A Research on Turkish children dresses in Ottoman era

No one can deny that children have important places and roles in all societies. Naturally, children were/are the most important living beings in the life of Ottoman Palace as well as the Turkish family life. However, contrary to the facts, the quality and the quantity of research into Turkish children dresses are not satisfactory. In this particular research, children dresses which have a great place in the culture of Turkish dress and finery are examined under the heading of "Turkish Children Dresses in Ottoman Era". Our examination comprises; determination of the dresses which were wore by children, examination these dresses according to the artistic and the other features with systematic and esthetical approaches. In addition to the collection of data regarding to the children dresses in Ottoman era and presentation of the collected data for designers who work in the fashion and ready made clothes business are also aimed in this study. The study includes examples of 86 children dresses which are located in various museums and collections in Turkey. The thesis divided into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 comprises the following subjects; the necessity of human dressing and the importance of design in fashion and ready made clothes business, the place of design in national economy and influence of the cultural elements in design, description of the research, aim(s) and its importance. Chapter 2 includes; description of the fashion, ready-made clothing sector in Turkey and general information about children iiidressing. In addition, the importance of children in the Turkish life style, historical developments of children dressing which is supported by drawings and some of the research which are related to the subject and provided in this chapter. Chapter 3 includes information about the methods and material which were used in this study. Chapter 4 provides the data collected by observing 86 children dressing items, organized data tables, statistical analysis, interpretation and discussion of the results. In chapter 5 the results of the study are presented and suggestions for the ready made clothes business are provided. Appendix A provides a catalogue which includes photographs of the dresses, technical drawings, model (pattern) drawings which are diminished to 1/5 proportion and the fabric color, pattern measurement, tailoring and ornamental features of the dresses. IV