HOW CLOTHING EVOLVES

All humans live in certain time dimensions. Because of this, the

whole aspects of life are connected to time. Every day the sun rises and
sets, seasons come and change, and so does the time. God created Adam
and Eve with nothing to wear, but as the story went on and the time rolled
by, people created something to protect their bodies from heat, cold, rain,
and animals. It is called clothes. Materials for making clothes are called
clothing.
Clothing varies from time to time as humans always try to improve
life quality. The development of clothing and textile manufactures has
been the subject of a number of scholarly studies since the late 20th
century. Recent scientific research estimates that humans have been
wearing clothing since 500000 years ago.
The first clothing ever made included leaves, coconut shells, gourds,
ramie, and animal skin. Those raw materials were simply processed and
tied to the body, mainly for covering genitals. Leaves and ramie were
usually dried and attached, coconut shells were usually used to cover
womens breasts, meanwhile gourds were dried and used to cover mens
genital and its usually called koteka. They were usually used by people in
tropical regions. People in cold area used to skin animals, such as
buffaloes, cows, or goats, then sewed and wore them. These clothing was
no longer used because they could be easily alighted by body louse and
caused itch. In fact, some primitive tribes still use these raw clothing, like
in Papua or Africa. The government had been trying to introduce modern
clothes to them since mid 70s, but their lack of knowledge made this
programme unsuccessful and finally stopped.
Then, people tried to use plants fibres to make clothes. The most
common fibres are flax, linen, and hemp, but the oldest and the most
popular one is flax fibres, which has been used since 36000 B.C. It was
mainly cultivated in ancient Egypt and Ethiopia. Flax is used by humans
for a long time because it is soft, lustrous, and flexible. When it came to

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compete with cotton, flax won for cheaper price. The invention of flax
mills for spinning flaxen yarn by John Kendrew and Thomas Porthouse of
Darlington in 1787 has led to renewed interest in using flax as industrial
fibre. But, later the usage of flax for clothes deteriorated because people
preferred cotton to flax. Besides, flax could easily become dirty and
wearing flaxen clothes was way hotter, so it was more convenient to use
cotton.
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fibre that grows in a ball, or protective
capsule around the seeds of cotton plants. It is a shrub native to tropical
and subtropical regions, including America, Africa, and India. The first
cotton fabrics were discovered in Indus Valley, an area between Pakistan
and India, dated to around 7000 B.C. Then, it would spread from India to
Mediterranean and all over the world, although Mexicans also cultivated
cotton since 5800 B.C. Cotton fibre is often spun into yarn or thread and
used to make a soft, breathable textile. The industrial revolution in Britain
provided a great boost to cotton manufacture, especially when Lewis Paul
and John Wyatt of Birmingham first patented cotton roller spinning
machine in 1738. It becomes the most widely used natural-fibre cloth in
clothing today as it is not only soft, but strong, flexible, comfortable, and
for its reachable price. However, cotton clothing cannot warm bodies
especially in cold regions.
In the other side of the world, people from cold regions created wool
and fur clothing to protect their bodies from freezing temperature. The
term wool is usually restricted to fibrous protein derived from the
specialized skin cells called follicles in sheep, though it can be obtained
from certain other animals. Archaeological evidence proved that selection
for woolly sheep may have begun around 6000 B.C. Prior to invention of
shears-probably in Iron Age- the wool was plucked out by hand or by
bronze combs. Wool spread from Europe to other parts of the world,
especially as the main export commodity from England. Due to the
collapse of wool price in 1966, the production of wool began to decrease
and replaced by other more-profitable synthetic fabric. But, genuine wool
still holds high price to this day. Meanwhile, fur clothing was first

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developed in Russia, in the Early Middle Ages (500-1000 A.D.). Fur is still
worn in the most mild and cold climates due to its superior warmth and
durability. It is also associated with glamour and lavish spending, although
a number of consumers and designers reject fur due to moral beliefs and
perceived cruelty to animals.
The other well-known clothing is silk, which is obtained from the
cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in
captivity. Silks are produced by several other insects, but only the silk of
moth caterpillars has been used for textile manufacturing. The first
development of silk fabric began in ancient China as early as 3500 B.C. It
was first used in Empress Leizu era for their own use and as gifts to
others. Silk became famous for its super smoothness and lustrous quality,
especially after Marco Polos journey to Asia and his descriptions about
Silk Road, the trading route for silk from Asia to Mediterranean and vice
versa. But, its expensive price made it only reachable by people from
middle-class or above.
Humans need warmth, but wearing wool or fur clothing is heavy, so
they created leather clothing. In recorded history, pieces of leather dating
from 1300 B.C. have been found in Egypt. Primitive societies in Europe,
Asia, and North America then developed the technique of turning skins
into leather goods. Men then discovered methods of preserving and
softening leather goods with smoke, grease, and bark extracts. This made
leather goods beautiful and interesting, but expensive as well. Its also
against animal preserving, so people would alternate to use artificial
leather, which is far cheaper.
In the late 19th century, people began to use denim fabrics coloured
with indigo dye to make blue jeans. It was first made as trousers for
sailors and workers. Then, because of its durability, fit feelings, and
interesting style, jeans became very popular and until today it becomes
fashion standard for all generations.
The evolution of textile also noted the usage of biological science to
produce synthetic fibres, like polyester, nylon, rayon, or spandex.
Scientists imitated the formation of cellulose cells fibres and copied it to

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clothing. Synthetic fibres are usually made for special purposes. For
example, nylon is for stockings or parachutes, and spandex is for athletes
costumes. These fibres are also made as replacement for expensive
genuine textile, like silk.
Artificial leather also needed chemicals hand in its manufacturing.
After all, clothing changes as time changes. It spans from raw
materials, flax, cotton, wool, silk, fur, leather, denim/jeans, to synthetic
fibres, they all follow humans diversity in needs and technology
development. Who knows what clothing will be popular in the next
hundred years? Only time can answer it.

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