Imagine wearing a wedding dress made of velvet so fine and fabulously embroidered, that when you die, it will be unstitched and reworked to make a Torah ark curtain.
Imagine a young mom, adorned with pearls and wearing a special dress finely embroidered with silver thread, showing off her first baby, knowing that she will wear that same garment to celebrate each of her babies, and will wear it a final time as a shroud when she meets her Creator.
She will protect her children by stitching little shells onto their clothes in asymmetric patterns with red thread to protect them from small pox and other diseases. She may “confuse the evil forces intent on harming young boys by dressing them in girls’ clothing.”http://www.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2014/dresscodes/en/child.html
Imagine a young woman, preparing for her marriage to a man whom she will probably outlive, including in her trousseau the scarf she will wear when she mourns him and a second scarf she will wear when the children she creates with that man die before their fifth birthday . http://www.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2014/dresscodes/en/memo.html
Dress Codes: Revealing the Jewish Wardrobe,
http://www.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2014/dresscodes/en/home/ an exhibition at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem promises, “From India to Tunis, New York to Baghdad: dresses, suits, wedding outfits, undergarments, and children’s clothing: a spectacular range of 19th to 20th century Jewish garments from around the world, offering a multi-cultural view of dress, its significance, and its influences on the styles of today.
Quite aside from the fashion, the exhibition records much about Jewish life. For example, the description of a late 19th century ikat-dyed brocaded silk coat from Bukhara, Uzbekistan notes, “Due to its strong smell, the use of ikat was initially considered repugnant, and was exclusively a Jewish practice; however as the process was perfected it came to be a highly esteemed specialty.”
The website of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a nice article about the exhibition. http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExperience/Culture/Pages/Dress-Codes-Revealing-the-Jewish-Wardrobe-24-Feb-2014.aspx
