Overview
A kaftan is a full-length coat-robe open down the front, with long sleeves, worn over a shirt and trousers and closed with a sash or belt at the waist. In Safavid Iran it was cut from richly patterned silk and velvet, sometimes with a shorter over-robe above it.
How it is worn
It is put on like a coat and wrapped or belted at the waist, the skirts falling long over the trousers and soft shoes, and topped by a turban. The quality of the silk, the pattern, and the sash marked the wearer’s standing at the Safavid court.
History
The kaftan was worn across the Persian, Ottoman, and wider Islamic world and reached a height of luxury under the Safavids, whose silk industry clothed the court and supplied Europe. Its front-opening coat cut lies behind much later Persian and Central Asian outer dress.