Question 2 of 21

When did pink become the go-to clothing color for little girls in America?

... Up until the mid-19th century, most American parents dressed their babies in gender-neutral white gowns. By the late 19th century, pink and blue had become popular colors for babies, but neither color was gender-specific. It wasn't until the 1940s that pink became so closely associated with baby girls and blue became the default color for baby boys.

Question 3 of 21

According to studies of this, humans first began wearing clothing somewhere between 83,000 and 170,000 years ago.

... Thanks to studies of body lice, some scientists theorize that humans first started to wear clothing somewhere between 83,000 and 170,000 years ago. Given that humans lost their body hair around 1.2 million years ago, people likely went through life completely naked for more than 1 million years.

Question 4 of 21

When did humans likely start wearing shoes?

... By studying the evolution of the human foot, scientists have determined that humans began to regularly wear footwear around 40,000 years ago, despite the fact that the oldest surviving shoes are only about 10,000 years old.

Question 5 of 21

The earliest known fabric in Southern Europe was made from wool. What was the first fabric produced by the ancient Egyptians made from?

... Each group of ancient people used their own material to create early fabrics. While the Egyptians relied on flax to produce linen, the Europeans made clothing out of wool. The Chinese worked with silk, and people throughout India and parts of South America produced cotton.

Question 6 of 21

When did ready-made clothing for women become widely available in the U.S.?

... After the Civil War, men were able to purchase ready-made clothing throughout much of the U.S. Many women continued to make their own clothing at home until around the 1920s. During that decade, improvements in industrial technology, an increase in advertising and the growth of national sales markets and chain stores helped to fuel the availability of ready-made clothes.

Question 7 of 21

Fact or fiction: Some cultures living today don't wear clothing.

... Fact: Some people don't need clothes at all -- especially in warm climates. As just one example, in 2008, the Brazilian government released aerial photos of several uncontacted tribes living in the Amazon, which showed many of the people wearing body paint rather than fabric clothing.

Question 8 of 21

How old are the earliest suspected sewing needles?

... Archaeologists have found some 40,000-year-old instruments that could be early sewing needles. While little physical evidence survives, these needles could indicate that humans began to switch from wearing simple animal skins to crafting slightly more complex clothing around this time.

Question 9 of 21

When do scientists estimate that humans began to weave fibers to make clothing?

... Hand-crafted figurines of goddesses dating back 26,000 years show that Ice Age Europeans may have used woven fabric to make clothing. The weaving was probably done by hand using primitive techniques.

Question 10 of 21

In 2009, scientists found the oldest scraps of fiber ever made by humans hidden in a cave in this country.

... In 2009, scientists found scraps of linen thread hidden in a cave in Georgia. The fibers were created around 34,000 years ago, and could have been used to make clothing or textiles.

Question 11 of 21

Fact or fiction: The first commercial synthetic fabrics were created just after World War II.

... Fiction: Rayon, a form of artificial silk, was produced and sold as early as 1889. Other materials, such as acetate, nylon and acrylic followed during the early 20th century.

Question 12 of 21

Fact or fiction: In the Niger delta region, women can use the "Curse of Nakedness" to fight for political and social change.

... Fact: In the Niger delta, women can use nudity as a symbolic threat to men, especially if the women are married or elderly. Some groups of women in this region -- for example, those protesting the damage done by the oil industry in 1984 -- have taken off their clothes in public as a form of protest.

Question 13 of 21

Fact or fiction: Hermit crabs are born without a shell, and must choose protective shells to cover their soft bodies.

... Fact: Just like humans, hermit crabs are born "naked." They search for empty shells to protect their soft bodies, wearing these shells much like a human wears clothing, and swapping them for larger shells as they grow.

Question 14 of 21

According to some scientists, why did humans start wearing clothes around 170,000 years ago?

... Some scientists theorize that humans started wearing clothes around the time they began migrating out of Africa. By wearing animal skins for warmth, humans were able to travel out of the warm desert region where they were living and into cooler climate zones.

Question 15 of 21

Fact or fiction: Clothes impact not only how other people see you, but also how you see yourself.

... Fact: In a February 2012 study at Northwestern University, scientists found that people who wore a white doctor's coat were more focused and able to perform better on mental tasks. Those who wore a white painter's coat, on the other hand, showed no improvement.

Question 16 of 21

The heavy denim used to make blue jeans was originally designed for making these.

... Denim was originally designed for making ship sails. In 1870, a tailor named Jacob Davis used the material to make pants for lumberjacks, miners and other working men. He used rivets to keep the pants from tearing, and helped give birth to modern blue jeans.

Question 17 of 21

Fact or fiction: Roman mosaics date the earliest bikinis back to around the third or fourth century A.D.

... Fact: While the history books often cite 1946 as the year the bikini was invented, Roman mosaics clearly show Sicilian women wearing bikinis as early as the third or fourth century.

Question 18 of 21

Why did humans start wearing pants?

... Some anthropologists believe that humans started to wear pants so they would be able to ride horses more effectively. From the Romans to the Japanese Samurai to Native Americans, pants only became popular when horses were introduced or became widely used.

Question 19 of 21

Fact or fiction: Women in North Korea only won the right to wear pants in public in 2012.

... Fact: Some governments do place restrictions on women's fashion. Through 1994, women in Malawi were forbidden from wearing pants in public. Even after pants on women became legal, there have been instances of women being harassed or assaulted for wearing them in public. In the case of North Korea, it wasn't until 2012 that women were granted the right to wear pants for fashion's sake (previously pants were only allowed if part of a work uniform).

Question 20 of 21

During the Middle Ages, this clothing color was restricted to scholars and people of wealth.

... During the Middle Ages, red dye was prohibitively expensive, so only scholars and noblemen could wear red garments. The average person was limited to clothing in shades of brown or gray.

Question 21 of 21

Fact or fiction: The ancient Romans wore different colored togas to show social or political status.

... Fact: In ancient Rome, most people wore togas in shades of white or gray. Dark colors indicated the wearer was in mourning, while stripes were a sign of wealth or power. Purple togas were reserved for members of the nobility.

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