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17 - Everyday Fashion in the Ottoman Empire, C. 1600–1800

from Part III - Many Worlds of Fashion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2023

By
James Grehan
Edited by
Christopher Breward ,
Beverly Lemire  and
Giorgio Riello
Christopher Breward
Affiliation:
National Museums of Scotland
Beverly Lemire
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Giorgio Riello
Affiliation:
European University Institute, Florence
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Summary

Ottoman fashion communicated through two sets of sartorial standards. The first traced out official attitudes encapsulated in the laws and regulations put forward by the state. Though some of this thinking was ‘Islamic’, insofar as it sought to promote norms and values prescribed by Islamic law, it really represented an ‘imperial’ mentality that thought in hierarchical terms and aimed at policing clothing in the name of social order. The second set of standards paid little heed to this official perspective. It spoke on behalf of regional styles, which were most pronounced among the poor in both town and village. These more mundane fashions reflected the immense cultural diversity of the empire, of which clothing was merely one of the most obvious artefacts. Measured against this local customary landscape spanning three continents, from the Balkans to the Middle East and North Africa, one can hardly talk about a single ‘Ottoman’ fashion at all.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Global History of Fashion
From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century
 , pp. 571 - 598
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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