Influential factors on changing the cultural codes and evolution of Qajar women's dresses (from the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah to the end of the Qajar period)

The Russo-Iranian wars in the first half of the 18th century during the Qajar period and Iran's defeat were a preface for Iran's entry into the modern world, but the encounter with the West during the Qajar period was of another kind. In this section, modernity affected the intellectuals' opinions and thoughts and ultimately led to cultural changes, which are in turn the result of cultural codes variation in each society. Clothing is one of the most important manifestations of cultural codes variation. In this vein, we can refer to factors such as sending students to Europe, establishing new schools, trading with foreigners, dispatching and reception of ambassadors and official and unofficial representatives, and formation of Constitutional Revolution that paved the way for socio-cultural space in which a new structure was created in women's dress and appearance. The current research is a qualitative case study conducted with the aim to get familiar with factors affecting cultural codes variation in Qajar period and identify evolutions with regard to Qajar women's dress as one of the cultural manifestations of Iran in Qajar period. Using Robert Wuthnow's Cultural Change Theory, this research seeks to answer this question: what changes were made in Qajar women's clothing in the Qajar period and after Nasir al-Din Shah era? and what factors determined these changes? The obtained results show that, at first, the rule of Nasir al-Din Shah, and then, Constitutional Revolution can be identified as two important historical turning points that changed cultural codes, including the Qajar women's dress. Nasir al-Din Shah, the longest-reigning monarch among Qajar monarchs, was one of the main sponsors of modernity and paved the way for a new kind of clothing among harem women. Extensive communication with the West, import of European goods and the willingness of a group of intellectuals to western manifestations were among other factors directly affecting the clothing style of Qajar women in this period. Then in Constitutional Revolution, the women stated their needs by comparing themselves with western women; and seeking to their social status, they participated in social activities. In this regard, we can refer to journals published for women with female editorial staff, which had been converted to a center to write different perspectives on Qajar women's clothing and veil. Additionally, modernization measures such as establishing modern schools which had replaced traditional clothing with European clothing, recruiting Europeans in bureaucratic agencies, and formation of women's associations are among other factors that provided the required platform for evolution in cultural codes. It can be said that moving towards modernism made nationalism with its two orientations of westernization and archaism an important challenge for the society of that time, which finally, led to western nationalist hegemony, and at last, during Ahmad Shah's era it led to the complete prevalence of European clothing among Qajar women.