Bible Fashion

Bible Fashion
by Monica

Clothing
Most clothing in biblical times were made from natural products such as sheep’s wool, goat hair and flax plant (which was used to make linen). Today we identify expensive clothes by designer labels or the type of material. In biblical times you could identify expensive clothing by the brightness of the colour of the clothes. People who did not have much money wore pale colours and simple designs. The wealthy wore deep purples and blues and fancy patterns with bright colours.

When people were feeling down or sorry for their sins they wore “sack cloth” which was scratchy and made from goat’s hair. It was normally used to make bags.

Jewelry
Even in biblical times there were jewelry designers. The jewelry was made of precious stones and gold.

The women wore earrings which were usually gold hoops and sometimes had stones hanging from them. The wealthy wore bracelets of gold and precious metals. The poorer people’s bracelets were made of common metals or cords. The women wore rings on their fingers and toes. Nose rings were worn made of ivory, gold, silver and may have jewels on them as well. The women liked to wear anklets that had stones on them so it made a “tinkling” sound when they walked.

Cosmetics
They did have cosmetics in ancient times. Henna was popular to stain skin and colour hair. Perfumes were used of frankincense, myrrh and aloes. Crushed berries were used to colour the women’s cheeks.

It doesn’t matter whether it was biblical times or modern days, women had - and still have -
a passion for fashion…

Information sources for this article:
Tyndale (2006),Girl’s New Life Application Study Bible; kriswrite-ga, October 29, 2002. Re: Biblical Times—Old Testament—Jewish Culture. Retrieved from http://local.google.com/answers/threadview?id=92499