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Banyan (clothing)

 
Banyan (clothing)

 
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Banyan (clothing)
 
 
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A banyan (through Portuguese
Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
 banian and Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 ?????, banyan, from the Gujarati
Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan languages, and part of the greater Indo-European languages language family. It is native to the Indian state of Gujarat, and is its chief language, as well as of the adjacent union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
 ??????, va?iyo, meaning 'merchant') is a garment
Clothing

A feature of all human societies, except perhaps the most primitive, is the wearing of clothing or clothes, especially in public. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the weather....
 worn by men in the 18th century influenced by Persian and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
n clothing.

Banyan is also commonly used in present day Indian English to mean vest (undershirt in American English).

Also called a morning gown, robe de chambre or nightgown, the banyan was a loose, T-shaped or kimono
Kimono

The is the national costume of Japan. Originally the word "kimono" literally meant "thing to wear" but now has come to denote a particular type of traditional full-length Japanese garment....
-like cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
, linen
Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, or silk
Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
 gown
Gown

A gown is a loose outer garment from knee- to full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the early Middle Ages to the seventeenth century ; later, gown was applied to any woman's garment consisting of a bodice and attached skirt....
 worn at home as a sort of dressing gown
Robe

A robe is a loose-fitting outer clothing. A robe is distinguished from a cape or cloak by the fact that it usually has sleeves. The English language word robe is loanword from French language....
 or informal coat
Coat (clothing)

A coat is a long clothing worn by both men and women, for warmth, protection or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, Velcro, toggles, a belt , or a combination of these....
 over the shirt and breeches.






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J S Copley Nicolas Boylston
Newton Thornhill
A banyan (through Portuguese
Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
 banian and Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 ?????, banyan, from the Gujarati
Gujarati language

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan languages, and part of the greater Indo-European languages language family. It is native to the Indian state of Gujarat, and is its chief language, as well as of the adjacent union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli....
 ??????, va?iyo, meaning 'merchant') is a garment
Clothing

A feature of all human societies, except perhaps the most primitive, is the wearing of clothing or clothes, especially in public. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the weather....
 worn by men in the 18th century influenced by Persian and Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
n clothing.

Banyan is also commonly used in present day Indian English to mean vest (undershirt in American English).

Also called a morning gown, robe de chambre or nightgown, the banyan was a loose, T-shaped or kimono
Kimono

The is the national costume of Japan. Originally the word "kimono" literally meant "thing to wear" but now has come to denote a particular type of traditional full-length Japanese garment....
-like cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
, linen
Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, or silk
Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
 gown
Gown

A gown is a loose outer garment from knee- to full-length worn by men and women in Europe from the early Middle Ages to the seventeenth century ; later, gown was applied to any woman's garment consisting of a bodice and attached skirt....
 worn at home as a sort of dressing gown
Robe

A robe is a loose-fitting outer clothing. A robe is distinguished from a cape or cloak by the fact that it usually has sleeves. The English language word robe is loanword from French language....
 or informal coat
Coat (clothing)

A coat is a long clothing worn by both men and women, for warmth, protection or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, Velcro, toggles, a belt , or a combination of these....
 over the shirt and breeches. It was usually paired with a soft, turban
Turban

The turban is a headgear consisting of a long scarf-like single piece of cloth wound around either the head itself or an inner hat. The word "turban" is a common umbrella term, loosely used in English to refer to several sorts of head wrap....
-like cap worn in place of the formal periwig.

Wearing the banyan

In the humid climate of Colonial Virginia, gentlemen wore lightweight banyans as informal street wear in summer.

It was fashionable for men of an intellectual or philosophical bent to have their portraits painted while wearing banyans. Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Rush was a Founding Fathers of the United States of the United States. Rush lived in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, Education in the United States, Humanitarianism and a devout Christian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
 wrote:
Loose dresses contribute to the easy and vigorous exercise of the faculties of the mind. This remark is so obvious, and so generally known, that we find studious men are always painted in gowns, when they are seated in their libraries.


Despite the name "nightgown", the banyan was not worn for sleeping.

See also


  • Portait of Benjamin Rush in a banyan, 1783
  • 1700-1750 in fashion
    1700-1750 in fashion

    Fashion in the period 1700-1750 in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by a widening, full-skirted silhouette for both men and women following the tall, narrow look of the 1650-1700 in fashion....
  • 1750-1795 in fashion
    1750-1795 in fashion

    Fashion in the period 1750-1795 in European and European-influenced countries reached heights of fantasy and Rococo, especially among the aristocracy of France, before a long-simmering movement toward simplicity and democratization of dress under the influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the American Revolution led to an entirely new mode a...


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