theolduvaigorge:

Who invented clothes? A Palaeolithic archaeologist answers

Hadley Freeman’s answer to the question was chiffon-flimsy, so here’s the lab-coat response

• by Rebecca Wragg-Sykes

““Who invented clothes?” It’s one of those brilliant questions that children ask, before they learn that the big things we wonder about rarely have simple answers. It’s the kind of thing that archaeologists like me get put on the spot about when chatting to kids, and we love to have a crack at answering.

Saturday’s “Ask a grown up” section featured just that question, from eight-year old Harriet, with an answer by Hadley Freeman, fashionexpert and fantastic writer. Hadley’s response was, as usual, entertainingly breezy, with some refreshing encouragement to Harriet to experiment in developing her own style; but, like a fine chiffon, it was a little flimsy in substance.

I’m proud to be involved with ScienceGrrl, which aims to show girls that science is for everyone by providing diverse role models, andTrowelBlazers, a new project that is all about bringing to the fore the achievements of pioneering women archaeologists, geologists and palaeontologists. So I was kind of disappointed that a girl asking a genuine question about archaeology ended up with the barest of facts, as well as being told, even if it was meant lightheartedly, that the grown-up answering her question would rather she pay attention to what she looks like.

Hadley knows today’s fashion world inside out and might not care much about pre-silk times, but I’ll bet that Harriet wanted to find out more than what the Flintstones wear.

It’s this kind of response that can, in aggregate, have a negative impact on children: being mentally curious ends up as something deeply uncool and not relevant to modern life. I’m not advocating force-feeding facts Vulcan-style when talking to young people – far from it. They like to be challenged and humour is a great way to do this. But I do think we should take every chance we get to pass on the incredible stuff that we’ve found out about our world thanks to science – including archaeology – and keep on showing girls that using their brains by asking big questions is, actually, absolutely fabulous.

So for Harriet, if you’re reading: there’s a whole lot we know about the invention of clothing. Many TV reconstructions and book illustrations of stone age (Palaeolithic) people really don’t do them justice. People were already making finely worked bone needles 20,000 years ago, probably for embroidery as much as sewing animal skins, like the thousands of ivory beads and fox teeth that covered the bodies of a girl and a boy buried at Sunghir, Russia, around 28,000 years ago. This was some serious bling, representing years of accumulated work.

And – caveman stereotypes aside – stone age clothes weren’t just animal skins. We’ve known since the 1990s that people were weaving fabric back then, revealed by impressions in baked clay from the sites of Pavlov and Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic. We don’t actually know for sure that these were used for clothes, but the materials weren’t heavy duty, and the variety in weaving styles suggests a long tradition. And at Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia, 30,000 year old spun plant fibres were found which had been dyed: pink, black and turquoise blue!

But what about the really old stuff (because 30,000 years ago isn’t really old in human evolution)? As Harriet asks, who were the first fashionistas? People are still debating what, if anything, our close relatives the Neanderthals were wearing” (read more).

• Becky Wragg Sykes (@LeMoustier) is a postdoctoral researcher working on Neanderthal archaeology. She blogs atwww.therocksremain.org and is part of the TrowelBlazers team (@trowelblazers)

(Source: Guardian; bottom image: Antropark)

Zuhair Murad Spring 2013 Couture

(Source: lilysaldrins, via pleiadic)

tawnyscostumesandcuriosities:

A magnificent silk gown from 1869-1870 at the V Museum. This is from the transformation period between the hoop and the early bustle.

(via fuckyeahvictorians)

stuffmomnevertoldyou:

knphoto:

ASIAN AMERICAN DISNEY PRINCESSES:
by Kim (annakimskywalker) & Donnie (donniekompany)
11x17 inkjet prints

Most of us grew up watching Disney classics featuring the beautiful Disney princesses we all know and love. Disney was and continues to be a staple in the lives of many children. However, despite how much we admired these princesses, it was difficult relating to them because they didn’t physically represent us. Take a look at any Disney princess product and you will see the preference towards the White princesses, white washing of princesses of color (skin color, facial features, etc), and the shoving of these princesses to the side.

In the 76 years since Snow White was released, there have been 12 (soon to be 13) Disney princesses, only 5 of whom are women of color (Jasmine in 1992, Pocahontas in 1995, Mulan in 1998, Kida in 2001, and Tiana in 2009). It took 55 years to portray a woman of color as a princess, and these portrayals also came with problematic and inaccurate representations of their respective cultures & histories (not to mention Tiana was a frog more than half of the movie).

How are young APIA children supposed to believe in “happy endings” when we don’t see them happening to people who look like us?

All of the above was the inspiration behind this photoshoot. We believe physically showing some of our favorite princesses as Asian American women will allow us to build more of a connection with the princesses who weren’t women of color, but who still possess qualities we admire and/or see in ourselves.

**These are just 5 of the 15 we recently showed at our university’s Asian American Studies Expo.

Andrea as Sleeping Beauty
Henna as Belle
Cat as Cinderella
Young as Snow White
Jenny as Tinkerbell

Photography/lighting: Kim
Hair/makeup/wardrobe: Donnie
Editing: Kim & Rachelle

Tinkerbell is my favorite. /Cristen

I always thought Snow White was Asian when I was a kid. She looks exactly like I envisioned her in my thoughts, here.

mirnah:

I just discovered great Tumblr blog - What Ali Wore.

Each day as Ali walks to work he passes a cafe where photographer Zoe Pawton works. One day, noticing how he wore consistently spectacular outfit, Zoe began photographing him and blogging about his sartorial choices. Not sneering or patronising, this blog is quite simply celebrating an elderly man full of character who does not just take genuine pride in his clothes, but has a true eye for style.

One of the best things about this unfolding story is that Zoe and Ali are now great friends. One of the images is a very happy shot of him and her together just after they saw an article on her blog in a Turkish newspaper.

You really have to follow this blog.

(via buttyflam)