Fashion for Ayatollahs

Reza Haeri’s fascinating and very funny film Final Fitting is about a tailor who makes garments for the top religious men in Iran. There are very few films about fashion for Muslim men, but this really gets behind the scenes – showing Ayatollahs being measured and fitted, interspersed with on- and off-duty images of the top men. Montages of mullahs walking in Qom have music to fit the walking pace and, often, the physical bulk of their subjects: imagine ponderous, pompous stalking accompaniment for some less elegant and, shall we say, more generously padded fellows – and more bird-like twittering for the skinnier guys rushing wherever it is they’re rushing to.

Although much is very funny – for example tiny Agha Arabpour struggling to get his arms round the belly and chest of one Ayatollah; and his detailed discussion of exactly how very indecent trousers are when men are praying, and his own racing to pray … in trousers – then the film isn’t a condemnation of religion. The insightful Lebanese Daily Star review of the film (with more humorous details) rightly calls it “a study of the interplay of modesty and vanity, the humanity at the core of theocracy”

Click here to see a few moments from Final Fitting about all the many pockets the Mullah-about-town needs.

I learnt lots from Final Fitting about the different clerical fashions: the chic and contemporary labbaadeh, and the more traditional qabaa. A Guardian article on Agha Arabpour commented: “You may have noticed (ex)President Khatami always wears the labbaadeh but the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamanei] prefers the qabaa”. Here are the details: “Both the labbaadeh and the qabaa are long and come down to the top of the slippers (this is the case for traditional clerics who do not wear trousers; for those who do, the robe comes down to the middle of the legs). But whereas the qabaa has a V-neck and one side crosses the other at the waist, the more expensive labbaadeh has a high, round collar, tighter sleeves and stiff panelling in the chest area so that it looks very tailored. Many believe that the high-collared version is directly influenced by the robes of the Orthodox and Catholic priests in Lebanon, where large Christian and Muslim communities coexist.”

And remember, just in case you thought the men were vain, fashion for Ayatollahs is only following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad – and his encouragement to his followers to look good and smell fresh.