At the turn of the 20th century, in the popular art and media of the “West,” the “Middle East” was depicted as a mysterious, exotic region. Cliched images such as camels, deserts, half-naked dancing women, and buildings with minarets and domes were ubiquitous in illustrating anything related to Iran or the Middle East.
In May 1887, the American periodical “Harper’s New Monthly Magazine” published an article about a trip from Tehran to Baghdad. The following images are from that article and show the outfits of Iranian women in that period. The photographs show the clothing of different minorities, as well as outfits for indoor and outdoor use and the different seasons.
Portraits of Iranian women from the late Qajar period (late 19th century to early 20th century). The images are from the photo archive of Institute for Iranian Contemporary Historical Studies.
The 1973 FILA Wrestling World Championships were held in Tehran, Iran.
Here are some original and reproduction of the women’s clothing in Iran – from different regions and historical eras. The images are taken from the book Negar-e Zan, published in Tehran in 1973 by the International Women’s Club of Iran.
Female dancers, sometimes holding knives while performing acrobatics, were the subjects of paintings in Qajar Period. None of these acrobatic performances are documented in the photographs of the era.
An undated talisman for warding off co-wife. It is most probably from the late 19th century or early 20th century.
Pictures of Iranian Birth certificates that belong to women born in 1942. These pictures are collected and used by Iranian artist Najaf Shokri in an art project titled “Irandokht”.
Plates from The history of the feminine costume of the world, from the year 5318 B.C. to our century by Paul Louis de Giafferri published in 1926-1927, New York.
The following photographs are chosen from the Iranian Wedding, External Narrative. The images reflect the social changes that have occurred in the past decades in Iran.
