Galabeya Research

Lord Grayfalk (partner-in-crime and fellow time traveler) is also shy a set of hot-weather garb for our hell-on-earth visit to the wilds of Victorville, and he's asked me to make him a set of Egyptian men's garb.

Now, I should clarify that when he asked this, it was delivered by way of, "you know those white robes you always see on diggers in Egyptology movies and Indiana Jones and stuff? I want one of those." This is approximately like calling a dealership and going, "you know that coupe they drive in LA? It's domestic, and it comes in blue? How much for one of those?"

So I made him do a little bit more research and show me what he's talking about. In no time, he came up with the modern version of this garment: he wants a galabeya. As they're worn today, they look like the photo on the left.

I did some additional research, but had some difficulty identifying when the galabeya came into being or how it's evolved. I've found some costume patterns which accompany cabaret-style bellydance costumes for women, which doesn't at all support any claim to accuracy.

I've found a couple sites which state that the galabeya is a Bedouin style, but if that's accurate, that means it could have come into use any time in the last seven THOUSAND years, since the term "Bedouin" is a generic name for a wide variety of Arabic desert-going nomads who have been around for 5000-7000 years. Photographs of Bedouin men show a garment similar to the galabeya (usually under a floor-length vest), with a variety of subtle distinctions, as far back as the late 19th century. Naturally, photographic evidence is not AVAILABLE before the late 19th century.

It's frequently assumed within the SCA and by costumers in general that Middle Eastern fashion has not changed at all over the millennia, and that's is safe to assume that anything described as "traditional" is how the Middle Easterns have dressed forever. Did we not wander out of the Garden and find the Eastern tribes garbed precisely as we see them today?

Not exactly.

It's ignorant and actually quite bigoted to treat the entire history of the entire region whence all culture originated as if its story were somehow simpler than our own. Consider how much the United States has changed in the two hundred and change years since the foundation of our unique culture. How can we assume that a culture which has existed for thirty times the lifespan of our own could be so simple?

From the information we do have, it's clear that there are many differences in conventions of dress from decade to decade, and tribe to tribe. Certain cultures, such as the Ottoman and Persian empires, recorded in great detail their fashions and we therefore know a lot about the evolution of styles in those cultures. While portraiture was generally frowned upon in Islamic culture of the middle ages, the wealthy frequently commissioned portraits, and miniatures were made in both cultures with a frequency suggesting no moral hesitation. Perhaps the peoples of the Egyptian deserts were more pious, because my searches for 17th century art from that period yields mostly textiles and earthenware (both gorgeous, but devoid of human figures).

Egypt was a province of the Ottoman Empire from 1600 until it was captured by Napolean in 1798.

European art of the 16th and 17th centuries depict Egyptians the way we imagine Cleopatra and the Pharaohs, but in the 19th century, European art shows Egyptians dressing much more similarly to the way we see them today. Obviously a substantial shift occurred, but when, and what did those transitional garments look like?

Aha! I discovered this 13th century embroidery by Egyptian Christians. The figures are not detailed, but they're wearing simple, long-sleeved robes that flare from the waist. And that's what I'm looking for! Armed with the knowledge that a flared full-length robe with long sleeves has in fact been spotted before the 17th century in Egypt, I can make my galabeya with a clear conscience.

And by that I mean I made it last night, and now that I've researched it completely, I feel better about it.

I made the galabeya very simply. There's a front, a back, gores in the sides to add flare, and sleeves. I'm adding gussets in the arm pits to allow for more movement, and then I'm pretty much done.

Turkesque Autumn Entari

Going over my wardrobe plans for Highland War I realized I was about half an outfit short, so I decided to break my self-imposed ban on new projects to actually turn my corded velvet into something wearable. I started out making an entari to reasonably period-accurate specifications, but I decided to do a sleeveless design. I'll probably add sleeves later in the season as colder wars come up.

Then I realized that because this fabric is heavy, drapey, and striped, the straight-cut period design didn't fit exactly right and looked very very square, whereas the lighter fabric I used last time hugged my shape really well with the original design. In any case, I decided to add subtle waist curves, which made for a much more flattering fit.

In the long term, I'll want to match this with a different gomlek, because the neckline of the gomlek is a little lower than the neckline of the entari, and that looks a bit silly. I also don't really like the bunchy sleeves with the sleeveless entari, so I think the next gomlek I make will be straight-sleeved, with a high, round collar.

What's Period About it?

• Material: under debate! I was of the impression that corded velvet was period-accurate, but I'm having trouble finding nonverbal evidence online. That doesn't mean the evidence doesn't exist, but the source is, in hindsight, somewhat dubious, so I'm setting about to do some more research.

