The craft of textile production has persisted in its traditional forms for millennia and, arguably, was only markedly changed by the coming of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. It is, however, still possible to find textiles made by hand in age-old traditional ways in many parts of the globe today. Textiles accompany us throughout our lives and, particularly in the form of dress, play a key part in the construction of individual and collective identities. This role of cloth and clothing as a vector for the expression of multiple identities has existed since the earliest times. Today we express gender, status, ethnic and religious affiliations, class, sexual availability, occupation, resistance and countless other versions of ourselves through the ways we chose to dress—and these habits and signifiers are not new to the contemporary world; they find expression far into the past. How universal is the language of dress in antiquity or should we link specific attitudes and styles to western or eastern sources? Can we see elements of exchange and influence?