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ANALOGY AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ASIA MINOR CLOTHING STYLE AND THE LEVANT STYLE OF CLOTHING AND GARMENTS FASHION

DID THE MUSLIM PERSIANS, TURKS AND ARABS INFLUENCE ASIA MINOR WOMEN CLOTHING STYLE AND THE ART  OF DRESS-MAKING IN ARMENIA?

  A Special Essay by Professor Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette, WACJ Art Historian

tt A 19^th Century Lebanese Princess 

This is a historically authentic and bona fide traditional Lebanese dress with the famous Middle Eastern  Tantour headdress which was extremely en vogue in the 18^th and the 19^th centuries in Lebanon.  This gown is a part of the wardrobe of the Lebanese high society and nobility. It is characterized by an ankle length Ghambaz made out of silk brocade with  delicate silver threads. The  full-length underpants are pure silk and stylized as Turkish pantaloons.

Armenian women never worn dresses like this. They were too Turkish for them. Yet,  Christian women in Lebanon and Syria did. Many Lebanese designers believe that the Tantour is a Lebanese invention. Others argue that the Tantour is ethnically Ottoman. Upon researching the history of the Tantour and exploring the possibility that this striking looking ornament might have originated somewhere else, I found out that, the Tantour in origin is neither Lebanese or Turkish. It was first seen in the 4^th and 5^th centuries in French and Italian palaces and castles and later in the 7^th century, made its way to England.

This delightful dress is not to be considered as a Muslim woman dress. This dress appealed to both, Christian and Muslim women in Lebanon as well as to Syrian and Assyrian women in some regions in Syria. Lebanese women are know for their refined taste and elegance. From the beginning of the medieval times, the wealthy Lebanese women used to purchase their clothes, silk and their favorite textiles  directly from Florence, Italy. One of the ruling Princes of Lebanon, the famous Prince Fakher- El-Dinn (A Druze) was the firsr Middle Eastern to open the doors of import-export with Italy during the reign of the fabulously wealthy Kozmas.

During the Crusades, especially, the 1^st and the  2^nd Crusade, wealthy Lebanese families purchased Armenian silk, wool and lace from some of the Crusaders-Entrepreneurs who bought or acquired the Armenian goods during their passages in and out of Armenia. No doubt, Lebanese women remained the most elegant ladies of the Near and the Middle East region

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PALESTINIAN DRESSES

Bethlehem "Malak Khdari" or "Royal" dress and the "Shatweh" headdress with a  19^th  century striking headscarf. An authentic Palestinian dress in all its originality and beauty. Armenian women in Armenia never used it. But, some of the Armenian women who fled to Palestine because of the Armenian Genocide during World War One had a shot at it.

Rare Palestinian black Beit Dajan dress made in Jaffa. This dress, in its colors, cut and contours resembles  many of the Latvian, Estonian and Georgian dresses of the era. Close neighbors to the Armenians. Yet, Armenian women were not really impressed or taken by it.

Typical  Syrian village women’s dresses, favorite of  the Bedouin women and nomadic tribes. Syrian clothing style did not mean a thing to the Armenian women, nor it did influence Armenian dress-making. Kurdish women who lived in Christian Armenian areas did wear these dresses. These dresses were also worn by Muslim women living in Muslim areas in Lebanon such as Saida, Sour, Tripoli, Beirut, Bekaa, Baalbeck, etc.

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