The Persians very gradually converted to Islam from the mid 7th century and later adopted the Arabic

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• The Persians very gradually converted to Islam
  from the mid 7th century and later adopted the
  Arabic alphabet. The artistic, architectural,
  literary and other strands of Persian culture
  flowered again and again despite periodic waves
  of invaders and internal rivalries.

The Safavid and Qajar dynasties preserved Iran
from Ottoman expansion. Although it never became
part of any European empire, Iran suffered the
effects of foreign imperialism which contributed
to the rise of nationalism in the later 19th
century. Iran is now a country of 66 million
people, 99 Muslim, with three main ethnic groups
and three main languages.
2
Dress History

• elements from a dress code practised in past
  centuries are pronounced Islamic and people are
  forced to adopt them as a symbol of their
  Islamic identity. Present-day Iran provides
  numerous examples of Islamic traditions whose
  origin, Islamic or otherwise, cannot easily be
  traced they must be seen as traditions invented
  in the service of re-Islamisation.
• Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism, Haideh
  Moghissi, 1999

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• When they leave the house, they are wrapped
  from head to foot in a large white veil, covering
  everything except their eyes. This veil is
  usually made from a single piece of cloth. They
  also wear bracelets of precious stones, and their
  fingers are ornamented with rings. The women of
  the lower status clothe themselves as well as
  they can.
• Cornelius Le Brun, in Persia 1702-4

4

• These women sitting in their separate area of a
  mosque in their white wraps have covered up their
  beautiful indoor clothes they wear for their
  picnic in a private garden.

5

• Ibn Battuta, in the 14th century, wrote of the
  women of Shiraz,
• These wear boots, and when out of doors are
  swathed in mantles and head-veils, so that no
  part of them is to be seen, and they are noted
  for their charitable alms and their liberality.
• The Travels of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354

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Life in Karbala would have been as restricted, if
not more so, than in cities in Iran but as we can
see there are still women in the streets.

• Square of Karbala, Iraq.
• Mirza-Mohammad-Khan Ghaffari, Golestan Palace,
  Tehran

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• Women preparing a picnic, 16th century.
• Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris

8
Women at home in Isfahan, 1873-97.Ernst
Hoeltzer, Isfahan in Camera, 1976

• They had their own quarters at home and
  maintained their segregation when out of doors by
  dressing themselves in voluminous trousers and an
  all-enveloping dark cloak or chadar over which a
  white veil rouband pierced with an
  embroidered lattice for the eyes was fastened.
  This photograph shows them at home in indoor
  dress consisting of a pirahan or long-sleeved
  shirt over a tumban or series of knee-length
  skirts. The hair is modestly covered by a
  chargat a square shawl folded in half
  diagonally and fastened under the chin.
• Isfahan in Camera, Jennifer Scarce, 1976

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Ladies round a samovar, Ismail Jalair, c 1865.
This painting shows a wealth of royal harem court
dress of that period. Victoria and Albert
Museum, London

• While one of the late Shahs was visiting Europe
  he saw the ballet dance and his fancy was so
  taken by the costume, that on his return he
  ordered all the inmates of the royal harem to
  adopt the same dress and as royalty always sets
  the fashion for the country, in a short time all
  the Muslim women of Persia had adopted this
  hideous fashion.
• The ladies do not like the fashion of the short
  skirts So ashamed were some of the women of
  their short skirts, that they would often take
  their long, flowing chuddars from their heads and
  wrap them around their waists, giving the
  appearance of a draped skirt.
• Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia, ME
  Hume-Griffith, 1909

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Women in political struggle

• Veiling has become perhaps the central symbol
  of the Islamic Republic the veil and proper
  veiling have become definitional symbols of a
  womans faith and loyalty. Although in
  traditional Islamic discourse the veil is related
  to modesty and morality, its transformation into
  a central symbolism of power has imbued it with a
  total religiopolitical significance as well.
• Women in Iran since 1979, Nikkie Keddie, Social
  Research, Vol. 67 No 2 Summer 2000

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• They have a saying in Tehran that when the
  women take part in chuluk (riot) against a
  cabinet of the government, the situation has
  become serious.
• The Strangling of Persia, Morgan Shuster,
• (US financial adviser brought in to help with
  reforms)
• 1912

STOP PRESS Nov. 30 1911 TEHRAN
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• A demonstration in celebration of Iranian women
  getting the vote, 1963.
• Mehr Iran, 1995

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The freedoms and rights women had gained
during the shahs regime did not apply to
everyone. Upper- and middle-class women, most of
whom were educated and could afford a few
dresses, enjoyed this apparent freedom, but most
Iranian women, either because of poverty or
religion, were still behind the veil. During the
revolution these homebound women, suddenly given
permission by their husbands to leave the house,
poured into the streets. Gholam-Hossein
Saedi, 1983, Telex Iran, Gilles Peress, 1997

• Pro-Khomeini meeting, Tabriz, December
  1979-January 1980.
• Telex Iran, Gilles Peress, 1997

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Decree of Imam Khomeini on the subject of Islamic
coverage.
Pattern of Islamic hijab.

