International Journal of Turcologia, cilt.12, sa.24, ss.5-33, 2017 (Hakemli Dergi)
The appearance and dress are described as the essential components of etiquette rules, good manners and self-representation in late Ottoman etiquette books, manuals and writings. As a fundamental issue of the modernizing process, dress is discussed in a variety of contexts in etiquette books such as identity, gentility, propriety and status as well as hygiene and comfort. This article discusses the place and importance of dress and appearance to the state, society and individuals and its symbolic meaning in the late Ottoman context and tries to reveal how late Ottoman etiquette writers approach the issue and how they determine proper clothing for men. It investigates the basic forms in order to explore the current trends, styles, and types of the period more fully and discusses how the forms and composition of clothes determined a vocabulary which reveals the direction and stimulation of transformation and change in clothing and manners.