Nicholas Boylston in a brilliant green banyan and a cap, painted by John Singleton Copley, 1767.

Sir Isaac Newton in old age wearing a banyan, painted by James Thornhill, 1709-12. Note T-shaped cut without a shoulder seam.

A banyan is a garment worn by men in the 18th century influenced by Persian and Asian clothing. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (609x773, 40 KB) Description: Title: en: Nicolas Boylston (Nicholas Boylston) Technique: en: Oil on canvas Dimensions: en: 49 1/4 x 39 1/8 (125 x 99. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (609x773, 40 KB) Description: Title: en: Nicolas Boylston (Nicholas Boylston) Technique: en: Oil on canvas Dimensions: en: 49 1/4 x 39 1/8 (125 x 99. ... Portrait of Copley by Gilbert Stuart. ... Sir Isaac Newton, (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727) [ OS: 25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727][1] was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science. ... Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 - May 4, 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition. ... // Girls wearing formal attire for dancing, an example of one of the many modern forms of clothing. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...

Banyan is also commonly used in present day Indian English to mean vest (undershirt in American English).

Also called a morning gown, robe de chambre or nightgown, the banyan was a loose, T-shaped or kimono-like cotton, linen, or silk gown worn at home as a sort of dressing gown or informal coat over the shirt and breeches. It was usually paired with a soft, turban-like cap worn in place of the formal periwig. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax plant. ... Silk dresses Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. ... Wedding - Bridesmaid in long gown A gown or evening gown is a womans evening wear, corresponding to mens formal wear for white tie and black tie events. ... A dragon robe from Qing Dynasty of China A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. ... Double-breasted coat, 1876 For other meanings than clothing, see Coat (Disambiguation) A coat (a term frequently interchangeable with jacket) is an outer garment worn by both men and women, for warmth or fashion. ... A Sikh man wearing a turban The turban (from the Persian , dulband via the Turkish ) is a headdress consisting of a long scarf-like single piece of cloth wound round the head or an inner hat. ... A wig is a head of hair—human, horse-hair or synthetic—worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic reasons, including cultural and religious observance. ...

Wearing the banyan

In the humid climate of Colonial Virginia, gentlemen wore lightweight banyans as informal street wear in summer. The 1609 charter for the Virginia colony from sea to sea The Virginia Colony refers to the English colony in North America that existed during the 17th and 18th centuries before the American Revolution. ...

It was fashionable for men of an intellectual or philosophical bent to have their portraits painted while wearing banyans. Benjamin Rush wrote: Self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh A portrait is a painting, photograph, or other artistic representation of a person. ... Dr. Benjamin Rush, painted by Charles Wilson Peale, c. ...

Loose dresses contribute to the easy and vigorous exercise of the faculties of the mind. This remark is so obvious, and so generally known, that we find studious men are always painted in gowns, when they are seated in their libraries. [1]

Despite the name "nightgown", the banyan was not worn for sleeping.

See also

• Portait of Benjamin Rush in a banyan, 1783
• 1700-1750 in fashion
• 1750-1795 in fashion

Download high resolution version (749x889, 292 KB)Dr. Benjamin Rush painted by Charles Wilson Peale in 1783 The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus... In this English family portrait, the ladies wear pastel-colored gowns with closed skirts and lace caps. ... Portrait of John and Elizabeth Lloyd Caldwater and their Daughter Anne by Charles Willson Peale, Philadelphia, 1772 Fashion in the period 1750-1795 in European and European-influenced countries reached (literal) heights of fantasy and abundant ornamentation, especially among the aristocracy of France, before a long-simmering movement toward simplicity...

Notes

1. Franklin and His Friends

References

• Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500-1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5

• Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-300-09580-5

• Cunnington, C.Willett and Phillis Emily Cunnington: Handbook of English Costume in the Eighteenth Century. London: Faber, 1972.

• Payne, Blanche: History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century, Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS

• A Colonial Gentlemen's Clothing: A Glossary of Terms

External links

• Banyans at The Costumer's Manifesto
• Surviving banyans Brighton & Hove Museums