What's NOT Period About it?

• Color: As with the other piece, this is a little bit too subdued in terms of colors. Also, stripes were worn by the lower classes, whereas velvets weren't. 
• Closures: Entari closures are typically button-and-loop or long frogs. I used metal hook-and-eye style broaches. I thought the gold leaves fit well with the autumn colors of the fabric, and since I knew I already wasn't going 100% period, I was less worried about straying than usual.
• Cut: as mentioned, the cut should be straight through the waist, and instead it's curved. I could have avoided this by starting my gores higher and cutting the waist seams straight but at a slight diagonal, but I didn't, so there we have it. As a result of both the tailoring and the fact that I cut it just an eensie bit too big, there isn't as much bust support as the green cotton entari offers, so I'll have to wear a bra with it.
• Sleeves: there aren't any, and there ought to be.

This is why I listed it as Turkeque. "Turkish" gives it far too much credit. It's more of a costume piece than an actual recreation, but it's pretty, and it's comfortable, and I'm ok with that.

Finished Turkish Outfit

As promised, finished entari with the rest of the outfit.

1. white cotton gomlek. You can't tell with the entari over it, but the gomlek is slit from the neck to the waist. The sleeves are extra-long because these are the sleeves that bunch up from the wrist to the elbow.

2. Black cotton pants. I'm cheating, because these are not really salwar but are loose, baggy pants that have a similar look, and they don't show a whole lot, so I'm not worried about it.

3. The entari itself, in all its recycled glory

4. Silk belt. I'm still figuring out what the belt situation should look like, but this is what I have for now.

Historical note: the front corners of the entari could have been worn down (as on the left) or tucked into the belt (as on the right) but not mixed. I did one up and one down to demonstrate the two ways it could be worn, and to more easily show the layers underneath. I'm probably going to be wearing mine down, since most of the ones worn up have a wide strip of silk on the inside edge as a decoration, and mine does not. Yet.

What's Period About it?

• Entari & Gomlek (mostly): cut & construction. The overall shape and construction of the entari conforms to period examples, creating an appropriate body line and providing bust support. The gomlek's sleeves are cut extra-long and bunched up the arms to create folds, a popular Turkish style.
• Layering: the layering shown here is appropriate for a Turkish lady who is hanging out inside. To leave the house, I'll add at least one more outer layer. I might also have another inner layer from shoulders to thigh, which would be barely visible.
• Material (kinda): pretty much this entire outfit is cotton, which was available to Turkish women through trade with Egypt, but it wasn't really popular for any of these garments. It's passable, but not ideal. I used cotton because I had these fabrics on hand.

What's NOT period about it?

• Colors: the salvar and belt are black, which was considered an evil color. Additionally, salvar were typically either white or a patterened color, so a solid color would be unusual. The green of the entari is a duller than what would have been available to a Turkish woman of the 16th century.
• Closures: The entari has semi-period closures. Frog closures something like these were common, but Turkish frogs were long and flat, rather than swirly like mine. The gomlek's closure uses a pearl bead and braided thread, which is period in style, but my "pearl" is glass and I have no idea of the fiber content of the white thread I had onhand. The pants are elastic. I made them in a hurry and until recently have been wearing them with my armor.

What Did Pirates Really Wear?

Since a lot of my travels put me in the company of 17th century pirates, I get asked a lot what actual pirates wore. There's a lot of confusion about what historical pirates might have looked like, and the simple reason is, pirates looked like everybody else. Pirates wore the best quality, most fashionable clothes they could get their hands on, and they dressed like anyone else in their time and (home) region. Piracy has existed for as long as boats have been used for commerce (about 4000 years), and as you might imagine, fashion has changed quite a bit.

Piracy has existed all over the globe, but I'm just talking about European pirates for now. Exploring the wardrobes of Asian pirates could easily take twice as long, and while indigenous North American peoples did engage in piracy, I don't know much about it.

Through the ages*:

The Sea Peoples

The Sea Peoples were a loose confederation of Aegean and Mediterranean pirates who preyed on Egyptian (and later, Phonecian) trade vessels. They are mentioned in hieroglyphics dating 3700-4000 years old. While the exact ethnic identity of the Sea Peoples is contested, it's theorized they were displaced Greeks. During Egypt's 20th Dynasty (Greece's Helladic period), both the Egyptians and the Greeks were wearing similar garments, based around a skirt-like garment of white linen secured with a belt. Greeks may have worn a knee-length tunic with a belt, but much of the limited art from the time shows men hanging out topless. Pirates generally would have been on the lower end of the economic scale, so a pirate of this time period would have been spotted in the simpler versions:



Goth Pirates (and their contemporaries)

