Diversity Of Costume

Wednesday 11th of february 16:00

The folk costumes of Eastern Europe, The Mediterranean region and the Arab world were of astonishing variety, and those of Palestine, in their diversity and richness, must rank amongst the most beautiful. Palestine was a major cross roads of civilization, a part of the Fertile Crescent where man had his beginning and a holy place for three religions. Accordingly it was subject to the influence of many other civilizations as well as to invasion from quarters. From 3000 BC there had also been regular migrations northwards from Arabian Peninsula. By the seventh century AD Islam and Arabic language were spreading throughout the entire region, providing an overall unity of thought and culture.

The reasons for the diversity of costume are numerous. A Palestinian once questioned on why each village or tribe had had its own version thought it might have been because so many invaders, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Crusader and Turk, had passed through. Certainly each group must have left something of itself behind. The influence of the invader can be seen in, for example, the costumes and embroidery of those east European countries which came under Othman domination. But innumerable other factors playa part in the make-up and heritage of a country. Lack of communications probably contributed, but it should be remembered that the Islamic world was always a mobile one. Not only did people move about for reasons of pilgrimage, invasion and trading activities, but scholars and craftsmen gravitated towards centers of power. Sultans and emirs were not merely soldiers but patrons of the arts who invited the best craftsmen to work in their capital. They were often skilled calligraphers and poets themselves. One Ottoman sultan was a master goldsmith, another a master Gardner.

The annual Hajj to Mecca brought pilgrims from all over the world with its consequent mingling of peoples and spreading of ideas. In addition, Villagers and nomads were always proud of their smaller traditions which developed within a larger one. The human spirit always seems to retain a certain individuality even though somewhat constricted by society. It is possible too that in the distant past costume played part of distinguishing between warring parties. The climate and religious and other beliefs also played their part. Before the advent of Islam the basic outlines of Middle Eastern garments were loose and following and the religion encouraged a behavior and appearance for both men and women. Aside from being suitable for frequently harsh climatic conditions, such garments did not reveal too much of the figure so preserving decorum in appearance and conduct.

Diverse motifs were favored in Palestinian embroidery and costume as Palestine's long history and position on the international trade routes exposed it to multiple influences. The tradition of village women embroidering in locally distinctive styles was at its height in Ottoman-ruled Palestine.
Palestinian clothing represented in current collections spanning the early 19th century to World War I show "traces of similar styles of clothing represented in art over 3,000 years ago. Women would sew in items to represent their heritage, ancestry and affiliations. Triangles, used as amulets, were often used to ward off the "evil eye", a common superstition in the Middle East. Large blocks of intricate embroidery were used on the chest panel to protect the vulnerable chest area from the evil eye, bad luck and illness. To avoid potential jinxes from other women, an imperfection was stitched in each garment to distract the focus of those looking.
The cypress tree motif is found throughout Palestine in many complex and simple forms. Other Palestinian motifs are derived from quite basic geometric forms such as triangles, squares and rosettes. In the late 1930s, new influences introduced by European pattern books and magazines promoted the appearance of curvilinear motifs, like flowers, vines or leaf arrangements, and introduced the paired bird motif which became very popular in central Palestinian regions.
 
Girls would begin producing embroidered garments, a skill generally passed to them by their grandmothers, beginning at the age of seven. Since most young girls were not sent to school, much of their time outside of household chores was spent creating clothes. Much of this would be preparation for their marriage trousseau (jhaz) which would consist of all dress requirements for future life including everyday and ceremonial dresses, jewelry, veils, headdresses, kerchiefs, girdles, belts, undergarments and footwear.
Shelagh Weir, author of Palestinian costume (1989) and Palestinian embroidery (1970 and 1988), demarcates embroidery distribution patterns in Palestine by painting two horizontal lines : the first running south of Mount Carmel and the Sea of Galilee at the longitude of Afula, and the second running north of Jaffa and south of Nablus from the coast to the Jordan River. Her research indicates that in the area between these two lines there is very little history of embroidery, though there remains evidence of traditions of fine decoration, including braid work and appliqué, in women’s costume.
Longstanding traditions of embroidery were found in the Upper and Lower Galilee, and in the Judean Hills and on the coastal plain. Weir writes that cross-stitch motifs may have been derived from oriental carpets, and that couching motifs may have origins in the vestments of Christian priests or the gold thread work of Byzantium
Before the appearance of synthetically dyed threads, the colors used in Palestinian embroidery were determined by the materials available for the production of natural dyes: "reds" from insects and pomegranate, "dark blues" from the indigo plant: "yellow" from saffron flowers, soil and vine leaves, "brown" from oak bark, and "purple" from crushed murex shells. Shahin argues that the colors used in Palestinian embroidery include the ancient color schemes of the Canaanite and Philistine coast: red, purple, indigo blue and saffron and that more recently, Islamic green and Byzantine black were added to the traditional palette.
 
