Clothing

Clothing, one of humanity's most important needs, including the various garments, accessories, and ornaments people throughout the world wear for decoration and protection. People probably began to wear clothing more than 100,000 years ago. By the end of the Old Stone Age (25,000 years ago) the needle had been invented, enabling people to sew skins into clothes. They learned to make yarn from plants and animal fur and to weave yarn into cloth. The advent of sewing machines and other machinery about 200 years ago ushered in the clothing industry, now a major business in many countries.