Hey there!
Today I decided to start work on a small personal project of mine to create a few ancient Egyptian headdresses, specifically the "Nemes" headdress (there are others, such as the "Khat", but they're all fairly similar-looking. I think this category of headdress is called "Klaft". If I get one done, then I can do the rest).
However, after trying to study the Nemes in more detail / imagining how I'd make it, I've realised it's not so easy as I originally thought it would be. The problem I'm having is that I'm not at all sure how I should do its pattern. Is it simply a rectangle dropped over the back of the shoulders, or something more? Am I overthinking this? There are hardly any realistic references showing good recreations of a Nemes from all angles (a lot of them are amateur) or not being worn at all to see underneath and I haven't been able to find any documents describing how it'd be made exactly either, so I'm sort of left in the dark about this type of garment.
I was wondering if anyone here could help me with recreating the pattern or had any ideas on how it could be made just by observing these few references I have?
Notes
• I've noticed that the Nemes, around the back, is supposed to be bundled into a cylindrical shape.
• The stripes also seem to go from being vertical at the headband its attached to, to being more horizontal around the shoulders, and I believe it's all made from one piece of cloth.
• I believe maybe that the cloth, around the back of the head, goes inwards a bit. Was that stitched up?
References (Decent-looking recreations / replicas)
King Tutankhamon's Wardrobe - Textile Arts (Shoulder shape is hidden, unfortunately)
Movie: Exodus: Gods & Kings
Ancient Egyptian Headwear (Nemes is on the bottom right)
Nemes Illustration
The thing to realize is, for most early historical (pre-Middle Ages, at least) most clothing patterns are really quite simple; usually based on simple rectangles. The same is true here. The most primitive form of nemes is just a rectangle. Sew a strip of cloth for a headband, freeze it into position, then sew a longer rectangle of striped cloth to that.
Then it's just a matter of refinement into the desired shape: a few curves over the shoulder, and the cloth is gathered at the back into a (probable) metal tube. Refine the shapes further, as needed.
Adjusting the fabric material properties will give a stiffer appearance, shown in some reference pics. But so realize that those are most drawn from statues and pictures, which themselves were idealized versions of reality. Maybe the cloth was starched or stiffened, but it was still cloth.
Thank you so much Rosemary! I knew it had to be simple, I guess I was just overthinking it after all.
I'll be posting my final results later today. :)
EDIT: May have to be tomorrow actually, got a lot of stuff to get done today.
The same basic headdress structure shows up in many cultures:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452471093794256636/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452471093796327865/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/417920040423164462/
Completely forgot to post my results from a few months ago, here it is so far in its work in progress form.
Basically, it's for a game-ready character I was working on in my free time a few months ago (hence the low-poly model I baked the cloth details onto; needs to be optimised to run in a game engine). As I said already, it's still WIP - I need to improve the cloth textures (make the yellow + black stripes more gilded / silk-like rather than the boring linen version-style material. If I do keep it as linen, then it ought to have some rough edges where the fabric breaks off; right now the edges are too sharp) + remove the boxy shape (thanks lopoly + no alpha transparency on edges), but the advice really helped me on how to initially shape the thing so that I can shape it exactly how I need it with further refinement.
I also made a crown in ZBrush + baked the details onto another bunch of lopoly meshes to fit with it too; I will improve the materials (especially the gold; looks a bit too... desaturated, IMO) a bit more on it as well + add in a bit of ambient occlusion to the part of the cloth where the crown interacts with it to add a bit of depth.
The next post in a week or so will be the final. polished up version of the Nemes cloth + crown, ready to be worn by a character.
Nicely done, indeed! Excellent ZBrush work to finish off the look, bravo!
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