Garments could be fully lined, half-lined to the hip, or unlined, and the lining could be made of silk, cotton, or the ultimate in luxury, fur.
There’s no discernible pattern to which garments were fully lined, half-lined, or unlined. (Or rather, we don’t know enough about the use of each extant garment to find a pattern.) You’re free to choose based on practical considerations:
- A full lining is warmer, and can improve the hang of a garment. The right lining fabric can add body to a too-light outer fabric. If the back of a brocade isn’t as attractive as the front, a full lining will hide it. And, of course, a full lining can add a zap of contrasting color when you tuck up your skirts.
- A half-lining also adds warmth, and reduces wear on the portions of the garment that rub against your body the most.
- An unlined garment is cooler than a lined one, and it takes less time to sew.
Construction Details
Color
Among extant garments, the most common lining color was white. There are also cotton linings that Topkapi Museum catalogs describe as salmon, pink, (word), or (word), but in photographs, they all look like plain unbleached cotton or cotton that’s gone brown with time.
White linings were acceptable to the color-loving Ottomans because by and large, the lining didn’t show. The flashes of color you see in miniatures are the facing, the bands of fabric edging the inside of the garment. The only time the lining showed was when the wearer tucked their skirts up, which no one did for show–it was a utilitarian gesture designed to get your skirts out of the way so you could work.
But you’re not into Ottoman garb because you want to line your kaftans with plain-ass white. Here are some of the lining colors documented to 16th-century garments, courtesy of Silks for the Sultans:
- Deep red (p. 134)
- Yellow (p. 92)
- Pale blue (p. 80)
- Coral. A questionable description. The photograph (p. 107) looks like unbleached cotton, not any shade of red dye.
The lining color should contrast with both the outer fabric and the facing. The Ottomans liked color, the more the better, and the virtue of natural dyes is that it’s almost impossible to clash; so if you can get red AND yellow AND green into one garment, you definitely should. And then you should wear it with orange trousers and a blue sash. Because you are a goddamned fashion plate.
Fabric
The usual lining was boğası, a strong cotton twill
Method
The period method was bag lining, with the shell and lining attached together with facing rather than being stitched together at the edges.
Bag lining vs. interlining – Interlining isn’t period, but it overcomes a lot of beginner’s problems.