Northern Palestine is one of the richest and most diverse regions in terms of traditional costume, which varied among the differing social classes and religious sects that inhabited upper and lower Galilee.
The basic wardrobe of the fellaheen woman in the Galilee consisted of the robe (thob) and libas (pants) with a jillayeh (coat), and a smadeh (hat with coins). Embroidery was used throughout this region. In the 1860s, H.B. Tristram described costumes in the villages of El Bussah and Isfia as being either "plain patched or embroidered in the most fantastic and grotesque shapes". Satin stitch, diagonal satin stitch, cross-stitch, stem stitch and joining stitch were popular, and are preserved in examples of Galilee costume held in collections today.
Coats in this region from the 19th century exhibit the use of varying techniques and fabrics. Often coats were made of hand woven cotton with front sections decorated in a rich patchwork of silk or taffeta appliqué (heremezy) and ikat-dyed silk weaves, with back panels embroidered with silk thread in carpet-like designs of geometric motifs.
Nablus costume had a distinctive style using colorful combinations of fabric. As an important trade centre with a flourishing souq, items available in 1882 included a large choice of fabrics, from Damascus and Aleppo silk to Manchester cottons and calicos. Garments were similar in construction to those in Galilee, with the wearing of both long and short Turkish style jackets over the thob. Thobs for daily wear were often made of white cotton or linen, with a preference for winged sleeves. Costumes for summer often incorporated interwoven striped bands of red, green and yellow on the front and back, with appliqué and braid work popularly decorating the qabbeh.

Central Palestine
 
Woman in Bethlehem. Note her sha'weh headdress and her short taqsireh jacket; both typical of the Bethlehem-area.
The hill country of Judaea formed the eastern half of central Palestine, encompassing four important towns: Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Three distinct styles of Palestinian costume with embroidery as the major feature were produced here. Outside of the taqsireh used for special occasions in Bethlehem, Turkish influence is less apparent in central and southern Palestine costumes than in the north.

Ramallah costume used a white linen fabric (roumi) for festive dresses and scarves; in winter, indigo-dyed linen was used. Embroidery was predominantly red cross-stitch of silk thread whose contrast against white linen give Ramallah garments their stylistic distinctiveness.Ramallah was known for a great variety of very distinguishable finely executed patterns. The qabbeh panel was often a separate piece of cloth that was then stitched to the dress, and in some garments extended from the chest over the back and shoulders. Other features of Ramallah costume included sleeve embroidery and two vertical bands on the front and back of the skirt covering the seams with an embroidered shinyar panel fitted between the vertical bands on the back hem.
Popular Ramallah motifs included: the tall date palm arranged in horizontal rows, a rainbow design (qos), the leech (lalaq), the star (nujum) and "moon feathers" (qamar-ish). Motifs with European missionary and earlier Turkish and Greek influence were used as well, such as flowering plants, irises and birds. The smadeh was of a type that was once also worn throughout northern Palestine: a small roundish cap, padded and stiffened, with gold and silver coins set in a fringe. A long veil was pinned to the back, sometimes of silk and sometimes embroidered.
Bethlehem costumes and embroidery were popular in villages throughout the Judaean Hills and the coastal plain and the women embroiderers of Bethlehem and the neighbouring villages of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour were known to be professional producers of wedding costumes.

