Mongol Clothing and Appearance

Clothing in the united Mongol Empire, from its foundation in 1206 to the divisions around 1260, joined locally made wool and skins with cloth arriving from distant regions. Two Franciscan visitors record particular settings: John of Pian de Carpine witnessed Güyük’s election as Great Khan, the supreme Mongol ruler, in 1246, while William of Rubruck travelled through western Mongol domains and onward to Möngke Khan’s capital at Karakorum in present-day Mongolia in 1253–55. Möngke succeeded as Great Khan in 1251 and ruled until 1259. Their accounts describe garments in camps and at court, as well as the work that turned animal products into clothing.

Robes for changing weather

Rubruck describes a tunic, a long robe with an open front, tied at the wearer’s right side. He says girls’ dress resembled men’s clothing, while a woman’s robe after marriage was longer and wider. He contrasts its right-side fastening with Turkish robes tied on the left. Rubruck also describes hairstyles: men shaved the crown area and braided their remaining side hair behind the ears; he says married women shaved the front half of the head the day after marriage.

In winter, Rubruck says people wore at least two fur robes: one with the fur against the body and an outer robe with the fur facing wind and snow. They used a lighter robe inside the dwelling. He names wolf, fox and lynx skins for outer garments and says the poor used dog or kid skins. The rich had garments padded with soft silk; poorer wearers lined clothing with cotton or with fine wool picked from coarser fleece. The description links warmth to both layering and unequal access to material.

Rubruck also distinguishes seasonal supply. He says silk and gold-fabric cloth and cotton came from China and other eastern regions and from Persia, in present-day Iran, and the south, and were worn in summer. Furs came from northern territories, including Rus’ and the middle Volga region, for winter clothing. This put eastern and southern cloth alongside northern furs in steppe clothing.

Wool, felt and sewing

Coarser wool was made into felt coverings for dwellings and chests, as well as bedding. Rubruck also names felt saddlecloths and rain cloaks, and says wool mixed with horsehair was made into ropes. Felt, a dense mat of pressed fibers, could cover people, equipment and mobile homes. These uses connected clothing materials to transport and shelter.

Rubruck describes women dressing and sewing skins and making boots, socks and garments. He says they split animal tendons into fine strands and twist them together into one long sewing thread. He also records that skins were dressed with sour ewe’s milk and salt. These are practical steps: prepare a hide, make a durable thread, then sew shaped pieces into clothing and footwear. Rubruck places this work alongside women’s cart driving and household tasks, while describing men making bows, saddles and stirrups and caring for horses and camels. Both men and women, he says, tended sheep and goats.

Court dress and gifts

At Güyük’s 1246 election gathering, Carpini describes the chiefs wearing white garments on the first day, red on the second, blue on the third, and their finest cloth on the fourth. The four-day change of dress made clothing part of the ceremony’s sequence, with the finest garments reserved for its final day.

Carpini also records a personal clothing gift at the end of his mission. On 13 November 1246, Güyük’s mother gave each friar a fox-skin gown with fur on the outside and wadding inside, plus a piece of purple cloth. The combination of a warm fur garment and fine cloth made clothing part of court hospitality and diplomatic exchange.

Rubruck gives a second view of status through women’s headwear. He calls it a bocca: a tall, hollow frame made from bark or another light material, covered in fine silk, with a raised ornament of light canes or quills, feathers and sometimes precious stones. He specifically says wealthy women wore it and describes how they gathered their hair inside the frame and secured it under the chin. Its silk covering and ornament made the headdress a conspicuous display of household resources.