In this post we will provide some information about Turkish fashion:
Clothing of the Ancient Turks
As can be understood from the engravings and historical ruins about the Clothing of the Ancient Turks, comfortable and sheltered clothes made of leather were preferred as a requirement of animal husbandry and nomadic life conditions. As outer clothing, underwear, caftan, anchor, cardigan, jacket coat, boots and sandals are among the clothes used. Women mostly used clothes consisting of shalwar, trousers, pockets and headgear. Trousers, which were preferred in terms of comfort due to the nomadic life, became compulsory to be worn with the establishment of equestrian units. Leather clothes were used during the war, fabric clothes were used in travels, and woven clothes entered their lives with the transition to settled life. Women used the head scarves, such as burcük and other headgear.
The Republican Era
As a result of the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in the wars, important parts of the country’s lands were occupied by the Allied Powers. Mustafa Kemal, who started the National Struggle on May 19, 1019, with the proclamation of the Republic in 1923, started modernization in men’s and women’s clothing with the “Clothing Revolution”, which includes fashion, as in many other subjects, in order to catch up with the global contemporary world and become civilized.
Turkish Clothing Revolution
With the Clothing Revolution, clothes such as hats, suits and coats began to be used instead of clothes such as fez, shalwar and veils. The British and French fashion trends, which were influential in the history of world fashion, took the Turkish people under their influence in a short time. With this effect, men’s clothing began to be sewn in the English style, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, one of the style icons of Turkey and even the world, became a role model for the Turkish people with his pioneering style. Atatürk’s clothes consisted of accessories that complemented his style, such as a cap, a hat, a walking stick, a handkerchief, gloves, a pocket watch, suitable for the fashion of the day and the environment he attended. Now the modern men’s style in Turkey consisted of hats, jackets, waistcoats, black shirts, trousers and pants.
Turkish Fashion for Women
Latife Hanım, the wife of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was a role model for the women of the Republic with her outfit combinations in various organizations and invitations she attended. In the light of the principles and reforms of the Republic in Turkish society, especially the changing position and lifestyle of Turkish women have brought different fashion approaches to Turkey.
Dress Revolution in Turkey has affected the Republican woman more than the man. Turkish women, who began to be influenced by the French fashion style, started to use hats, short hair, swimwear, dresses, coats, and hats became the most used accessory of both modern and conservative women.
Until the 2000s, urban, working men and women preferred more modern styles, either closed or open, while some of the local people adopted a style consisting of a mixture of local and modern. Under the influence of the radical political changes experienced in Turkey after the 2000s, radical changes took place in fashion and clothing. The clothing style called the Arabian wind, consisting of long skirts, dresses and coats, tied in different ways for women, wider cut trousers for men, and collarless shirts began to spread rapidly.