General Clothing

Clothes are as old as mankind. Early humans of the Stone Age draped themselves in animal hides before Paleolithic people began weaving plant fibers into cloth. Textiles ultimately gained significant cultural and economic importance, shaping the direction of fashion and commerce for centuries to come.

It may have all started in the ancient world, when anthropologists say the string skirts mentioned by the Greek poet Homer and depicted in Bronze-Age artifacts could have been worn at the equivalent of debutante balls to celebrate budding womanhood. But it was the 20th century that transformed clothing in the West. Liberty of London loosened corset laces, Coco Chanel invented the little black dress, Yves Saint Laurent spawned couture's rise, and Mary Quant shrunk hemlines to unseen levels. For their part, menswear designers like Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani provided men with relaxed elegance, Savile Row gave the world British bespoke, and Italian tailors like Brioni took dressing to new handcrafted heights.

As a result, auction enthusiasts can today indulge in recent catwalk looks from Calvin Klein and Givenchy as well as vintage clothing including flapper era trappings, early Levi's jeans, and more.

Quick Facts

• In a 2015 Richard Edmonds auction in England, a pair of Queen Victoria's cotton bloomers sold for £10,500
• Grunge rock cult figure Kurt Cobain's cardigan sweater worn at his 1993 performance on MTV's "Unplugged" fetched an incredible $140,800 at a Julien's auction in 2015
• In 2011, Marilyn Monroe's famed subway scene dress from "The Seven-Year Itch" sold at a Profiles in History auction in Beverly Hills for a staggering $5.6 million