What is Peshtemal?

Peshtemal is a woven cloth that is worn to cover the waist down in the bath or wrapped around the waist to prevent the clothes from getting dirty while working. loincloth; It is woven in striped, checkered/checkered/plaid, or ikat patterns using plain or twill weave using cotton, linen, silk warp, and weft in a normal twist.

Cotton, linen, silk, gold, or silver wire are used in dowry loincloths as material in weaving. The yarns used in weaving are white-ecru (natural cotton color, natural linen color, and natural silk color), red, light red, dark red, yellow, orange, green, purple, and black. Peshtemal was woven and used in all settlements with baths in Anatolia. Weavings have patterns such as stripes and crosses/checkers/checkers/plaids or ikats.

Peshtemal fabrics are traditionally; It is woven in the cities of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, Trabzon's Çarşıbaşı, Akçaabat, Sürmene districts, Kastamonu-İnebolu, Rize, Edirne, Çanakkale, Denizli-Buldan, Kastamonu, Burdur, Gaziantep. In Anatolia, loincloth is still used as an apron or to cover the bath, and its colors change according to local characteristics. It is a traditional clothing item used by women in the Black Sea region even today, and the silk ones are called futa.

Where to buy Towel?

Ödemiş loincloth.

The bath culture has been one of the basic symbols of Anatolian people since ancient times, an indispensable value of daily life and important days. The loincloth, which is used as bath clothing, is woven for both daily and dowry use. In some examples of loincloths woven as dowry, gold or silver wires were used in addition to silk material. In addition, in the Ahi culture, a loincloth is ceremonially worn around the waist of a person who has passed from journeyman to master.

Kastamonu silk-cotton blend loincloth.

The loincloth is colored with a striped pattern. It is woven from linen, silk, or cotton thread. It is more than one meter long and 75-80 cm wide.

In the past, longitudinal embroideries were made on both ends of loincloths. There are also loincloths entirely embroidered with gold thread.

Some loincloths were decorated with couplets written on them. It is used in different ways. The first use of Anatolian loincloth is the Turkish bath peshtamal.

Loincloth was produced in all settlements with baths in Anatolia, cotton, linen, silk warp, and weft in a normal twist by using plain or twill weave. It is divided into men and women. Men use it from the waist down, women from the armpits.

The width is wider, the edges are tasseled. The other way of use is dressing loincloths. This type, which is called dolay loincloth (dolaylik) in various regions, is generally striped, patterned cotton fabrics.

It is used as an apron in the field, garden, home, and market. Colors and sizes vary according to the region.

In the Black Sea region, red and white loincloths are worn between İnebolu and Akçaabat, red-black in Sürmene, burgundy-white or red-white in Gümüşhane, and orange-black loincloths in Rize. In Artvin, black loincloths are generally worn.

Peshtemal Fabric History

Loincloth, a rectangular woven cloth, is one of the most primitive garments. For example, the dressing style in the reliefs from the Egyptian Civilizations is the four-cornered loincloth wrapped around the hips. The loincloth, which was born as the main clothing item of humanity, has gradually changed shape and diversified.

In the Ottoman period, a loincloth-wearing ceremony was held when those who learned a craft in the craftsmen's guilds would become masters after becoming apprentices and journeymen. After wearing the loincloth, the master who wanted to open a shop would pay money called loincloth to the owner, depending on the situation of the place he would hold.