I just watched this 45 min video about the reconstruction of an ancient pair of trousers:
Some *very interesting* points: 1. The fabric was woven not just to "shape", but also different techniques were used on different parts of the fabric. Stronger techniques that took longer and were more ancient, were used for parts of the fabric that would get heavy wear friction while riding horses.
2. Although the fabric seems "bunchy" in the crotch, that bunchiness disappears when the wearer is on horse-back. Seems fashion is all about compromises even back then!
3. It's pretty amazing to me, just how long ago, humans were weaving "twill". Twill is still used in denim jeans because it both has some "give" or stretchiness and tolerates abrasion.
I'll admit parts of this was beyond my skill and understanding, but I can remember R Ranson experimenting with unplied warp threads, and a fellow had to hand spin all the wool for the recreation warp to make it strong enough for unplied warp, but the archeological sample was done as a single thread, and very fine at that!
This discovery dated from ~3000 years ago - people tend to refer to "cave men" thinking they aren't that sophisticated, but humans have been doing some pretty incredible things for a very long time!
These trousers represented a lot of work and were designed to last a long time. No "Fast Fashion" for these people!
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