1 of 5

Metal embellished trousers – Iran

Local Name	Shalvar, Sarwal, Sirwal
Object Category	Pants
Gender	Female
Date of object	2015
Place Of orgin	Asia
Region	Southern Iran
Object Range	Iran, Pakistan, India, UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman
Dimensions	Length: 133 cm Width: 62 cm
Materials	Silk Cotton Metal
Technique	Machine Embroidered Machine Stitched
Color
Motif	Floral Geometric
Provenance	Purchased, anonymous dealer, Iran 2018
Location	The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative
Status	In storage
ZI number	ZI2018.500133 ASIA

Object Note
Purchased along with another five similar pieces in the collection (ZI2018.500134 ASIA, ZI2018.500796 ASIA, ZI2018.500797 ASIA, ZI2018.500798 ASIA, and ZI2018.500799 ASIA).

Object History 
This garment was acquired through an anonymous contact on social media – Instagram – platform. He was interested in Dr. Reem’s and The Initiative’s endeavour in the field and offered to help. Not much is known about the person as he never revealed his name or met with Dr. Reem except he often travels between Dubai, UAE, and the south of Iran. He purchased six samples of these trousers and had them delivered to Dr. Reem via her driver.
Dr. Reem and The Initiative would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the said stranger for his kind and charitable gesture.

Object Features 
This is a scarlet red silk trousers () of thick () weave traditionally worn by women of Bandar Abbas and Hormozgan areas in south Iran. They are an ankle-length pair of tapered trousers loose with a gathered waistline that has an elastic fastening.
These are usually worn with a loose shift () of coloured cotton with a collar () and a rectangular black () made of thin silk or other sheer material by older women of the region.
The cuffs are embellished with thick metallic foil embroidered ( ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

) borders. The outermost edging has a () embroidered black and white cotton and golden metallic thread or panel followed by a green wool woven strip.
This is followed by two strips of ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

over two different bases – a thin red base and a thick black. The ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

features zigzag geometric formations in a variety of styles. A broad golden band created with metallic golden using () style embroidery follows the two ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

strips.
A series of floral motifs are created with () embroidery using ivory silk threads and golden . Two tiers of floral repeats are created using and different coloured – orange, pink, lavender, ivory blue, and black – silk threads using and style embroidery.
A zip is attached to the side of the ankles vertically to loosen or tighten the cuffs according to the wearer’s preference. The is otherwise unlined except for the cuffs which are lined with plain white cotton fabric.
It is worth noting that the name ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

for this type of embroidery is although the same across Iran and South Asia it is also sometimes commonly referred to as () in south Iran.
It is believed that the term ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

is derived from the phrase ‘badal kinari’ – cloud lining – popular during the Mughal period in India as net or fine silk were often embroidered with metal pieces giving them the look of clouds with bright lines around them.
However, upon crossing the Gulf and reaching the Arabian Peninsula the nomenclature of the embroidery changes to ( ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

/ ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

), while the cuffs of women’s trousers and shirts which are detachable and could be changed are called ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; tariq; badla; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

.
These embellished broad-cuffed are not just unique to south Iran but are equally famous across the Gulf in the countries across the Arabian Peninsula such as Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman. The quality of craftsmanship on this is so refined that it looks almost commercially produced in a factory, while in reality they are made at home by women of the region.
With cross-cultural lineages running deep between the communities living on either side of the Gulf, it is thus no wonder, that material culture such as this has found firm grounds on both sides.

Links

https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/techniques/knotting-and-netting/badla

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxiii

https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr

https://iranparadise.com/irans-traditional-dress/

https://www.fantasticirantravel.com/iranian-ethnic-costumes/

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxvii

https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/clothing-COM_7759?lang=fr#COM-10187

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-xxviii

https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/techniques/knotting-and-netting/badla

https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/daily-and-general-garments-and-textiles/

https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/individual-textiles-and-textile-types/daily-and-general-garments-and-textiles

Metal embellished trousers – Iran

Related Products