Developing Patterns for Persian Garments

Melinda C. Haren

 There are many challenges that must be overcome in the reconstruction of accurate garments from medieval Persia . One of the most difficult challenges is the lack of extent garments available for review.  Persian history was very tumultuous, with frequent changes in leadership. Constant warring during the medieval time period led to the destruction of many of the artifacts.  More destruction has occurred in the 20^th century as well. Many of the artifacts that did survive in Iran were destroyed in the revolt against the Shah in 1979.  The Iran / Iraq War led to even more destruction. As recently as 2003, the museums in Iraq (which housed many Persian artifacts) were looted during the American invasion. Most of these artifacts are now in unknown locations. This has left very few extent garments available for modern study with an even fewer number available to the Western World.

However, the constancy of Persian fashion can be helpful in discerning the construction of Persian garments. With a review of the extent garments available from both pre-seventeenth century and post-seventeenth century, eyewitness accounts of Persia from the 15th and 16th century, along with a thorough review of Persian miniature paintings, it is possible to construct reasonably accurate 16^th century patterns. Marta Dal Farra summarizes this constancy:

 

“One of the difficulties of precisely dating the ROM coat [referring to a ruyī qābā in the Royal Ontario Museum] is the conservatism and stability of Middle Eastern dress; thus, garments with comparable features were worn in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Iran as well as Turkey and the Caucasus.”

 

Dr. Herman Goetz concurs with Ms. Farra’s statements stating that the costumes of Timur (a Persian ruler in the 14th century) remained in fashion through the 16th century.  Several eyewitness accounts from 17th century also comment on the constancy of fashion in medieval Persia.

Sir John Chardin, who traveled in Persia in 1665 and returned, again in 1671, discussed the constancy of Persian fashion:

 

“…they never alter in Dress and they are no more addicted to change in their Colour; their Shadowings and Make of the Stuffs. I have seen Cloaths that Tamerlain [English name for Timur] wore, which they keep in the treasury at Ispahan [Isfahan]; they are cut just in the same manner as those that are made at this time of Day, without the least difference.”

 

Cornelius Le Bruyn in 1704, echoed Sir John Chardin’s remarks:

 

“The Persians never alter their fashions, and have preserved that air of grandeur which prevailed among them in the days of Alexander.”

 

Jennifer M. Scarce, author of Woven from the Heart, Spun from the Soul, noted that from 1520 to 1570 little changed in the construction of garments.

 

“What changes occurred are most noticeably in choice of fabric rather than cut and shape of the garment.”

Jennifer Scarce describes Persian garment construction as being primarily cut with a central rectangle, sidepieces for shaping and inset sleeves, characteristic of garments from the Middle East.  As a general statement, a review of extent garments confirms this statement for most time periods in Persia.  However, this only provides a starting point for creating accurate patterns for the 16th century.

The relative constancy of Persian fashion makes it difficult to precisely date them.  Carbon and other dating techniques may also be inaccurate. The dry climate, combined with the Persian habit of re-using fabric from old garments means that such data is often inaccurate.  It is essential that any review of extent garments is compared to miniatures of the time-frame to ensure accurate interpretation.

The earliest extent garment from Persia that I am aware of is a Sassanid coat from the 6^th century. (Plate 1) As there are no previous garments to study and no subsequent garments until the 10^th century, little can be said about the construction of this garment in relationship to garment construction in the 16^th century.  The Sassanid coat contains a combination of curved and straight seams.

Persian garments from the post-Islamic time period (similar to most Middle Eastern garments) appears to rely mostly on straight seams. This method is extremely economical on fabric usage.  It is possible that this method was transferred to Persia from Egypt, through the Arabic invasion of the 9^th century.  There are several early, Egyptian, extent garments available for study. (Plate 3)The earliest of these shirts date from around the 4^th century A.D. and are typically labeled “Coptic,” relating to an area of Egypt heavily populated with Coptic Christians. These Coptic shirts were woven on a very wide, warp-weighted loom, which allowed the garment to be woven in one piece, including the sleeves.  Generally these garments were woven so the body was rectangular-shaped with rectangular sleeves. The only seam that would need sewn was the side seams.   

It is possible that from this rectangular construction method, other more complicated versions developed. There are multiple extent pirahan-hā (shirts) from Egypt ranging in dates from the 10^th through the 16^th century. All share the common theme of a central rectangle, side-pieces for shaping and rectangular-shaped sleeves, representative of the classic Middle Eastern construction method. For example, there is a child’s pirahan from Egypt (Plate 4) located in the Textile Museum in Washington D.C., is dated 919 AD which I observed in 2002.  This garment is constructed of a central rectangle, with rectangular side-pieces and rectangular inset sleeves with gussets.  As we will discuss later in this article, this method is almost identical to the method used to construct an extent, Persian pirahan from the 16^th century. (Plate 9)

The earliest Persian, extent garment from the Islamic time period I have been able to find is a tiraz coat from the 10th century (Plate 7), located in the Textile Museum in Washington D.C.  This garment differs the most from successive garments I will discuss. Rather than the central rectangle being laid out vertically, this one is laid out horizontally. However, the theme of a rectangle forming the body of the coat, with sleeve gussets and long rectangular, inset sleeves is present.  According to Dorothy K. Burnham, author of Cut My Cote ,

“Wrapping around the body is an idea basic to the cutting of garments from skins in many parts of the world.  A large skin will fold around with no side seams, and inserting of sleeves into vertical side slashes and joining the shoulders completes the garment. There is not enough evidence to come to any firm conclusions, but the possibility that the horizontal use of material may be a skin concept is worth bearing in mind.”

 

This tiraz coat is constructed in the manner described by Ms. Burnham. It is difficult to say if this construction method is a left-over memory of previous skin garments or another reason exists for its strange construction. Another plausible explanation for its construction method was to ensure that the selvage became the bottom of the garment. However, there are few Persian miniatures picturing figures and no eye witness descriptions of Persian clothing from this time frame, making it difficult to draw a conclusion regarding this garment. This may have been the common method of garment construction used at this time, though I believe that is unlikely.

Persia was controlled by the ‘Abbasid Caliphate in Egypt at that time.  Frequently tiraz garments were produced in Persia and then shipped to Egypt, making it more likely that garments were constructed in the Egyptian fashion of a rectangle forming the body, side-pieces for shaping and rectangular-shaped sleeves.