Bindalli Wedding Dress

This bindalli (bindallı in Turkish) dress stands apart from others in the collection because of its deep, plunging neckline. In other ways the dress, which is made of a blue silk velvet, is typical of this group of garments in its shape, construction, and beautifully executed gold dival embroidery. Examination of the dress shows that the neckline was altered after it was made by folding the edges of the front opening to the inside of the garment, thus creating a deeper and wider front opening. As a revealing neckline such as that would not have been acceptable in the Ottoman context, it seems likely that the change was made after the dress reached the United States in the early 1920s, perhaps to allow the garment to be worn as an evening dress. In its original context, the dress would have been worn for weddings and other special occasions by Muslim and Jewish women in Anatolia and Balkans.