A Goth pirate is not a sixteen year old Johnny Depp fan shopping at Hot Topic. The Goths were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who showed up around the 3rd century AD and kept making trouble until the 8th century AD. The Goths were accomplished pirates of the Aegean, Black Sea, and Mediterranean. Goth pirates looked quite similar to Vikings, who arrive on the scene later, from similar cultural and ethnic roots. I was unable to find images depicting EARLY goths, but by the 5th and 6th centuries, Goths were wearing long belted tunics with trim and straight ankle-length pants which were bound from the knee to the ankle. They wore leather shoes or boots. I think this image slightly exaggerates the number of weapons you'd find on a Gothic pirate's person, and a spear and shield, while effective against mounted troops, wouldn't be all that helpful on a boat. A short, heavy sword with a slashing (rather than stabbing) design is a more typical sailor's weapon. While traditional Gothic forces made use of chain maille armor, seamen typically go without due to sinking damage.

Further West, Saxon pirates were harassing Romans in modern-day France. Saxon pirates would have looked very similar to Goths.



About the same time, Irish pirates kidnapped St. Patrick and sold him as a slave to an Irish farmer. This gives some insight about what pirates were doing in the 5th century in Europe. An Irish pirate would have been wearing a long tunic-like dress called a léine (which was worn by both men and women). Portraits of St. Patrick  depict him wearing two léine layered together along with a cape. Other portraits of St. Patrick show a similar outfit with a belt, which would have been common for Irish men of his time. His pirate captors probably wore something similar (although the sleeves are a bit too narrow, the product of a portrait made significantly later):



Vikings

Though Vikings are frequently described as the "original" pirates, they didn't show up until the end of the 8th century AD and only stuck around until the mid 11th century. The lack of centralized governments made it easy for Scandanavian tribes to terrorize settlements in Western Europe, Italy, and even Northern Africa and North America. Vikings dressed very similarly to Goths, with loose, long tunics and straight pants bound from the knee down. The only significant difference is that since the Vikings came from colder climates, they were likely to have worn more fur.

The Neretva, The Baltics, and The Uskoks

Starting in about the 8th century AD, several Slavic tribes spread out across Europe took to piracy. The Neretva preyed on Venetian merchants until the early 13th century. While the Venetian navy was stationed locally, they'd sign truces and leave Italy alone, but while the navy was occupied elsewhere, they'd terrorize Venice and Sicily. The Baltic Slavs didn't have a highly developed agricultural system and were driven to piracy to avoid economic collapse, terrorizing the Baltic Sea from the 9th century AD to the end of the 14th century. Finally, the Uskoks were underpaid Slavic soldiers in the Adriatic who turned to part-time piracy to supplement their income. Weekend pirates. Hobby pirates. In any case, the Slavs were cultural and ethnic descendants from Viking settlers in modern-day Russia, and their wardrobe was very similar. Since the Slavic tribes settled southern Europe and traveled even further south, their versions of the Viking tunics are lighter, with shorter sleeves and vests rather than cloaks. They also seem to leave their pants loose rather than binding them below the knee.



About the same time, Arab pirates (who would have dressed much like the men on the left side of the above picture, in long, loose robes) were also exploiting opportunities in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. Muslim pirates established secret pirate havens, often on small islands.

Early Criminal Pirates

Piracy was officially outlawed in the 13th and 14th centuries (depending on the country), and governments started prosecuting individuals for the crime of piracy in addition to their individual acts. In 1241, a man convicted of piracy in England became the first man to be hanged, drawn and quartered, which I think must be the most horrible way someone could possibly be executed. During the 13th century in England and throughout much of Europe, men typically wore very long tunics, but working men wore shorter tunics and leggings, and would tuck their tunics into their belts for freedom of motion. I believe a sailor would likely have worn something akin to the working man's garb.



The Golden Age of Piracy (or, Pirates of the Caribbean)

From the mid 16th century to the early 18th century, colonization and war in the new world brought thousands of sailors, soldiers, and settlers to North and South America. English, Dutch, and French pirates and privateers raided the Spanish-controlled Caribbean and established famed pirate-friendly trading hubs like Tortuga and Port Royal. Meanwhile, pirates plundered and traded from New York to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Cuba was considered pirate-friendly into the 19th century, by which time most pirates had turned to slave trade.

The average sailor might have worn something like these men. Short pants, buttoned jackets, collared shirts, white or colored knee-high socks secured with garters, and leather shoes.



The captain, or a particularly successful crew, or a privateer of station (of whom there were several) might wear something more like the pirates we see in movies and ads. This depiction of the capture of Blackbeard has some familiar elements:



Many individual elements of the public's imagination of a pirate is more or less accurate to late 17th into 18th century fashion, but most pirates wouldn't have worn the latest fashions because they were sailors. Even on a successful ship, the individual sailor probably had neither the resources nor the storage space to waste on fancy clothes.

