History of Iranian fashion

Perhaps the biggest struggle in Iranian Fashion history has been the struggle between the old and the new. Iranians have notoriously been fashion innovators trying to balance expectations of the different tastes in this vast country. Classic Qajar dress code was the last time Iranians witnessed traditional clothes, which included some form of veil, or hejab, for the woman. In the countryside, women have always worn head scarves, which are usually lively and colorful to protect hair from dust. Scarves and wraps are worn often and gathered at the waists to free up the arms. The black chador, seen on the streets even today, probably made its entry in the late 18th century as a way for women to appear in public. In early Persian, women were not allowed to appear in public without some form of veiling. Eventually, traditional Persian and local village clothes were traded in for the more fancy and respected Western outfits in the early 19th century.

As more Iranians travelled to Europe, and the Far East, more fashions and materials were brought to the cities which allowed for more contemporary and modern designs. Reza Shah Pahlavi was the first shah to challenge the chador. In 1935, while he aggressively moved to modernize the country in economic, structural, and political ways, the shah of Iran issued a decree banning the chador. He made the act an offense punishable by prison. He also banned the wearing of turbans and beards by men. To reinforce this, he invited the Queen Mother and royal princesses, unveiled, to a graduation ceremony at the Women's Teacher Training College in Tehran in 1936. The shah told his audience that all Iranian women should follow their example and "cast their veils, this symbol of injustice and shame, into the fires of oblivion." Over the years, veils, beards, and turbans have become political tools to show allegiance for or against forms of government. Duing the entire Pahlavi era in Iran, the more educated or more modern Iranians wore Western clothes such as mini skirts, bellbottoms, colorful and more revealing clothes. Approximately 60 years after Reza Shah's decree, another mandate was passed requiring the hejab, with the arrival of the Islamic revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini labeled the chador, as "the flag of the revolution." Since the revolution, the many roosari-wearing (headscarf) fashionistas have found ways to satisfy their thirst for haute couture by wearing heavier make-up and the latest trends under their Islamic dress.
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