Child’s dress. Linen tabby with silk embroidery. Egypt 14th century. This dress is from the Mamluk period but reflects a style worn already in Fatimid times. It is wide in both body and sleeve, decorated with embroidered geometric designs in darning stitch worked on counted threads. Dresses with decoration confined to sleeve bands may be earlier than those with spaced stripes.

In contrast to Coptic tunics, which were woven to shape on a wide loom, this dress is composed of several pieces cut from a length of fabric woven on a narrower loom. In many garments of this period, the body is cut in a single piece that wraps over the shoulder to form the centre front and back of the garment. The sleeves and side panels are also cut so that they wrap around the body. Smaller pieces are often required to complete the garment, and their haphazard nature suggests reuse of an older garment.