• The body is the instrument of the soul , and the
  soul is divine air. This sacred instrument must
  not become a plaything of the desires, passions,
  and debauchery of anyone. Attention Working
  sisters must observe the following a) At the
  place of work, they must appear in full cover in
  conformity with the presented models without any
  sort of adornments b) The color of the manteau
  the outer gown should, preferably, be black,
  dark blue, brown, or dark grey c)The use of flat
  shoes in the workplace is mandatory d)The use of
  tight and fashionable clothing and any sort of
  makeup is prohibited. Committed brothers and
  sisters, we are ready to receive your
  constructive opinions and suggestions with regard
  to fighting social corruption.

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Wall slogan Tehran, The Veil Unveiled
Faeghal Shirazi
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• The Iranian parliament has more women members
  than the US Senate. What doesnt penetrate
  Western consciousness, however, is that forced
  uncovering is also a tool of oppression. During
  the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran,
  wearing the veil was prohibited. As an
  expression of their opposition to his repressive
  regime, women who supported the 1979 Islamic
  Revolution marched in the street clothed in
  chadors. Many of them did not expect to have
  this dress code institutionalised by those who
  led the revolution and then took power in the new
  government.
• An Identity Reduced to a Burka, Laila al-Marayati
  and Semeen Issa, 2002

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• Regarding Reza Shahs unveiling policy of 1936
• where local authorities could not achieve
  central government orders through persuasion ,
  they resorted to daily violence. This violence
  ranged from dismissing women who refused to
  unveil from their jobs, to pressuring local bath
  attendants to report on women who went to public
  baths veiled (sometimes through roof hopping), to
  instructing shopkeepers to refuse business and
  services to veiled customers, to tearing womens
  veils in public. The similarities between these
  measures and those undertaken by the Islamic
  Republic in the early 1980s to achieve
  reimposition of veiling are truly astounding.
• (Un)Veiling Feminism, Afsaneh Najmabadi, Social
  Text, 2000

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The first women MPs.Pioneering Women of Iran,
Mehr Iran, 1995
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• Tehran, March 9, 2000
• Women MPs Question Dress Codes
• Four Iranian women newly elected to parliament
  are questioning the need to wear the chador, the
  black head-to-toe wrap which has been standard
  garb for female MPs since the 1979 revolution, a
  Tehran daily reported Thursday.
• The four women, who won election on the reform
  ticket in last months polls, say a scarf
  concealing their hair and a long coat is
  sufficient to meet the requirements of Irans
  Islamic dress code.
• We are the revolutions first generation, and
  we carried out this revolution wearing a coat,
  said Tahereh Rezazadeh, who represents the
  southern city of Shiraz.

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Women continue to be arrested for improper
veiling. In November 1997, an Agence France
Presse correspondent in Tehran witnessed
approximately ten young women being arrested and
placed into a patrol car for improper veiling or
wearing clothing that did not conform to Islamic
regulations. The women were wearing colorful
headscarves and light make-up. In June Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei told senior official that it was
time "to crack down on wanton behavior by women."
By mid-August 1,800 women and men had been
arrested for "mal-veiling and lewd conduct." Most
of the women were wearing makeup or in the
company of young males who were not related to
them. Women who fail to conform to the strict
dress code are boarded on minibuses and taken to
a center for fighting "social corruption." Z
Magazine, October 1998
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• Here and There, a Burst of Color Is Now Islamic
• Under new guidelines issued by the ministry of
  Education, schoolgirls through fifth grade will
  be allowed to wear gay, light colors, including
  light blue, beige, pink, light green and yellow.
  Until now, only black, brown and navy blue were
  allowed.
• The use of light colors helps to create a
  cheerful atmosphere and to safeguard the mental
  health of students, the ministry directive
  stated. But loud and gaudy colors that are
  not in harmony with the spirit of education
  will not be allowed. Although the
  all-encompassing black chador remains the
  favoured Islamic dress, it in no way can be
  imposed upon students, the directive said.
• July 23, 2000 New York Times