Bethlehem was a center for embroidery producing a "strong overall effect of colors and metallic brilliance."
Less formal dresses in Bethlehem were generally made of indigo fabric and a sleeveless coat (bisht) was worn overtop, made from locally woven wool. Dresses for special occasions were made of striped silk with winged sleeves and the short taqsireh jacket, known throughout Palestinian as the Bethlehem jacket, was worn overtop. The taqsireh was made of velvet or broadcloth, usually with heavy embroidery.
Bethlehem work was unique in its use of couched gold or silver cord, or silk cord onto the silk, wool, felt or velvet used for the garment, to create stylized floral patterns with free or rounded lines. This technique was used for "royal" wedding dresses (thob malak), taqsirehs and the shatwehs worn by married women. It has been traced by some to Byzantium, and by others to the more formal costumes of the elite of the Ottoman empire. As Bethlehem was a Christian village, local women were also exposed to the detailing on church vestments with their heavy embroidery and silver brocade.
Hebron and the surrounding villages of Beit 'Ummar, Bani-Na'im, Beit Jibrin, Dhahriyyeh, Dura and Samula produced some the richest and most beautiful forms of Palestinian embroidery. Fabrics used included handwoven linens, cottons and indigo-dyed silks cut similar in manner to Ramallah dresses, often with long sleeves. The embroidered areas on Hebron area dresses were much larger and denser than those of Ramallah with the sides and back also embroidered in vertical patterns.
The standard embroidery stitch was cross-stitch with fishbone used as a joining stitch. Dresses for special occasions used the heremezy technique, with triangular and diamond silk appliqué patches with significance attached to them as amulets. The (qabbeh) was similar to the Ramallah style using the rainbow (qos) to determine composition. Motifs on the (qabbeh) would often be repeated on the shinyar of the skirt and included stars, triangles, grapes, cypress trees, and birds, among others.
 
 
- Jerusalem never developed any indigenous style of costume, tending to borrow from local and international influences manifested in its cosmopolitan population. The major local influences on Palestinian garments from Jerusalem came largely from Bethlehem and Ramallah. Jerusalem dresses tended to be of the basic Ramallah style with decorative panels often embroidered in Ramallah, while using completely different fabrics from those traditionally used in the Ramallah district. A dress with quilt-like patches known as the thob abu qutbeh, "the dress of pieces", was made from long patches of Aleppo or Damascus silk or velvet (or in some cases, Syrian embroidered fabrics) with a Bethlehem qabbeh sewn onto the chest.
Lifta (near Jerusalem), and Beit Dajan (near Jaffa) were known as being among the wealthiest communities in their areas, and the embroidery produced there was among the most artistic. Beit Dajan was an influential centre of weaving and embroidery until 1948. Costumes used varied techniques, often adopted from other regional styles. A Bethlehem woman who visited the town in 1930s was credited with introducing the rashek style of embroidery, a local imitation of the Bethlehem style. White linen garments inspired by Ramallah styles were also popular, using patchwork and appliqued sequins in addition to embroidery.
A popular motif was the nafnuf design: a floral pattern thought to be inspired by the locally grown orange trees. The nafnuf design changed after World War I becoming embroidery running in long panels known as "branches" (erq). It is the forerunner of the "6 branch" style dresses worn by Palestinian women in different regions today.
The central coastal plain extending from the base of the Judaean Hills to the Mediterranean sea was an agriculturally rich area, containing the towns of Jaffa and Majdal. In Majdal, very little embroidery was used with the fabric itself forming the main feature, often made up of strong stripes of purple, magenta or green.
[edit] Southern Palestine
Gauze (gazzatum in Medieval Latin) is reputed to have originated in Gaza and transported to Europe by the Crusaders. Cloth for the Gaza thob was often woven at nearby Majdal. Black or blue cottons or striped pink and green fabrics that were made in Majdal continued to be woven in the Gaza Strip up by refugees from the coastal plain villages until the 1960s. Thobs here had narrow, tight straight sleeves. Embroidery was less thick than that of Hebron. The most popular motifs included: scissors (muqass), combs (mushut) and triangles (hijab) often arranged in clusters of fives, sevens and threes, since the use of odd numbers is considered in Arab folk legends to be effective against the evil eye. The heavy use of triangular motifs and designs with amuletic significance exemplifies the similarities in styles and traditions of the southern fellaheen and the local nomadic bedouin tribes.
 
 
Bedouin in the Sinai wore costume modified for the desert environment, consisting of a thob, libas, and shambar as worn by the fellaheen, but added to these was the faceveil, or burqa. The burqa was used by bedouin women as a means to display wealth and status. Hanging from a narrow band at the forehead, it covered the nose, mouth and neck areas. The basic thob was cut fuller than that of the fellaheen, either with narrow sleeves and no cuffs, or sleeves of a long winged style called abu erdan. Usually made of heavy cotton, poplin or sateen, black was the preferred colour and Sinai and Negev bedouin women used the same brightly colored embroidery cross-stich used throughout Palestinian villages. The focus for the embroidery was not the qabbeh but rather the shinyar at the back of the dress which was decorated with heavily embroidered block-like geometric forms in heavy cross stitch. Embroidered shawls of black cotton or silk were worn for special occasions with embroidery centred down the shawl so that the design extended from the top of the head to the embroidered back panel of the dress. El Arish was a village that meshed bedouin styles with those of the Palestinian villages.