Slaves’ Clothing

Descriptions of runaway slaves offer a rare window into lower-class men’s clothing. The most complete descriptions describe all a man’s visible clothing, from hat to shoes, often with colors and fabrics.

In full descriptions, each article of clothing is preceded by a word that explains how the garment is worn: başına, on the head; arkasına, arkasında, or eğinine, around him/her; belinde, around the waist; ayağına, on the feet or on the lower part of the body; boynunda, around the neck.

These court records contain descriptions of escaped slaves:

The bolded portion of each description is the section I’ve translated.

 

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