#gomlek

At the start of the reign of Gabriel III and Sonja III, I made them a promise. During their reign, in honor and imitation of all the fancy and beautiful clothing they produce, I would cut into a fabric that scared me and attempt to make something wearable.

Prior to Pennsic, my lovely wife picked up some garb for us at a SCA yard sale. this included the following rust/gold ghawazee that a local of mine (recently laurel) informed me is about 200-300 years post period, but would be an OK time saver for garbing myself up for Pennsic. With that knowledge safe in hand, I planned and started to sew a gomlek, with the intention of creating a single-layer supportive undergarment to reduce the number of layers worn on hot afternoons at pennsic. This would be my first ever supportive garment! As you can see in the following photos, the supportive garment was a success.

I began my research with Ottoman Turkish Garb, An Overview of Women's Clothing by Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina. This document was recommended to me by Baroness Dominique Michelle le Vasseur. With a bit more of an idea of what I was doing (but only a bit, I was roaring full speed ahead) I used the gomlek pattern found on Turkish Costume by Vanessa Giddings. I made the gomlek from a light-medium weight white linen from stash. I serged each edge of the pieces before pinning together to prevent fraying and to buy me some time to properly finish the seams when I got home from pennsic.

Notably, this is where I made my first mistake. After making the gomlek, I decided to attempt to make it supportive just in case I didn't finish a zibin before pennsic (reader-- she didn't finish the zibin). After making the gomlek according to the Giddings pattern, I then pinched and pinned along the seam between the front body and the front gore to force a little more lift and create a "shelf" on which the breasts could rest. Because I made t his supportive, I'm glad I used a just shy of medium weight linen rather than a more appropriate looser weave, because it gave the garment the body to support the breasts.

As I was in the last leg of time crunch before Pennsic, I wanted this linen to relax as much as it was going to as fast as possible. So i threw on the gomlek, some leggings, and a lazy turban, then did some intense yard work for ~2 hours. My breasts never moved from their assigned seats, the garment relaxed comfortably, and I could move just fine in it. I then finished the gomlek off with a quick button loop and faux-pearl headed button at the neckline, though it has no structural purpose due to how I altered the garment.

With a heart full of ambition and a head empty of reason, I attacked a plan to finish a brand new entari, zibin, and an extra gomlek prior to pennsic. I accomplished none of that.

The following picture shows how I wore this for Pennsic: Gomlek, the post-period ghawazee, lazy turban, some shalwar off amazon recommended by Viscountess Caterina Giovanni, my apprentice belt, and some Rus boots as I was advised to wear ankle support in the Bog.

Upon my return home, I started planning the Entari, with the goal of having a gomlek and entari to wear to Namron Protectorate for Domi's laurel elevation (reader-- she didn't finish any of it in time). I selected from stash a black cotton for the lining and a red and rust upholstery fabric for the outer layer. This was chosen for the similarity, to my eye, between the repeating pattern in the stripes on the upholstery fabric and the patterns present on some extant entaris and in court portraiture. ORIGINALLY I had selected a bright blue silk i was certain I had in stash but my box o' saris was nowhere to be found.

The above portraits, miniatures, and extants were accessed through the Ottoman Turkish Garment Database. The prevalence of red / blue color combos in the portraits and extants, as well as vibrant colors across the board, inspired my choices. As you can see in each of the extants as well as the art, the inside edge of the garment is faced in a color different from the lining and the outer layer. In many of the portraits, the bottom edge of the garment is turned out as if caught in motion, displaying this vibrant facing. The entaris come in different lengths but tend to be in the knee to floor range, while a hip to knee length undergarment appears to be worn as a middle layer.

The center bottom quilted kaftan in red and gold (belonging to Selim I, garment c. 1512-1520) inspired my choice of fabric, as seen below.

Fabric selected, then began the cutting. I used the pattern, cutting diagram, and notes from Kelebek's Persian and Turkish Clothes and drafted out onto my lining layer. Because the gomlek worked up so easily, I just used the black cotton liner as my muslin for this garment. As seen below, it fit pretty well from the outset and the notes and diagrams proved helpful in making sure everything lined up right. Gores are my nightmare. Seen below, the garment as it stood had REALLY prominent hip bumps.

We know that prominent hip bumps were part of the fashion just judging from the art and extant garments (including one amusing extant of Hanzade Sultan's zibins with an attached note deriding the poor quality of the hip bumps) but after repeating the pattern onto my outer fabric, they started bothering me. I was pretty sure I had them sitting too low, or some part of the slope wasn't quite right.

