Chador

'tent'), also variously spelled in English as chadah, chad(d)ar, chader, chud(d)ah, chadur, and naturalized as /tʃʌdər/, is an outer garment or open cloak worn by many women in the Persian-influenced countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and to a lesser extent Tajikistan, as well as in Shia communities in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, India and Qatif in Saudi Arabia in public spaces or outdoors.

Before the 1978–1979 Iranian Revolution, black chadors were reserved for funerals and periods of mourning; colorful, patterned fabrics were the norm for everyday wear.

[5] Bruhn/Tilke, in their 1941 A Pictorial History of Costume, do show a drawing, said to be copied from an Achaemenid relief of the 5th century BC, of an individual with their lower face hidden by a long cloth wrapped around the head.

[5] One of the earliest written records of chador can be found in Pahlavi scripts from the sixth century as a female head dress worn by Zoroastrian women.

In some artifacts remaining from the Achaemenid period, such as a relief in Ergili (in northwestern Anatolia), a fabric design in Pazyryk, and certain Greek-Iranian seals, coverings resembling modern-day chadors can be observed.

In one of the illustrations from a copy of "Al-Maqamat" by Al-Hariri, women are seen wearing coverings similar to today’s chador at gatherings of sermon and justice, dating back to no later than the mid-6th century.

Accordingly, women did not view the chador solely as a veil or covering; aesthetic considerations, especially in the choice of fabric and decorations, played a significant role.

This policy outraged the Twelver Shia clerics, and ordinary men and women, to whom "appearing in public without their cover was tantamount to nakedness".

According to Mir-Hosseini, 'between 1941 and 1979, wearing hejab [hijab] was no longer an offence, but it was a real hindrance to climbing the social ladder, a badge of backwardness, and a marker of class.

In April 1980, during the Iranian Cultural Revolution, it was decided that it would be mandatory for women in government offices and educational institutions to observe the veil.

[14] Government felt obligated to deal with this situation; so, on 26 July 1984, Tehran's public prosecutor issued a statement and announced that stricter dress-code is supposed to be observed in public places such as institutions, theaters, clubs, hotels, motels, and restaurants, while in the other places, it should follow the pattern of the overwhelming majority of people.

In Turkey, after the reforms, despite the prevalence of chadors in various colors, younger women preferred turquoise, jade, and purple shades.

[10] The Persian word entered South Asia, and appeared in the Hindustani language as cādar (चादर, anglicized as chaddar, chuddar and chudder).

[18][19] There are also a small Haredi Jewish groups in which the women wear black head-to-toe cloaks similar to the chador, such as the extremist Lev Tahor.