In the northwest of Iran lies Azerbaijan. The region is comparable to neighbouring districts of Turkey to the west, and the modern republic of Azerbaijan to the north, with respect to ethnic origins of the local people, their culture and their local language.
In addition to the large settled groups of the local people, the so-called Azeris, there are a number of nomadic and semi-nomadic groups living in this part of Iran. The most important are the Shahsavan.
Azeri dress
In general, older men tend to wear suits made up of waistcoats, jackets and trousers, with either a skullcap or a flat cap of some kind. In contrast, younger men tend to wear pan-Iranian style clothing, notably, a light coloured shirt with trousers and a belt, and no headgear at all. The garments worn by Azeri women usually consist of narrow under trousers, which tend to be black for older women and a darkish blue or brown for younger women. Girls, in contrast, often wear bright and colourful under trousers. Skirts and a top of some kind, or in the case of older women a mid-calf length dress, are worn over the trousers. The most distinctive feature of these outfits is the headscarf fastened in what is locally regarded as the Turkish manner, namely, with the knot at either the top of the head, or at the nape of the neck, rather than in front as is common in the pan-Iranian way.
Shahsavan dress
The name Shahsavan is given to various tribal groups who mainly live in northwestern Iran. Most are descendents of Turkish Oghuz or Ghuzz people who came to Iran from Central Asia about 1,000 years ago, together with other Turkic groups, some of whom settled further west in what is now called Turkey. At the end of the twentieth century there were about 300,000 Shahsavan, most of whom are settled, although there are about 6,000 families who remain nomadic.
A distinctive item of men's clothing are their hats. Indeed the Shahsavan hats are generally regarded to set them apart from non-Shahsavan. There are two types. The official Iranian dress reforms of the 1930's meant that men had to adopt to Western style clothing, including Western styles of headgear. As a result, Homburg hats (shapo, compare the French chapeau) became fashionable among the Shahsavan. After the Second World War (1939-1945), younger men began to wear the peaked Jamshidi-style cap, while older men continued to wear homburgs. The Jamshidi is now regarded by the Shahsavan as the tribal hat.
A woman’s outfit consists of five main elements: a full-length tunic (kuynak), a tailored waistcoat, several wide full-length underskirts (dizlik) gathered at the waist, and a small skullcap, and two headscarves (yaylik and kalayagi). The bell-shape appearance of the women’s dress is achieved by wearing at least two or more full length underskirts, while on special occasions up to five skirts may be worn. The waistcoats worn by younger girls tend to be made out of red material decorated with braids, buttons and coins. The waistcoats of married women are normally more sombre, and are often made out of men’s suiting.
The headdress is one of the most important elements of the dress worn by a married woman. Its shape, size, colour and complexity are used to denote the wearer’s status. The basic headdress is created with two scarves, both of which are made of hand printed silk. The large scarf (yaylik) is about 150 cm square and decorated in a variety of colours. The most common combination for the yaylik is white, yellow and orange, patterned with darker colours. The smaller scarf (kalayagi) is smaller and is normally the darker of the two. It is rolled diagonally and tied tightly around the large scarf and the skull cap in order to keep them in place. As a rule, Shahsavan women will partially veil their faces in the presence of unrelated men. This is done by bringing part of the yaylik across the lower part of the face covering the nose, mouth and chin.
