The Turban - by Chris Filstrup & Jane Merrill (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"Delightful: a work full of insight, mischief, wisdom and, most pleasing of all, illustrations--65 of which are in gorgeous color."--The Wall Street Journal - "The history of head-wrapped cloth, from sixth-century Bedouins protecting themselves against the desert sun to Sarah Jessica Parker donning a gold-silk wrap designed by Ralph Lauren."--The New Yorker

Unravel the fascinating history of the turban, from its origins to its religious uses and its appearance in contemporary fashion and culture.

A turban is a strip of cloth folded and wrapped around the head; however, this description includes multifarious forms of the garment across space and time. This book follows the turban as it moves from the Arabian Peninsula through the Ottoman Empire to Europe and the Americas. It directs the reader's gaze from traditional and religious uses of the turban into the realms of international trade, Renaissance art, and contemporary fashions. Turbans, as this book shows, have moved in and out of Western culture, at times archaic and forgotten, then noticed and reinstated as major accessories. Today Sikh men are recognized by their distinctive headwraps, and the turban remains an important part of Black culture. This book explores the turban's many adaptations worldwide.

Review Quotes

"Filstrup and Merrilll fold and twist together a myriad of stories that touch on turbans' symbolic presence in the Western imagination. . . . The authors include as many topics as there are ways of tying a turban [and] the illustrations, many in color, enrich the text with examples in a wide variety of media. . . . The reader arrives at the end of the journey with a richer understanding of more than just fashion."

-- "ARLIS/NA Reviews"

"Delightful: a work full of insight, mischief, wisdom and, most pleasing of all, illustrations--65 of which are in gorgeous color, giving it the feel of a well-proportioned museum catalog. . . . As clothing in the West, the authors tell us, the turban's niche is 'persistent.' More than merely a piece of cloth, it is a vehicle for the historical and aesthetic embrace--sometimes playful, sometimes audacious--of the East by the West."--Tunku Varadarajan "The Wall Street Journal"

"Filstrup and Merrill trace the history of head-wrapped cloth, from sixth-century Bedouins protecting themselves against the desert sun to Sarah Jessica Parker donning a gold-silk wrap designed by Ralph Lauren. As its title promises, the book is overwhelmingly about the migration of the turban into the West, with a large portion focusing on how an Arabian adornment, through the influence of Islamic empires like the Ottomans, came to penetrate European and Euro-American art and fashion. . . . The Turban exposes a paradox. I can't imagine ever surrendering my turban. It's become soldered to my identity, serving as both the ultimate in-group badge and a versatile stylistic accessory: eye-catching, a bit exotic, an opportunity to add color and flair. But I haven't forgotten how hard it can be to carry. . . . Why are symbols often the most burdensome for the people who hold them most dearly?"--Manvir Singh "The New Yorker"

"Filstrup and Merrill write enjoyable prose not weighed down by theoretical baggage. With gorgeous illustrations and no-less-colourful characters, their grand tour with the turban is highly recommended."-- "BBC History Magazine"

"I'm impressed by the scope of this study, from the turban as a marker of religious affiliation to a prop for Rembrandt to a distinctive fashion for women. Headgear off to Filstrup and Merrill."--Gay Talese

"The Turban is a lively romp through the history and geography of this now ubiquitous headgear. The book offers unexpected nuggets from ancient origins in Asia to the turban's function in contemporary fashion."--Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University

About the Author

Chris Filstrup was chief of the Oriental Division at the New York Public Library and dean of libraries at Stony Brook University. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Jane Merrill has written for many national magazines and is the author of The Showgirl Costume and other cultural histories. She lives in Saint George, Maine. Together, Filstrup and Merrill are coauthors of The Wedding Night.