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Iranian women vote for reform, February
2000. Vahid Salemi/AP/AAP
25
Codes, Modes and Customs

• Modern Iranian history may best exemplify the
  many possible alterations in the meaning of the
  veil in 1936, Reza Shah abolished the veil
  because he saw it as a sign of backwardness in
  1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran forced women
  to adopt the veil because the Iranian clergy
  regards it as a sign of progress along the
  ideological path of Islam. In a period of less
  than 50 years, the rulers of Iran have allotted
  the veil diametrically opposed meanings.
• The Veil Unveiled The Hijab in Modern Culture,
  Faeghah Shirazi, 2001

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• The Iranian woman was forced to unveil to fit
  Reza Shahs delusions of grandeur and forced to
  reveil to fit Ayatollah Khomeinis visions of
  true religion. She was told that by donning the
  veil, she would fend off the assault of Western
  culture. She was told that by sending her son to
  martyrdom, she would help save the Islamic
  Republic of Iran and support the defence of
  Islam. Ten years after the war with Iraq, she
  was told that by not veiling according to the
  guidelines of the clergy, she would cause the
  downfall of the Islamic Republic. In Iranian
  politics, the veil has proved to be the most
  effective weapon of the rulers, secular and
  clerical.
• Shirazi, 2001

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• These two young women display very similar
  characteristics of strength, self-confidence and
  attitude despite their different styles of dress.

28

• In contrast, these two images both show women
  together in space and time, but their dress and
  gestures speak of great differences in character,
  class and wealth.

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While mullahs and politicians continue to be
obsessed with items of dress, Iranian women
become more creative and artistically productive
in all art forms. What is important and relevant
about these women - and all artists - is their
creativity and not whether or how they wear a
headcover.

• photos Tavoos, Iranian Art Quarterly, 2000 and
  2001

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• "I view it as a kind of work uniform," claimed
  one female journalist. "I'm far more concerned
  about press restrictions than about dress codes."
• Iranian Womens situation has
• improved since the Islamic Republic,
• William Beeman, 2001

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• The notion that hejab fights consumerism and
  erases class distinctions is also wishful
  thinking at best. Class divisions in fact are
  deepening among women in the Middle East and
  North Africa. In Iran well-to-do women hide
  bold European fashions under the chador. It is a
  known fact that the ayatollahs wives and
  daughters and nouveau-riche mullahs are regular
  customers in exclusive boutiques selling
  brand-name imported clothing which other
  middle-class women cannot afford to buy. Even
  the material used for the chador itself varies
  considerably, signalling clear differences in
  class and wealth.
• Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism, Haideh
  Moghissi, 1999

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• Meanwhile nomadic and rural women continue to
  wear their traditional dress.
• Neither work nor dress has changed much over a
  century for these carpet weavers.

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• The Kurds traditionally lived mainly in the
  mountains and uplands where Turkey, Iraq and Iran
  meet, in the area known as Kurdistan for hundreds
  of years. Although the Kurdish people are
  overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, they embrace Jews,
  Christians, Yazidis and other sects. Of the 20
  million Kurds in the late 1990s, half lived in
  Turkey and a quarter in Iran where they make up
  10 of its people. Ethnically close to the
  Iranians they were traditionally nomadic herders
  but are now mostly semi-nomadic or sedentary.
  Dress is an important part of Kurdish culture.
• The style varies from one clan to another.
  Among the Banjanlu younger women tend to wear
  yellow or red velvet skirts decorated with bands
  of seven colours. They make the skirts from
  bought velvet, sew on the bands of seven colours,
  and sew patterned materials inside the hem. The
  hems of the skirts of older women, on the other
  hand, are decorated with striped or plain
  material. Amongst the Topkanlu, unmarried girls
  wear velvet skirts decorated with seven colours
  while the older women wear plain red skirts.
  Varanlu girls wear skirts of dark blue velvet
  with white flowers, and married women wear plain
  dark blue.
• Kurds of Khorasan, Mohammed-Hossein
  Papoli-Yazdi, The Nomadic Peoples of Iran, Tapper
  and Thompson, 2002

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• All Qashqai women wear the same style of
  clothes, whatever their age or the event. What
  varies is the colour of the fabric from which the
  costume is sewn, and it does so according to the
  age of the wearer and nature of the occasion.
  Thus dress for ceremonial occasions is not marked
  by variation in style instead, colour and a
  fixed combination of garments identify the
  costumes function.
• The Qashqai, Yassaman Amir-Moez, The Nomadic
  Peoples of Iran, Tapper and Thompson, 2002

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