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Traditional Clothing in Turkey

In Turkish costume, highly ornate ensembles are composed of many layers of textile and nontextile items. Older forms of Turkish traditional dress do not include Western-style dress, which exhibits rapid change and is available through a system of mass production and distribution. Traditional dress was once the everyday dress of people living in the rural areas of Turkey; today it is worn daily only by a few rural women, by others for ceremonial use, and by Turkish folk-dance groups. The traditional dress of Turkey has changed slowly; this is important historically because it informs us about the people who produced it. Surface decoration and the way costume elements are arranged on the body serve as a means of communication, indicating membership in tribal or village groups, and myriad other anthropological messages. Turkish traditional dress exhibits tribal and village distinctions while sharing features with Central Asian dress, the dress of the Ottoman Court, and Middle Eastern dress. The common features can be attributed to the cultural contacts of the Turkic peoples over the centuries. The Turkish people are believed to have migrated south and west from the Altai Mountain regions south of Lake Baikal, entering Persia, Iraq, Central Asia and Eastern Europe. By the eleventh century they penetrated the Anatolian plateau, the landmass forming the peninsula in western Asia that comprises the bulk of the modern Republic of Turkey. By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Turkic groups formed many villages, some of which remain intact today. This stability of geographic location coupled with relative isolation in inner Anatolia, away from the waterways on the periphery, allowed for stability and slow change in traditions of dress. Turkic peoples influenced and were influenced by cultural contact with civilizations along their migration routes, by the earlier inhabitants of Anatolia, and by the remains of Anatolia's ancient civilizations. The vast Ottoman empire (fourteenthnineteenth centuries), which eventually encompassed the Balkan Peninsula, Greece, Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, most of Hungary, Podolia, the entire north coast of the Black Sea, Crete, Cyprus and the Aegean isles, Armenia, most of the Caucasus, the Tigris and Euphrates valleys to the Persian Gulf, the eastern Mediterranean coast, a strip along the Arabian peninsula, Egypt, Tripoli, Tunisia, Algeria, and the Anatolian peninsula, brought the Turks in contact with people from other lands. Those contacts also had an effect on the dress and textiles of Turkey.

Forms of Turkish Traditional Dress


Characteristic features of Turkish traditional dress include the layering of garments, distinctive surface or woven-in decoration on the fabrics, and a geometriccut. Wool, silk, and cotton, fibers indigenous to Turkey, are commonly used for apparel. Separate garments are layered to accommodate the need for adjustments according to climate; to create storage areas for coins and other small items in fabric folds; and to create a system for holding garments onto the body. Careful cutting exposes portions of garments underneath the top layers. Surface design is achieved by embroidering, dyeing, or weaving. Common items are the salvar (baggy trouser), gomlek (chemise),ucetek (three-skirted cloak), and elaborate headgear that always includes one or more headscarves for women. Sleeveless vests and waist-length jackets are also common, as are aprons for women. The layers are held together by a girdle or belt, or by a shawl (sal kusak) that is folded and wrapped around the waist. With the exception of the face, the body completely covered. Portions of the men's body are left exposed, such as the head, face, and neck, with the exception of a headdress. In the traditional dress of some areas of Turkey,

portions of the legs are exposed. Turkish traditional dress was relatively unisex, but certain distinguishing features clearly indicated gender. Primary among these was the style of headdress. In the Ottoman court, male headdress distinguished social and economic positions. Head-dresses such as the turban, used throughout the Ottoman empire from before the Turks' capture of Constantinople in 1453 to the early nineteenth century, and the fez, used for about 100 years after the demise of the turban, became symbols of identity for Turkish men during their respective periods of use. Both were outlawed: the turban in 1829 when the fez was adopted, and the fez in 1925in favor of the Western-style brimmed hat. The headscarf for women remains an important article of dress among segments of the population in modern Turkey.

Recent Changes
Over 60 percent of the inhabitants of modern Turkey live in urban areas. Forces of the global economy have created changes in lifestyles, particularly since 1970. Traditional dress and textile production is disappearing at an astounding rate. Fabrics formerly were produced in villages, but now changing markets and improved infrastructure have made it possible for women to purchase fabrics and trims, produced throughout Turkey and the world, in their local markets. Women in some villages continue to wear all or parts of their traditional dress, especially for ceremonial events such as weddings. Common in most villages is the baggy trouser (salvar) worn sometimes with a skirt over the top, a long-sleeved blouse or T-shirt, a sweater-vest, and a headscarf. Turkish folk dance groups have kept some of the elaborate dress ensemble traditions alive. In the urban areas of Turkey, men and women wear typical Western clothing, although some Muslim women cover this dress with a coat and wear a head-scarf, or cover themselves completely with a black cloak.

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