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Fashion in the 16th and 17th Century Ottoman Bursa
Abstract
This study aims to explore fashion consumption of the Ottoman Muslims living in Bursa during the 16th and 17th centuries. Fashion consumption has been identified as an important indicator of the development of early modern western consumer culture but has not been studied in a detailed way for the Ottoman context. Most of the studies in general focus on the fashion consumption of elite or the palace in Istanbul. This study rather focuses to a relatively modest city Bursa, which is a hub in the midst of the trade networks and a famous textile production center. In this study, fashionable goods - novel goods and materials and innovative styles- of the everyday life is identified and the changes in the consumption of these goods in relation to different classes and income groups are examined in detail. Bursa probate inventories dating from mid-sixteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries were used in conjunction with other official sources and literary sources. Four probate inventory books (2 belonged to beledi / ruled class and two belonged to askeri / ruling class) are compared. Official sources such as narh records (price lists), decrees, and ihtisab codes (codes related with market operations and production) are utilized. In addition, literary sources like travelers' notes, poetry, and etiquette of the period are used. Three hundred and sixty four probate inventories were transcribed, objects were categorized according to their place of usage (clothing, accessories, home furnishing, kitchenware). Through statistical comparisons, goods, which were not present in the 16th century but appeared in 17th century, are considered as fashionable items. Next, their frequency of acquisitions according to different classes and income groups are identified. The symbolic meanings of these goods and materials are searched among the literary sources depending on the availability of the data since fashion is a was of communication of identities in the social arena. Findings demonstrate that fashion items were more popular in clothing and accessories rather than home furnishing and kitchenware categories. In general, chi-square comparisons show that novelties were consumed by both of the classes but the materials and qualities change according to class. There are some exceptions, which might indicate the formation of specific class tastes rather than emulation as the only type of diffusion mechanism. Possible reasons for diffusion of fashion through the society will be discussed.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Anatolia
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
13th-18th Centuries