The Golden Age is the end of notable European piracy. The availability of slightly more legit work in the form of slave trade and the popularity of executing pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries caused piracy to dry up (no pun intended).

*I'm only talking about what men wore during these periods because female sailors were aberrant in pretty much all these periods, and if a woman did go to sea she was likely dressed as a man, either to conceal her sex or simply for practicality.

Turkish Entari Started

Last week I had a sewing day with my friend Niyo, where I started working on a Turkish entari made from a recycled duvet cover. The duvet cover was a lovely satin-finish cotton with green on green stripes. It seems everyone I know has a set of sheets in the same pattern (mine are black), but it was a nice lightweight cotton with very little stretch, so I knew it would be a sturdy and comfortable option for an entari, which is a support garment.

In Turkish ladies' clothes, the base layer is a sheer chemise-like garment called a gomlek which is generally long sleeved and goes at least to the knees. My gomlek goes to about mid-calf and has extra-long sleeves which are bunched up to create a lovely pattern of folds up the arms. Next comes the entari, which is a floor-length coat with 3/4 or full length sleeves. The entari closes with buttons, frogs, hooks, etc, and is shown open from the waist to the floor, and frequently from the neck to the base of the sternum. The entari is belted at the hips with a cloth sash or metal medallion belt, and the ends of the entari's front corners are often shown tucked into the belt.  The entari is frequently shown worn as the outermost garment in interior scenes, but the lady would layer additional garments over the entari when she went out.

The entari is cut with the same geometric lines of all Turkish garments, and the tightness of the garment through the ribcage along with the under-bust closure provides bust support.

This garment is frequently confused with a gawazee coat, which is a non-period garment frequently worn in the SCA that is fastened from the underbust to the waist but is cut under the bust and is usually worn with a decorated bra. Gawazees are also typically shorter, falling to the thighs or the knees, whereas Entaris are shown falling to the ankles or to the floor.

I made my Entari about the same way I would have made a cotehardie: two back pieces, two front pieces, two sleeves, with gores at the sides and back. The front is open all the way down.  After I cut out my pieces I found a pattern cut from a single piece for the back and front sections, with only the gores added in, but if I make another one I'll probably make it the same way since it fits so well! Entaris are shown with narrow and wide sleeves, stopping at the elbow or going down to the wrist. Because I'm making mine for hot weather and I'm planning to wear this with my gomlek that already has decorative sleeves, I opted for short, wide sleeves.

I finished the construction seams at Niyo's house, and hand-stitched the hem (as my sewing machine is in the repair shop). I've decided to use prefabed frog closures, which fit the general style of the period but aren't textbook correct. I had time to sew on two of them before rushing off to an event this weekend, but eventually there will be six, going from the collar down to a few inches below my natural waist.

My photo is a fit test the night before the event.

What's period about it?

• small round neckline. Period art shows high, small necklines, either round or v. Many of the necklines in reference art were even higher than mine, staying very close to the neck. The top is open to below the breasts and with support provides PLENTY of cleavage. There's no need for a lower cut. I was struggling to maintain modesty as it was.
• geometric seams. A lot of gawazees are cut with princess seams in front and back which adds significant complication to the construction process and provides less support. The measurements for my garment are based entirely around the waist. The upper part of the garment is supportive because the top is tight (having been cut to my waist measurement rather than curving up to the breast). The lower part of the garment allows for hip flare by having the gores go all the way up to the natural waist. It allows for full range of movement and perfect compliment to my shape. The front of the garment can hang closed as in the photo or slightly open to reveal the gomlek and salvar (pants) underneath.
• frog closures. Period examples show either a row of buttons or a row of frogs. However, period frogs looked a little different, being long and narrow, where mine are rounder in design. I think to get a period shape I'll need to make my own, which I'd like to try in the future.

What's NOT period about it?

• Fabric. I used cotton with a slightly shiny satin finish. Silks and velvets were most commonly used in period, including brocades, but cottons weren't on the list.
• Color. Turkish clothing was very bright. Advanced dye processes gave them access to shockingly bright colors, and they used them. The moss green fits my personal taste, but would have been too dull for a real Turkish lady.
• Pattern. I found tons of examples of solids and florals, but not stripes. Stripes are widely associated with middle eastern garb in the SCA, but I haven't found many resources that explain why.
• Frogs. As I mentioned, my frogs are in the right direction, but not QUITE correct.

Overall I'd consider this a 10 foot rule piece. Passable at ten feet, but not quite the real thing.