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Cotton Chemise – Türkiye

Local Name	Gömlek
Object Category	Undergarment
Gender	Female
Place Of orgin	Asia
Region	Turkey
Object Range	Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Greece, North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, et al.
Dimensions	Length: 103 cm Width: 140 cm
Materials	Cotton
Technique	Machine Stitched Woven
Motif	Geometric
Provenance	Purchased, Jade Bréval, France 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	ZI2018.500642b ASIA

Object Note
Part of an ensemble with four more pieces (ZI2018.500642 ASIA, ZI2018.500642a ASIA, ZI2018.500642c ASIA, and ZI2018.500642d ASIA).

Object History 
This piece of garment was purchased by as a set of ensembles from Jade Bréval, an independent collector from France in 2018 to add to and enhance The Initiative collection.
Ms Jade Bréval who had travelled for over 15 years in and around Türkiye had collected items such as this from shops and individuals in small villages and towns that she visited.

Object Features 
This is a women’s chemise () of crushed cotton () fabric in plain ivory and red stripes.
It is a mid-calf length tunic dress with a small V-shaped neckline in the front and no fastening. The crushed quality of the fabric makes this almost body-hugging. The field is primarily plain except for strips of red fabric of similar material attached between the panels as a decorative element over the seams. A dainty red and ivory narrow lace () trimming with tiny flowers embellishes the cuffs of the straight long sleeves. The fall hem is stitched in such a way that it creates a wavy frill.
This kind of chemise would often be worn over a pair of trousers () and beneath a long jacket () and a short waistcoat with full sleeves (). At home, women would usually wear it as is with just the on top.
At its peak, the Ottoman Empire spanned three continents and served as the crossroads between the East and the West – the Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Eastern Europe including the Balkans till the southern edge of the Great Hungarian Plain, Northern Africa, and Eastern Mediterranean.
After the conquest of the Arab world in c. 1516-1517 CE its control over the Middle East lasted for four centuries until the early 20th century with the onset of WW I and the Arab Revolt. These four hundred years witnessed many instances of mutual Arab and Ottoman cultural influences and exchanges. Through areas such as social life and art – decorative and performing –we come across several instances of Arab and Turkish culture blending together through the centuries.
Just as European fashion was often inspired by the French court this socio-cultural blending between Ottoman Turkey and the Middle East was clearly reflected in its fashion and material culture.
Thus, while emulating Ottoman fashion as the mark of class in the Arab world was one side of the puzzle adapting Eastern European fashion particularly Balkan as part of mainstream couture culture because of the sizeable Balkan population within the Empire was another. Therefore, it is not surprising to find several articles of clothing and their terms similar between the two cultures.

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