The Ottomans were remarkably resistant to giving details about their clothes. If you wanted the names of five types of overcoats or two dozen types of silk, they were right on top of it; but if you wanted to know what those overcoats or those silks looked like, the Ottomans suddenly became very interested in rice pilaf recipes or a squirrel outside the window.
One blessed exception is the narh defterleri, the price lists that the authorities periodically drew up to set the maximum allowable cost for various goods. They set prices for food regularly, but did a full accounting decades apart–in Istanbul, in 1600, 1624, and 1640. The 1600 price list is low on details about clothing, but the 1624 list gives the expected length, waist and skirt measurements and the length and width of the sleeves, as well as the total yardage that was needed to make the garment.
1624 is not 1600. It’s a mistake to assume fashions didn’t change. However, one of the richest sources of Turkish-created costume information is the bazaar albums, which were compiled circa 1618-1620; so at the very least, the 1624 price lists can offer insight into what we see in the albums.
Comparison
Figures are rounded. Precise details are below.
| Garment | Length | |
|---|---|---|
| Kaftan, long | 151 cm, 59.4 in. | Ankle-length or slightly above |
| Kaftan, medium | 147 cm, 57.5 in. | “ |
| Kaftan, short | 142 cm, 56 in. | “ |
| Woman’s ferace | ||
| Kapama | 151 cm, 59.4 in. | Roughly ankle-length |
| Kürdiyye | 138 cm, 54.4 in. | Mid-calf |
| Dolama | 126 cm, 49.7 in. | Knee-length or upper calf |
| Yelek | 92 cm, 36.3 in. | Upper thigh, or slightly longer than the rear end |
| Zibin | 84 cm, 33 in. | Crotch-length |
I determined the lengths through the highly scientific method of determining that I wear a size small kaftan, subtracting nine centimeters (the longest kaftan length minus the shortest kaftan length) from the given lengths of the garments, putting a clip on a measuring tape, and hanging the tape off my back.
Measurements
The length of the common ell grew over the 16th and 17th centuries, from about 60 cm at the beginning of the 16th century, to about 62 cm at the end, to 67 cm in 1638. For convenience, I’ve used the 67-cm ell. The actual 1624 ell may have been slightly shorter.
- Endaze: One common ell, 67 cm./26.38 in.
- Rubu’: 1/8th of an ell, 8.375 cm/3.3 in.
- Girih: 1/16th of an ell, 4.19 cm/1.65 in.
- Arşin: Bez arşin, the “cloth ell” that was double the common ell, 134 cm./52.76 in.
The width measurements are sylphlike–an average waist of 59 cm/23 in., sleeve widths of 29 cm/11.5 in. or less. The Ottomans were not a sylphlike people. I believe garments were measured laid flat, so a waistline described as 7 rubu’ (59 cm, 23 in.) would be 118 cm/46 in. wide according to modern measurements.
That results in some truly voluminous garments. I doubt Istanbulites wandered about with their kaftans bagging around them, though. The price lists set the top prices allowable, so the standard garments may have been scaled for portlier customers, and slimmer customers could buy smaller garments for lower prices.
The skirt measurements, though… They’re bewildering. The skirt widths are equal to or smaller than the waist widths, which ought to lead to a city full of stylish pencil skirts and slim-fit robes of a cut that Littlefinger would envy. I theorize that the skirt is measured from midline to edge, minus any gores added to the front slit, so the average skirt width with gores would be a little more than twice the waist measurement.
Specific Garments
Kaftan
Three lengths:
- Arşin two rubu’, 150.75 cm/59.35 in.
- Arşin three girih, 146.57 cm/57.5 in.
- Arşin one rubu’, 142.38 cm/56.06 in.
Other price lists added a fourth size for women’s kaftans, which was generally one unit smaller than the smallest “regular” kaftan.
We know from drawings that kaftans varied in length from brushing the tops of the feet (the sultan, high court officials) to slightly above the ankle (commoners). This was the standard for the longest garment a person might wear, so the length of a kaftan should be taken as the scale against which all the other garments are compared.
For a comparison across time, the price lists for sellers of bogasi (cotton twill) “in the time of Sinan Paşa” set the length of a woman’s kaftan at one arşin and three rubu’. Presumably the source means Koca Sinan Paşa, who was Grand Vizier off and on from 1580 to 1596. Using the 61.2-cm/24.09-in. ell of the last quarter of the 16th century, a woman’s kaftan would be 145.35 cm/57.22 in. long, which is about the same length as a size medium in my calculated version of the 1624 price list… so the 1624 ell was definitely shorter than 67 cm.
Woman’s Ferace
Length: 2 rubu’ long
Waist: 7 rubu’, 58.625 cm/23.08 in.
Skirt: 7 rubu’, 58.625 cm/23.08 in.
Sleeve Length: endaze 7 rubu’
Sleeve Width: 3 rubu’
4.5 endaze of cloth
Kapama
Length: 1 arşin 2 rubu’, 150.75 cm/59.35 in.
The kapama is equal in length to the longest kaftan. Because the kapama, the only full-length overcoat listed in the 1624 narh defteri, is described as being as long as the longest kaftan, I believe all the garments are scaled to the largest size.
Price lists from the 1580’s and 1590’s describe the kapama as a less-than-full-length garment. The lists give the same length for a standard (male) kapama as for a woman’s kaftan–1 arşin 3 rubu’, using the shorter ell of the late 16th century–meaning that the average kapama was slightly shorter than a size short male kaftan.
Kürdiyye
Length: 1 arşun 1 girih, 138.19 cm/54.41 in.
Waist: 7 rubu’, 58.625 cm/23.08 in.
Skirt: 6 rubu’ 1 girih, 54.435 cm/21.43 in.
Sleeve Length: 1 endaze, 67 cm./26.38 in.
Sleeve Width: 3 rubu’ 1 girih, 29.33 cm/11.55 in.
3.5 endaze of cloth
The popular overcoat known as a kürdiyye
Dolama
Length: 1 endaze 6 rubu’, 126.25 cm/49.7 in.
Waist: 6 rubu’, 50.25 cm/19.78 in.
Skirt: 6 rubu’, 50.25 cm/19.78 in.
Sleeve Length: 1 endaze, 67 cm./26.38 in.
Sleeve Width: 3 rubu’ 1 girih, 29.33 cm/11.55 in.
3 or 3.5 endaze of cloth
The dolama was a knee-length or upper-calf-length robe with a closely fitted waist and full-length sleeves. If the sleeve width is taken around the upper arm, the sleeves are wide, even for a strongly muscled man. Unfortunately, there’s no indication of whether the sleeves were tapered and buttoned closed, or remained wide for the full length like a ferace’s sleeves.
Yelek
Length: 1 endaze 3 rubu’, 92.125 cm/36.27 in.
Waist: 6 rubu’ 1 girih
Sleeve Length: 7 rubu’, 58.625 cm/23.08 in.
Sleeve Width: 2 rubu’ 1 girih
1.75 to 2 agaç çukadan
The sleeves are 8.4 cm/3.3 in. shorter and 17 cm/6.6 in. tighter than the sleeves of the kurdiyye or dolama
OR
1 endaze 2 rubu’ boy, 1 agac 5 rubu’ çukadan
Zibin
Length: 2 rubu’ 1 endaze, 83.75 cm/32.97 in.
2 endaze of cloth (= 4 endaze of aba)
çakşır
endaze 7 rubu’ boy, 1 agac 6 rubu’ çukadan
4 endaze of broadcloth
Diz cakşir, 1.5 endaze of aba (= .75 endaze of regular cloth)