Uçetek Entari

This garment is an Ottoman women’s robe, or entari, which would have been worn over a gömlek, or undershirt, and şalvar, or baggy trousers. The entari has a small stand-up collar, long straight sleeves open to the elbow, and long triangular pieces (peş in Turkish) added to each side of the front and back skirts for added fullness. Twelve buttons and loops at the bodice would have closed the garment. The skirt is open to the hip with pockets in the side seams above the slit. The fabric of the entari is a soft salmon-colored silk and cotton blend, with a gold pattern of undulating bands with floral bouquets between the bands, executed with extra weft metal-wrapped silk threads. The original lining of the garment is a coarsely woven fabric that has been treated with a heavy sizing or starch. At some point, the lower part of the garment and the sleeves were relined with a salmon twill, added on top of the original lining. The pocket lining is a striped floral savai, a silk brocade with alternating vertical bands of floral motifs composed of extra weft silk thread and a herringbone design executed in gold metal-wrapped thread. Most likely the lining was left over from another garment made in the same shop. All of the edges of the entari have been finished in a neat, scalloped design and narrow gold-wrapped braid, with extra loops and flourishes at the bodice and sleeve edges. The sleeve ends are further ornamented with an interlaced design carried out in a heavy gold thread.