Byzantine Fashion In Western Culture

Fashion within the social hierarchy, economic and political back drop of the time was quite prevalent within the Byzantine era. As Snodgrass (2012) notes unlike the draped Greek and Roman silhouettes, Byzantine fashion introduced opulent costumes constructed along the body’s lines as “…emblems of social, economic, religious or political prominence.”
Byzantine Fashion and the aspect of political, economic and particularly social hierarchy is very much interconnected. You could easily determine which social class and stature of a male or female by what they wore within Byzantine society.
After the Council of Nicea (Byzantine Council) chose the cross as the emblem of Christianity in 325 C.E, Constantine the Great, used the shape on clothing as the official cypher of his rule. Therefore in jewellery, crosses dominated apparel and jewellery for the next millennium. This clearly shows the effects of the council’s influence in dictating the fashion and the ruler using the emblem of the cross to convey power of his rule.
This is mainly due to a social and political change as Constantine in 330 began transferring power to Turkey and establishing a more Asian court at Constantinople (what is now Istanbul the capital of Turkey in our present day). The economy within his rule flourished and the positioning of this power in Turkey allowed a fusion of trade and merchants. As such Byzantines were known for their Artisan stalls within the centres of Antioch and Constantinople. This impacted on Byzantine fashion, there were exotic weaves, selvages and embroidered Syrian silk imported in, silk will be explored further. As far east as China initiated diverse choices in look of ensembles and accessories. In the 1100s, Tabriz fabric with kufic script from Persia offered