Overview
A shendyt is a length of white linen wound around the waist and tucked or tied at the front, reaching from the waist to about the knee. The plain wrap of the workman became, for kings and officials, a stiffened, pleated kilt with a decorated central tab or apron.
How it is worn
It is wrapped around the hips and secured with a knot or belt, worn over bare torso and legs in Egypt’s heat, sometimes with a triangular starched projection at the front for royalty. Fine bleached linen and crisp pleats set the noble apart from the labourer in his plain cloth.
History
The shendyt was worn from the Old Kingdom onward and is the garment of nearly every male figure in early Egyptian art, from farmers to Khafre. Its royal, pleated form remained a mark of kingship for millennia even as fuller robes were added above it in later periods.