems or stones, such as turquoise, emeralds, obsidian, onyx, and rock crystal. Pearls were also common as they were native to Egypt.^{[8]
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- Avoid wearing silver, as it was not available in ancient Egypt.^{[9]
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Wear amulets and charms. Ancient Egyptians often wore these items for either protection or power. Amulets contained carved images of animals, gods, solar deities, other humans and a variety of other figures.^{[10]
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- One of the most popular symbols was the ankh, which looks like a T with a loop on top.
3
Wear a wide collar necklace. One of the most recognizable aspects of ancient Egyptian wear is the adornment of sewn together beads, stones and metals which draped over the shoulders, collarbone and upper back. You can find them at many artifact and antique stores or can be handmade with customized amulets and charms.^{[11]
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- Collars made from precious metals and stones were reserved for the upper classes and royalty.
- Collars made from shells, wood and bone were often made by the lower or working classes.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Applying Egyptian-Style Makeup

1
Bronze up your face and neck. Use bronzer or apply a gold, shimmery foundation to the skin. Try using shades of copper and brown blushes to highlight the cheekbones.^{[12]
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- Use a foundation brush to start applying foundation to the center of the face and blend outward.^{[13]
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- Apply brown, deep red, nude or gold tinted lipstick.
2
Contour the eye using eyeliner. Using jet black liquid eyeliner or eyeliner pencil start in the corner of the upper eyelids (near the bridge of the nose) and apply eyeliner right along the edge of each eyelid.
- Extend the eyeliner past the outer corner of your eye lid by about ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm).^{[14]
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- Apply eyeliner to the bottom eyelid. Start at the bottom corner, directly above the eyelashes, and draw to the outer corner of the eye.
3
Fill in the eyelids with eyeshadow. Use a small makeup brush and apply a liberal amount of eye shadow on the entire upper eyelid, brushing from the inner corner of the eyelid to the outer corner. Extend the eyeshadow to cover the top of the wingtip you’ve created.^{[15]
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- Add a smaller amount of eyeshadow directly underneath the bottom eyelashes and extend to cover the bottom of the wingtip you’ve created.
- Add a lighter shade of eyeshadow right underneath the brow line for a more dramatic effect.
- Use shimmery blue, emerald green or gold eyeshadow to dab the upper and lower eyelids.
4
Apply jet black, ultra-lash mascara. Liberally apply mascara to the upper and lower eyelashes to lengthen them and darken the eyes. Use the brush to pull and extend the eyelashes.
- Even if this is just for a costume party, go for high-quality mascara. To protect your lovely eyes, avoid brands with synthetic dyes (like "FD&C" or "D&C"), which may be toxic. Also steer clear of the ingredient "WG," which has mercury. Instead, try an organic mascara.
5
Darken the eyebrows with eyebrow pencil. Start from the inner corner of the eyebrow and fill in the eyebrows with black or dark brown eyebrow pencil all the way to the outer corner. Try to ensure that the eyebrows appear smooth and even all the way across.

Community Q&A

Question

My teacher said they didn't have eyeshadow back then.

Community Answer

They didn't have commercially produced eyeshadow like we do now, but they did use natural sources like plants and minerals to create pigments to use as makeup. Green pigment made from malachite was widely used as eyeshadow.
Question

What if I don't have all this stuff?

Community Answer

You can make a lot of it yourself. The best place to start is in your own closet! See what you have that is white and gold. Thrift stores, dollar stores, and yard sales are good places to find jewelry. Look for anything gold in color, or large and triangular (pyramid shaped). You can also use poster board to make large cuff bracelets by painting or using crayons to draw designs. Glue on plastic "jewels" (if using crayons, the jewels won't stick very well to the crayon parts because of the wax). Make details with a black marker as seen in the illustrations. You can tape them closed once on your wrist. For the dress, you can use a large, oversized t-shirt with a belt at the waist.
Question

Is there and easy way to do this as a project for school? Any tips?

Community Answer

To do this as a school art project is a great idea! You'll need fabric scraps, poster board, plastic jewels, and lots of gold-colored items for the jewelry and head dresses. For the costumes themselves, an economic way would be to use oversized white t-shirts cinched at the waist with belts. They can even be worn over pants or skirts.