Ottoman clothing is the style and design of clothing worn by the Ottoman Turks.
While the Palace and its court dressed lavishly, the common people were only concerned with covering themselves. Starting in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, administrators enacted sumptuary laws upon clothing. The clothing of Muslims, Christians, Jewish communities, clergy, tradesmen, and state and military officials were particularly strictly regulated during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.
In this period men wore outer items such as ‘mintan’ (a vest or short jacket), ‘zibin’, ‘salvar’ (trousers), ‘kusak’ (a sash), ‘potur’, ‘entari’ (a long robe), ‘kalpak’, ‘sarik’ on the head; ‘çarik’, ‘çizme’, ‘çedik’, ‘Yemeni’ on the feet. The administrators and the wealthy wore caftans with fur lining and embroidery, whereas the middle class wore ‘cübbe’ (a mid-length robe) and ‘hirka’ (a short robe or tunic), and the poor wore collarless ‘cepken’ or ‘yelek’ (vest).
Women’s everyday wear was salvar (trousers), a gömlek (chemise) that came down to the mid-calf or ankle, a short, fitted jacket called a hirka, and a sash or belt tied at or just below the waist. For formal occasions, such as visiting friends, the woman added an entari, a long robe that was cut like the hirka apart from the length. Both hirka and entari were buttoned to the waist, leaving the skirts open in front. Both garments also had buttons all the way to the throat, but were often buttoned only to the underside of the bust, leaving the garments to gape open over the bust. All of these clothes could be brightly colored and patterned. However, when a woman left the house, she covered her clothes with a ferace, a dark, modestly cut robe that buttoned all the way to the throat. She also covered her face with a variety of veils or wraps.
Bashlyks, or hats, were the most prominent accessories of social status. While the people wore “külah’s” covered with ‘abani’ or ‘Yemeni’, the cream of the society wore bashlyks such as ‘yusufi, örfi, katibi, kavaze’, etc. During the rule of Süleyman a bashlyk called ‘perisani’ was popular as the palace people valued bashlyks adorned with precious stones.
During the ‘Tanzimat’ and ‘Mesrutiyet’ period in the 19th century, the common people still keeping to their traditional clothing styles presented a great contrast with the administrators and the wealthy wearing ‘redingot’, jacket, waistcoat, boyunbagi (tie), ‘mintan’, sharp-pointed and high-heeled shoes. Women’s clothes of the Ottoman period were observed in the ‘mansions’ and Palace courts. ‘Entari’, ‘kusak’, ‘salvar’, ‘basörtü’, ‘ferace’ of the 19th century continued their existence without much change.
Women’s wear becoming more showy and extravagant brought about adorned hair buns and tailoring. Tailoring in its real sense began in this period. The sense of women’s wear primarily began in large residential centers such as Istanbul and Izmir in the 19th century and as women gradually began to participate in the social life, along with the westernization movement.
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