Fez (hat)

A fez

The fez (Turkish: fes), also called tarboosh (Arabic: طربوش‎, romanized: ṭarbūš,^[1] derived from Persian: سرپوش‎, romanized: sarpuš, lit. 'cap'), is a felt headdress in the shape of a short cylindrical peakless hat, usually red, and sometimes with a tassel attached to the top. The name "Fez" refers to the Moroccan city of Fez, where the dye to colour the hat was extracted from crimson berries.^[2] The modern fez owes much of its popularity to the Ottoman era.^[3][4]

The Fez became a symbol of the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century. In 1827, Mahmud II mandated the Fez as a modern headdress for his new army, the Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye. The decision was inspired by the Ottoman naval command, who had previously returned from the Maghreb having embraced the style. In 1829, Mahmud issued new regulations mandating use of the Fez by all civil and religious officials. The intention was to replace the turban, which acted as a marker of identity and so divided rather than unified the population.^[5][6] The fez was subsequently outlawed in Turkey in 1925 as part of Atatürk's Reforms.

History[]

Portrait of the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II after his clothing reforms

Ottoman soldiers wearing Fezzes during the Greco-Turkish War (1897)

The Turkish fez got its name from the Moroccan city of Fez, the source of the crimson berry once used to dye the felt.^[7][8][9] The hat itself is either of ancient Greek,^[7][8] Moroccan^[10] or Turkish origin.^[9][11] It was popular especially during the later period of the Ottoman Empire and its use spread throughout the empire.^[12][9][13]

According to historian Jeremy Seal, the Fez is Turkish in origin and was ordered by Sultan Mahmud II as a modern alternative to the turban that allowed Muslim men to prostrate while praying.^[11]

17th century, medieval Turkish historian Evliya Celebi describes Algerian men wearing the Fez.^{[10][dubious – discuss]}

Initially, the Fez was a brimless red, white, or black bonnet over which a turban was wrapped (similar to a wrapped keffiyeh). Later the turban was eliminated, the bonnet shortened, and the color fixed to red. Praying while wearing a Fez—instead of a headdress with brim—was easier because Muslims put their heads to the ground during Salah (daily prayers).^[14]

In 1826, Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire suppressed the Janissaries and began sweeping reforms of the military. The modernized military adopted Western style uniforms and, as headdresses, the fez with a cloth wrapped around it. In 1827, 50,000 fezzes were ordered from Tunis for the sultan's troops.^[15] In 1829 the Sultan ordered his civil officials to wear the plain Fez, and banned the wearing of turbans.^[16] The intention was to coerce the populace at large to update to the Fez, and the plan was successful. This was a radically egalitarian measure, which replaced the elaborate sumptuary laws that signaled rank, religion, and occupation, foreshadowing the Tanzimat reforms. Although tradesmen and artisans generally rejected the Fez,^[17] it became a symbol of modernity throughout the Near East, inspiring similar decrees in other nations (such as Iran in 1873).^[16]

To meet escalating demand, skilled Fez makers were induced to immigrate from Tunisia to Istanbul, where factories were established in the neighborhood of Eyüp.^[15] Styles soon multiplied, with nuances of shape, height, material, and hue competing in the market. The striking scarlet and merlot colors of the Fez were initially achieved through an extract of cornel. However, the invention of low-cost synthetic dyes soon shifted production of the hat to the factories of Strakonice, Czech Republic (then in the Austrian Empire).^{[citation needed]}

The 1908 Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina resulted in a boycott of Austrian goods, which became known as the "Fez Boycott" due to the near-monopoly the Austrians then held on production of the hat. Although the headdress survived, the year-long boycott brought the end of its universality in the Ottoman Empire as other styles became socially acceptable.^{[citation needed]}

Symbolism[]

The fez was a symbol not only of Ottoman affiliation but also of religious adherence to Islam.^[18] It was also the main headdress for Christians and Jews during the Ottoman Empire.^[19] Jewish men wore the Fez and referred to it by the Arabic name "Tarboush", especially Arab-Jews (mostly Syrian and Palestinian).^[20][21] In southern Asia, the Fez had been adopted due to its links with the Ottoman Empire.

Through the 19th and early 20th centuries the fez was the preferred headwear for Christians and Muslims in the Balkans, which at the time was still mostly under Ottoman suzerainty. There were variations on the fez in the Balkan states, mainly involving the addition of religious symbols on the front. In semi-independent Montenegro, a client state of the Ottoman Empire that enjoyed complete autonomy, its Orthodox citizens wore their fezzes with a Greek cross on the front. Supporters of the Illyrian movement among South Slavs, especially in Croatia, wore their fezzes with a star and crescent on the front irrespective of religion, believing that the symbol predated the introduction of Islam in the Balkans. In 1850, regulations in the newly-autonomous Principality of Serbia concerning uniforms of ministerial officers specified the wear of red fezzes displaying the Serbian coat of arms.^[22]

