Editing Minoan civilization (section)

===Clothing===
[[File:Painting on limestone sarcophagus of religious rituals from Hagia Triada - Heraklion AM - 02.jpg|thumb|Figures from the [[Agia Triada Sarcophagus]].]]

Sheep [[wool]] was the main fibre used in textiles, and perhaps a significant export commodity. [[Linen]] from [[flax]] was probably much less common, and possibly imported from Egypt, or grown locally. There is no evidence of [[silk]], but some use is possible.<ref>Castleden, 11</ref>

As seen in [[Minoan art]], Minoan men wore [[loincloth]]s (if poor) or robes or [[kilt]]s that were often long. Women wore long dresses with short sleeves and layered, flounced skirts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/The-Ancient-World-Greece/Minoan-Dress.html|title=Minoan Dress - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages|website=www.fashionencyclopedia.com}}</ref> With both sexes, there was a great emphasis in art in a small wasp waist, often taken to improbable extremes. Both sexes are often shown with rather thick belts or girdles at the waist. Women could also wear a strapless, fitted [[bodice]], and clothing patterns had [[symmetry|symmetrical]], geometric designs. Men are shown as clean-shaven, and male hair was short, in styles that would be common today, except for some long thin tresses at the back, perhaps for young elite males. Female hair is typically shown with long tresses falling at the back, as in the fresco fragment known as ''[[La Parisienne (fresco)|La Parisienne]]''. This got its name because when it was found in the early 20th century, a French art historian thought it resembled Parisian women of the day.<ref>[https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1/minoan/a/minoan-woman-or-goddess-from-the-palace-of-knossos-la-parisienne "Minoan woman or goddess from the palace of Knossos ("La Parisienne")"] by Senta German, [[Khan Academy]]</ref> Children are shown in art with shaved heads (often blue in art) except for a few very long locks; the rest of the hair is allowed to grow as they approach puberty;<ref>Marinatos (1993), p. 202</ref> this can be seen in the [[Akrotiri Boxer Fresco]].

Two famous [[Minoan snake goddess figurines]] from Knossos (one illustrated below) show bodices that circle their breasts, but do not cover them at all. These striking figures have dominated the popular image of Minoan clothing, and have been copied in some "reconstructions" of largely destroyed frescos, but few images unambiguously show this costume, and the status of the figures—goddesses, priestesses, or devotees—is not at all clear. What is clear, from pieces like the [[Agia Triada Sarcophagus]], is that Minoan women normally covered their breasts; priestesses in religious contexts may have been an exception.<ref>Castleden, 7</ref> This shows a funeral sacrifice, and some figures of both sexes are wearing aprons or skirts of animal hide, apparently left with the hair on.<ref>[https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1/minoan/a/snake-goddess "Snake Goddess"] by Senta German, [[Khan Academy]]</ref> This was probably the costume worn by both sexes by those engaged in rituals.<ref>Marinatos (2010), 43-44</ref>

[[Minoan jewellery]] included many gold ornaments for women's hair and also thin gold plaques to sew onto clothing.<ref name="Hood 1978, 188-190">Hood (1978), 188-190</ref> Flowers were also often worn in the hair, as by the [[Poppy Goddess]] terracotta figurine and other figures. Frescos also show what are presumably woven or embroidered figures, human and animal, spaced out on clothing.<ref>Hood (1978), 62</ref>