An Interpretation of Urban Middle Eastern Clothing Layers

An Interpretation of Urban Middle Eastern Clothing Layers in the Middle Ages
Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania
December 2011, revised November 2013
Revised September 2018

Yedida Stillman, clothing researcher of the Middle Eastern types of the Middle Ages, identified a pan-Islamic style of dress (which excludes Persian culture) throughout the Medieval Middle East and Mediterranean.This pan-Islamic style would extend to the dress of Christians and Jews living under Islamic rule. [1] What we take away from this is:

• Pan-Islamic dress style was common in the Middle Ages for most of the Middle East: al-Andalus (Islamic Spain), Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, the Maghreb (North Africa not under Egyptian control).
•  Separate and distinct styles of dress would be found in Iran (Persia), Constantinople (Byzantine, then Ottoman), and the Far East.