Over time, the fez came to be seen as part of an Oriental cultural identity. Seen as exotic and romantic in the west, it enjoyed a vogue as part of men's luxury smoking outfit in the United States and the United Kingdom around the turn of the 20th century. The fez had become so symbolic of tradition to the point that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk banned it in Turkey in 1925 as part of his modernizing reforms.^[23]

Today, the fez is worn by many, most prominently in Morocco.^[18] In Morocco, it became a more pronounced cultural symbol in the 20th-century against French dominance. It is still favoured among the royal court.^[18]

Military use[]

A version of the fez was used as an arming cap for the 1400–1700s version of the mail armour head protector (a round metal plate or skull-cap, around which hung a curtain of mail to protect the neck and upper shoulder). The red fez with blue tassel was the standard headdress of the Turkish Army from the 1840s until the introduction of a khaki service dress and peakless sun helmet in 1910. The only significant exceptions were cavalry and some artillery units who wore a lambskin hat with coloured cloth tops.^[24] Albanian levies wore a white version of the fez, resembling their traditional qeleshe. During World War I the fez was still worn by some naval reserve units and occasionally by soldiers when off duty.^[25] The Evzones (light infantry) regiments of the Greek Army wore their own distinctive version of the fez from 1837 until World War II. It now survives in the parade uniform of the Presidential Guard in Athens.

From the mid-19th century on, the fez was widely adopted as the headdress of locally recruited "native" soldiers among the various colonial troops of the world. The French North African regiments (Zouaves, Tirailleurs, and Spahis) wore wide, red fezzes with detachable tassels of various colours. It was an off-duty affectation of the Zouaves to wear their fezzes at different angles according to the regiment; French officers of North African units during the 1930s often wore the same fez as their men, with rank insignia attached. (Many volunteer Zouave regiments wore the French North African version of the fez during the American Civil War.) The Libyan battalions and squadrons of the Italian colonial forces wore lower, red fezzes over white skull caps. Somali and Eritrean regiments in Italian service wore high red fezzes with coloured tassels that varied according to the unit. German askaris in East Africa wore their fezzes with khaki covers on nearly all occasions.

The Belgian Force Publique in the Congo wore large and floppy red fezzes similar to those of the French Tirailleurs Senegalais and the Portuguese Companhias Indigenas. The British King's African Rifles (recruited in East Africa) wore high straight-sided fezzes in either red or black, while the West African Frontier Force wore a low red version.^[26] The Egyptian Army wore the classic Turkish model until 1950. The West India Regiment of the British Army wore a fez as part of its Zouave-style full dress until this unit was disbanded in 1928. The tradition is continued in the full dress of the band of the Barbados Regiment, with a white turban wrapped around the base.

While the fez was a colourful and picturesque item of uniform, it was in several ways an impractical headdress. If worn without a drab cover, it made the head a target for enemy fire, and it provided little protection from the sun. As a result, it was increasingly relegated to parade or off-duty wear by World War II. However, France's West African tirailleurs continued to wear a khaki-covered version in the field until about 1943. During the final period of colonial rule in Africa (approximately 1945 to 1962), the fez was seen only as a full-dress item in French, British, Belgian, Spanish, and Portuguese African units, being replaced by wide-brimmed hats or forage caps on other occasions. Colonial police forces, however, usually retained the fez as normal duty wear for indigenous personnel.

Post-independence armies in Africa quickly discarded the fez as a colonial relic. It is, however, still worn by the ceremonial Garde Rouge in Senegal as part of their Spahi-style uniform, and by the Italian Bersaglieri in certain orders of dress. The Bersaglieri adopted the fez as an informal headdress through the influence of the French Zouaves, with whom they served in the Crimean War. The Italian Arditi in the First World War wore a black fez that later became a uniform item of the Mussolini Fascist regime.^[27] The Spanish Regulares (formerly Moorish) Tabors stationed in the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, in North Africa, retain a parade uniform that includes the fez and white cloaks. Filipino units organised in the early days of U.S. rule briefly wore black fezzes, and officers serving with Muslim personnel of the Philippines Constabulary were authorized to wear this headdress from 1909.^[28] The Liberian Frontier Force, although not a colonial force, wore fezzes until the 1940s.

Bosnian infantry regiments in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire had been distinguished by wearing the fez until the end of World War I. They wore distinctive light blue or field grey uniforms,^[29] with a buckle showing an arm with a scimitar inside a shield as the symbol of Bosniak ethnicity. The primarily Bosniak Muslim 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar, which was recruited from Bosnia, used a red or field grey fez with Waffen SS cap insignia during the latter half of World War II.

Two regiments of the Indian Army recruited from Muslim areas wore fezzes under British rule (although the turban was the nearly-universal headdress among Hindu and Muslim sepoys and sowars). A green fez was worn by the Bahawalpur Lancers of Pakistan as late as the 1960s.^[30]

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  Ottoman Soldier during the Battle of Domokos by Fausto Zonaro.

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  Otto of Greece in an Evzones uniform.

• 

  Serbian voivode Stevan Knićanin, 1849

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  French Zouave during the Crimean War (1853–1856).

