Overview
Parthian dress is riding dress raised to court dress. After two centuries in which Greek clothing sat on top of Iran, the Parthians restored the tailored, trousered wardrobe of the Iranian world to the centre — and then made it magnificent. Because Parthian art is emphatically frontal, with figures facing the viewer squarely, it also happens to display clothing unusually well.
Key garments and style
The core is a knee-length tunic worn over full trousers gathered at the ankle, belted at the waist, with a coat over it and soft boots. What distinguishes the Parthian version is surface: heavy applied decoration, roundels and bands, beading, and long ties and streamers hanging from the garments. The limestone statues from Hatra, and the bronze figure from Shami, show it in detail — layered, ornamented, and cut to fit.
The Parthians are also the conduit for something wider. Sitting astride the routes between Rome and Han China, they handled the silk trade in both directions, and Chinese silk reaching the Mediterranean generally passed through their territory. Roman writers who complained about the expense and immodesty of silk were complaining about a trade Parthia controlled.
Trousers stayed the marker of the East in Greek and Roman eyes throughout, which is why Parthians are so easily recognised in classical art.
Transition
The Sasanians took this tailored wardrobe and refined it into the most elaborate court dress of the ancient Near East, in figured silks whose patterns were copied from Byzantium to Tang China.