Protectorate was fast approaching, and I had little time to make major adjustments and fiddle with a lot of trial and error. I made some quick adjustments, smoothing the slope of the hip bums into more of a 15 degree angle than the 45ish degree angle they were sitting at prior. Around the same time i started fretting about the hip bumps, I realized my box o' saris was AWOL and began to panic. After fruitless hours scouring the house and workshop, no luck. For my own mental health, I put the project aside to handle AFTER Protectorate, but before Coronation. I had a promise to keep, after all.

I returned home from Namron Protectorate and got to work. With my silks still missing, I selected a soft but bright blue polycotton with a nice sheen from stash and made my bias facing.

It wasn't perfect, but time was short and the fabric was bright. You can also see from this photo the adjustments I made to the hip bump. I left the original shape intact, just folded and gently tacked down inside the body so I have the chance to fix it in the future, when I feel more able and comfortable. And so, the handsewing of the Entari began with Coronation just days away. I finished tacking in the lining, which is only attached to the outer shell by the facing, fun fact, and did a quick try on to make sure it all sat the way I wanted. I was very satisfied with the result. In the future, though, I would probably face the sleeves BEFORE I seam down the underside, because that was the only part of the facing truly miserable to line up and attach.

Then came the last minute fastenings. I'd wanted to weave some trim to make proper button / loop pairs down the front, but didn't have the time. Suggestions from my locals mostly relied on me having not yet put the body, facing, and lining together. I made do, dug through my ribbon supply, and grabbed some shiny polysatin 3/8" ribbon I usually use for making ribbon roses. I cut them into 9" lengths, folded in half, lined up with the yellow vertical stripe down the front, tucked the ends under, and tacked them down securely. For the buttons, I used some Vindheim buttons from Bad Baroness. For a last minute closure I literally finished 2 hours before driving down to coronation, not bad if I do say so myself.

On the day of, I added a long, sleeveless undercoat that for sanity's sake, we'll call a zibin. I need to make one of those rather soon, don't I? I received the coat second hand at Mooneschadowe Trade Days in exchange for a monmouth cap, with the encouragement of Viscountess Mama Cat. I wore a small embroidered hot pink hat over a pink-and-rust silk and pashmina scarf that my lovely wife got for me at Pennsic as a gift, with a veil pinned over the top. The veil is actually one of my spare white scarves, my big "floofy" one that gives my siblings in the order scarf envy. I ordered it from the same place I got my green apprentice belt sash, my wife gets cadet scarves, and both of us get a variety of veils. Mama cat helped me make sure everything sat right on the outfit and helped me get the veil just right. The peacock feather pin is from Sonja III's Queen's Champion tournament, the favor she gave to all the competing fighters. I am wearing the handwoven silk scarf I was made in, a twin to my Doña's and her Queen's white scarves, and it has a subtle Ansteorran Star woven into one end. The pin (hidden because the wind was fighting me while we watched the eclipse) is purple and gold (my heraldic colors), a twin to the silver and deep blue pin the Ansteorran Cadets got for HRH's Nicolette's gift, which she used to pin her Queen's White Scarf in place upon her ascension to the throne.

What feels most important to me, though, is this picture. The Order of the White Scarf is charged with protecting the Queen's White Scarf in the interregnum, with the newest white scarf present protecting it personally and the oldest white scarf present taking it from the arm of the Queen stepping down and putting it upon the arm of our new Queen. We pass it through the circle, some of us pressing it to our forehead or hearts, some of us giving it a good squeeze, some of us kissing it. To myself and much of the rapier community of Ansteorra, this is more than a scrap of fabric on a brass hat's arm. This is the memory of what Don Tivar and Countess Tessa of the Gardens did for us so long ago, legitimizing our community and uplifting us. This is the memory of brothers, sisters, and friends come and gone, of Queens who, for a moment or a lifetime, became one of us, became the head of our order. This is the hope of every cadet who dreams of bleaching their scarf, of every fencer who imagines themselves in the shoes of Errol Flynn or Cyrano. A good Queen inspires us to do better, do more, and reach further, and a great Queen makes our Order stronger with just her presence.

None can compare with bright honor rare We go as the swift arrow flies To stand in the strife, to hazard our lives For a glance from Your Majesty’s eyes

There are certainly adjustments I would make if I were to do this again, notbly find my box o' saris and use a silk facing, among others. I would like to make some non-supportive gomleks in a much lighter fabric and some supportive zibins as well. I would prefer in the future to attach the facing BEFORE i sew down the underside of the sleeve so i feel SLIGHTLY less murderous while sewing. And because of how I roll, in the future I would definitely add a pocket or twelve. I intend to replace the ribbon button loops with some woven trim loops, or at the very least add some matching ribbon bars to the button side for a little more visual balance.