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  Soldiers of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1943). Their fezzes were decorated on the front with Hoheitszeichen (eagle and Swastika) and the SS Totenkopf (skull and crossbones).^[31]

International use[]

In the Middle East and North Africa[]

King Mohammed VI of Morocco meets John Kerry and Dwight Bush while wearing a fez hat

David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi as law students in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, wearing fezzes, c. 1914

Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood wearing a fez hat.

It is believed that the chechia originated in Uzbekistan. Unlike the fez, the chechia is shorter and crafted from less stiff material, and is, therefore, softer and more pliable. By the 17th century that the chaouachis, or chechia makers, had spread to the capital Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. By the 21st century, the procedure for making them remains the same, but the number of craftsmen who make them has decreased. While the market place in the Souk Ech-Chaouachine, hosted about 30,000 chaouachis during at its peak, that number had dropped by the 2010s to about 20, who struggle to keep the business alive. The modern chechia business is estimated to create jobs for over 2,000 artisans, with the remaining chechias are sold overseas, primarily to Libya, Nigeria, and Niger. Chechia colours vary by country. It is red in Tunisia, and lacks a tassel. In Libya, the chechia is normally black, except the Benghazi version, or "chenna," which is also red and includes a tassel. In Morocco, and some parts of Tunisia, it can also be seen in white or grey.^[32]

In Southern Asia[]

The fez appeared in the Nizam's rule when he visited Rome. The purpose of adopting this style was the VII Nizam, Nizam Osman Ali Khan had a mere height of 5 feet. He used this to look taller especially when meeting foreign deligations or on special occasions.

The fez is known as the Rumi Topi, which means "Roman Cap" (by virtue of the Ottoman Empire being seen as the successor state of the Eastern Roman Empire). It is worn by some sections of the Muslim aristocracy of South Asia. It was also a symbol of the support for the Ottoman Caliphate against the British Indian Empire during the Khilafat Movement. Later, it became associated with some leaders of the Muslim League, the political party that eventually created the country of Pakistan. The veteran Pakistani politician Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan was one of the few people in Pakistan who wore the fez until his death in 2003.

In Sri Lanka, the fez was frequently worn by the local Muslim Sri Lankan Moor population. Despite its use declining in popularity, the fez is still used in traditional marriage ceremonies. It continues to be worn by "Qadiriyathun Nabaviyyah" Sufi path followers. The songkok, on the other hand, is worn by the local Sri Lankan Malays.

A variation of the fez has been commonly worn in Maritime Southeast Asia since the 19th century when it was introduced by Muslims from South Asia. Known as a peci in Indonesian and songkok in Malaysian, this variant is black in colour with a more ellipse shape and sometimes decorated with embroidery. The Philippine varieties tend to be colorful and highly decorated.

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  Peci, worn here by Suharto, then president of Indonesia

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  Mahmood Ali, Indian politician and Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana state wearing a fez

Use by fraternal orders[]

Many fraternal orders are known for wearing fezzes.^[33] Shriners are often depicted wearing a red fez; the headgear became official for the Shriners in 1872.^[34] Members of the International Order of Alhambra wear a white fez. Members of the Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm wear a black fez. The Knights of Peter Claver wear a blue fez. Members of the Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans wear fezzes of various colors, based upon rank. The Knights of Khorassan wear a navy blue fez. Members of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World wear fezzes of various colors, based upon rank. The Loyal Order of Moose's second-degree body, the , wear a purple fez. In the Laurel and Hardy film Sons of the Desert members of the fictional order of the same name wear fezzes, and consequently, so do those of the Laurel and Hardy International Appreciation Society, which is itself named after and modelled on the one seen in the film.

United Kingdom[]

British comedian Tommy Cooper adopted the fez as part of his comic act while serving in Egypt during the Second World War. The hat went on to become Cooper's hallmark, and an icon of 20th century comedy.^[35] Doctor Who actor Matt Smith wore the fez while playing the Eleventh Doctor, something repeated by other Doctors in later episodes.^[36]

See also[]

• Cap
• Eleventh Doctor/Thirteenth Doctor – The 11th and 13th incarnations of the titular character from British science-fiction drama Doctor Who, who demonstrate a fondness for fezzes. Amy Pond threw it off the Eleventh's head, followed by River Song shooting and destroying it.
• Fez (video game)
• Kalpak – a similar Turkic head cap
• List of headgear
• Moorish Science Temple of America
• Qeleshe – a white rounded cap worn by Albanians
• Smoking cap
• Songkok – truncated conical felt hat in Southeast Asia
• Taqiyah and Kufi – brimless rounded cap

Bibliography[]

• Patricia Baker, “The Fez in Turkey: A Symbol of Modernization?” Costume 20 (1986): 72–85
• Donald Quataert, “Clothing Laws, State, and Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720–1829” International Journal of Middle East Studies 29, no. 3 (1997): 403–425
• Wilson Chacko Jacob, “Working Out Egypt: Masculinity and Subject Formation Between Colonial Modernity and Nationalism,” 1870–1940” (PhD diss., New York University, 2005), chapter 6 (326–84).

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Fezzes at Wikimedia Commons