Some history of clothing

Reading time: 5 minutes

By Hayley White 

It’s hard to imagine a prehistoric time when humans wore animal skins and cloth made of vegetable fibres for warmth, and indeed, for survival (The Utah Statesman, 2001). These kinds of early habiliments are a stark contrast to what we are used to today when you’d be hard pressed to find clothing without imagery or stickers and pop culture references. We pretty much let modern clothing and fashion rule our lives. 

The origins of clothing have long been a head-scratcher for archaeologists because clothes do not fossilise. Therefore, it is hard to tell when the first humans started wearing what we consider ‘clothing’. Some scientists and historians say that it could have been anywhere between 30,000 to 150,000 years ago, but as the earliest forms of clothing were believed to be furs, woven leaves, or grass and leather – all-natural products which degrade over time – the timeline is a blurry one.