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Ottoman headdresses or Ottoman headgear is the style of headwear worn during the Ottoman Empire.

(Ottoman jewelry)

Royal headdresses in the Ottoman Empire showcased Islamic feather decorations on a turban. This type of headdress was one way to identify one’s high-ranking status.

Starting from the 19th century, sultans started wearing fezzes instead of turbans. The daughters of sultans also wore luxurious jewelry. When getting married, they would receive a variety of jewelry, including diadems, which were a form of veils with jewels.

Jewels were often lent to imperial and noble ladies to be worn for a short period of time and then returned to the Treasury. They covered their heads with small handkerchiefs and their faces with Brussels net veils. Other jewels like emeralds, rubies, and sapphires were worn all over their body.

(Elite Ottoman Women)

There are not a lot of records of women’s clothing at the time, so a lot of artwork is used to gain some understanding. Headdresses were typically a “tall pointed hat or a pillbox hat with an attached veil” that covered the entire head. The veils served to cover their faces during outings.

In the depictions of sultanas, typically their clothing is mostly fabricated with few references to what Ottoman women actually wore, so these images must not be considered perfectly accurate. In portraits, their clothing was very similar to European-style clothing with the headdress being the only distinguishing factor.

A portrait of Roxelana depicts her wearing a pillbox-shaped headdress with decorative jewels on the border. While her headdress illustrates popular styles in Ottoman women's headwear at the time, her clothing remains very similar to European-style clothing. This was a popular way of depicting women, specifically sultanas, back then.

A fictional portrait of La Sultana Rossa shows her wearing a pillbox-shaped headdress with decorative jewels. Again, popular styles in Ottoman women's headwear are illustrated with European clothing.

(The Westernization Process in Ottoman Women's Garments)

There were many factors that contributed to changes in Ottoman women’s garments, including the cost of materials, firmans, or royal declarations, and merchants who brought fabric and jewelry.

At the beginning of the 18th century, upper class women began wearing yashmaks, or veils that covered their faces when going out. Over time, the yashmaks became more transparent and wider with silver embroidery. As more changes were made to women’s clothing, yashmaks and feraces, or long coats for outdoors, were seen less as garments to cover the body and instead, decorative and ornamental styles.

In the 19th century, there were more extreme changes in women’s clothing. Headscarves, or yemenis, were thin enough that their hair was almost all visible. Other typically traditional garments combined Turkish and European styles of fashion.

Around the time of World War I, Turkish women began wearing head scarves tied below the chin instead of the charsaf, a robe-like dress that covered the whole body and head except for the eyes.

(The Law on Headdress and Regulations on Dressing in the Turkish Modernization)

The Law on Headdress came from Ataturk's revolutions and banned the Fez, a conical hat with a flat top.

There was also an order to forbid women from wearing veils or headscarves that would cover their faces.