#banyan

[rherlotshadow]

Shrines in a banyan tree: Vietnam.

[fashionsfromhistory]

Banyan

c.1750

Coromandel Coast, India for Western Market

LACMA (Accession Number: M.2005.42)

[history-of-fashion]

ab. 1760 Man's banyan (informal robe) (Spitalfields (London), England)

silk damask (figured silk in the style of Anna Maria Garthwaite)

(Royal Ontario Museum)

[fripperiesandfobs]

Banyan and waistcoat, 1750′s

From the V&A

[digitalfashionmuseum]

Oil painting, 1881, French.

Painted by John Singer Sargent.

Portraying Samuel Jean de Pozzi in a red robe de chambre.

Hammer Museum.

[womans-armor-workshop]

Please join me in welcoming for his regional debut the brigand of Barbados, the cream of the Caribbean, the Gentleman Pirate!

Or my take on the famous Stede Bonnet's costume. With a corset, of course.

[thistransient]

四四南村的榕樹

[meta-holott]

1977 Indonesia, Bali, Tirtagangga — a giant banyan tree

[threadtalk]

Though I most frequently share gowns and dresses, that doesn't mean I'm ignorant to menswear. And especially not the magic of banyans--made recently even more popular by Our Flag Means Death. I've written rather extensively on the topic, but the short story is that from the 18th century to the late Victorian period, it became highly fashionable for men to wear at-home robes of glorious design. The word banyan (or banjan, or banian) has an interesting etymology, coming to English (it is posited) from the Tamil word vanigan, meaning trader or merchant.

Which makes sense because the existence of these robes is entirely due to colonization and appropriation. Essentially, the popularity of well-to-do men wearing silks in the style of the East was all the rage, just as it was for high status women to use patterns and elements (like the pashmina) in theirs. Just another part of the sordid history of Imperialism.

What's most intriguing about banyans, I think, is how delicate and lovely they are. Menswear took a pretty stark turn in the early 18th century, away from the decadent French fashions and color schemes for daily wear. But is certainly didn't get lost from banyans.

This one is a great example, and it dates from 1830. The figured silk is older than the pattern, having been recut to this shape from old 18th century dress silk (or even potentially another garment). Those florals! That cut! The collar!

From Kerry Taylor auctions.

[clove-pinks]

Men's banyan robe c. 1840-1850 with integral waistcoat, description by the National Museum of Scotland:

Man's banyan with integral waistcoat, woven in silk and cotton with a strapwork style design surrounding red and black panels with stylised floral motifs in yellow and red, wide fold-down collar, centre front fastening with two rows of covered buttons, full-length sleeves, deep narrow cuffs and full-length skirt, internal waistcoat with standing collar, short flat waistline and fastening centre front with covered buttons, banyan lined with a dark brown and black leopard print cotton velvet. (Collection story link).

[dimity-lawn]

[fashionsfromhistory]

Banyan

1740s

Historic New England (Accession Number: 1918.546)

[history-of-fashion]

1760-1770 Banyan (China)

silk, linen

(Metropolitan Museum of Art)

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Man's banyan, 1760.

[larissaligus]

Banyan and John Frusciante - La Sirena 1998

I really like this video it's like a mini documentary with such a homely and relaxed atmosphere.

[malaisequotes]

“The cattle egret moved out into the sunlight, like so many pieces of white ribbon. The watersnakes slipped down the banks like green hooks and floated away.”

Banyan by Mary Oliver