Fez hat origin update#

Over time, the fez came to be seen as part of an Oriental cultural identity. 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. 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 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. There were variations on the fez in the Balkan states, mainly involving the addition of religious symbols on the front.

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. In southern Asia, the fez had been adopted due to its links with the Ottoman Empire. Jewish men wore the fez and referred to it by the Arabic name 'Tarboush', especially Arabic-Speaker ones (mostly Egyptian, Syrian and Palestinian Jews). It was also the main headdress for Christians and Jews during the Ottoman Empire. The fez was a symbol not only of Ottoman affiliation but also of religious adherence to Islam. Although the headdress survived, the year-long boycott brought the end of its universality in the Ottoman Empire as other styles became socially acceptable. 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 the production of the hat. 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). The striking scarlet and merlot colors of the fez were initially achieved through an extract of cornel. Styles soon multiplied, with nuances of shape, height, material, and hue competing in the market. To meet escalating demand, skilled fez makers were induced to immigrate from Tunisia to Istanbul, where factories were established in the neighborhood of Eyüp. Although tradesmen and artisans generally rejected the fez, it became a symbol of modernity throughout the Near East, inspiring similar decrees in other nations (such as Iran in 1873). This was a radically egalitarian measure, which replaced the elaborate sumptuary laws that signaled rank, religion, and occupation, foreshadowing the Tanzimat reforms.

Fez hat origin update#

The intention was to coerce the populace at large to update to the fez, and the plan was successful. In 1829 the Sultan ordered his civil officials to wear the plain fez, and banned the wearing of turbans. In 1827, 50,000 fezzes were ordered from Tunis for the sultan's troops. The modernized military adopted Western style uniforms and, as headdresses, the fez with a cloth wrapped around it.

In 1826, Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire suppressed the Janissaries and began sweeping reforms of the military. 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). Later the turban was eliminated, the bonnet shortened, and the color fixed to red. Initially, the fez was a brimless red, white, or black bonnet over which a turban was wrapped (similar to a wrapped keffiyeh). It was popular especially during the later period of the Ottoman Empire and its use spread throughout the empire. The hat itself is either of ancient Greek, Tunisian, Moroccan or Turkish origin. Ottoman soldiers wearing Fezzes during the Greco-Turkish War (1897)